Among its many endearing qualities, the Big Game can be a soothing tonic for the downtrodden.

At a time when the outcome seems preordained, it’s good to know that one day, more than a century ago, they forgot to bring a football. That a coach can be hoisted onto his players’ shoulders before the game (Stanford’s Jack Christiansen, 1976), or that a touchdown can be scored amid a horde of desperately fleeing horn players.

It’s the Big Game, where anything can and has happened.

Asking Cal to win Saturday, however, could be a stretch.

The Bears’ defense, terrible at the outset and now decimated by injuries, has allowed an average of 53 points over its past five games. The running game seems to have vanished. In a very big game at Washington State on Saturday night, the team came out gaffe-prone and uninspired.

Meanwhile, here comes Stanford on a mighty roll. The team launched a three-game winning streak from the moment Christian McCaffrey and Bryce Love were simultaneously healthy. The passing game might not remind anyone of John Elway-to-Ken Margerum or Jim Plunkett-to-Gene Washington, but it erupted like a volcano at Oregon on Saturday after weeks in dormancy.

Think about it: In the previous game, against Oregon State, head coach David Shaw had so little faith in quarterback Keller Chryst — coupled with a thirst for McCaffrey’s prowess — that Stanford didn’t throw a pass in the fourth quarter. “We know he’s not going to be Johnny Unitas out there,” Shaw had said of Chryst, and now he was looking only slightly more relevant than Johnny Manziel.

To watch Chryst in practice, they say, is to witness a blossoming talent. A healthy dose came to the surface in Eugene as Chryst found Michael Rector with two precisely drilled touchdown passes, also hitting JJ Arcega-Whiteside in stride for a 61-yard TD hookup.

“He’s such a great player, such a great leader,” McCaffrey said after that game, “especially when he gets comfortable, there’s not a better guy out there. Watching him develop and show what he has is something special.”

When you consider that Cal has been forced to employ walk-on players in its defensive backfield, it’s hard to imagine Chryst regressing in any way Saturday. Then again (dreamers, come on down), maybe the 2:30 p.m. starting time will be relevant.

Thanks to the inexcusably rude and annoying television contract signed by the Pac-12, university administrators and networks, Cal has been stuck with seven 7 or 7:30 p.m. starts this season. Some figured it would happen again this week, with the USC-UCLA game slotted at 2:30 and the Bears looking at a near-midnight finish once again.

Perhaps the lobbying by Mike Williams, Cal’s athletic director, did some good. In a letter he addressed to “the Cal family” and directed specifically at the networks’ insensitivity, Williams wrote, “I will always remember the cannon fires and football-game kickoffs every Saturday at 12:30 p.m. in Memorial Stadium,” and that “we have voiced our concerns with both ESPN and Fox about night games and all the challenges they represent.”

Back to Gallery This Big Game a field day for Stanford, Cal dreamers 2 1 of 2 Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, Associated Press 2 of 2 Photo: Steve Dykes, Getty Images



Now the USC-UCLA game is at 7:30 — and boy, are tradition-minded fans upset down south — and the Big Game is going to feel somewhat familiar. It will end in darkness, thus removing a bit of magic from that postgame stroll. It will be shown only on the Pac-12 Network, thus ruling out the many thousands of fans who subscribe to DirecTV. But this is the modern-day Pac-12, where something invariably is just a little bit off.

Other than its opener in Australia, the only time Cal had a daytime start — 3 p.m. at home against Utah on Oct. 1 — some wonderful things happened. A tremendous goal-line stand capped a 28-23 win. James Looney made the game-clinching stop on the Utes’ Zack Moss, head coach Sonny Dykes leaped into the arms of quarterback Davis Webb, and it seemed as if the Bears had taken a step toward resurrection.

That was the stance taken in this column, and it was dreadfully inaccurate. But there’s an undeniable truth to Cal’s season: Webb is a legitimate NFL prospect, amplified by the precision-route skills of Chad Hansen and spectacular freshman receivers Demetris Robertson and Melquise Stovall. These are athletes who will not go quietly Saturday.

So enjoy the daylight, everyone. Stanford fans see a respectable bowl game in sight, assuming a 9-3 finish with victories over Cal and Rice. Around Strawberry Canyon, seasoned observers imagine Webb channeling the feats of Joe Kapp, Vince Ferragamo, Joe Roth and other triumphant quarterbacks of Big Game lore.

Don’t rule out the bands, either. Everyone remembers The Play (1982), but in 1956, after privately informing friends that he was about to retire, Cal coach Pappy Waldorf was at home in his pajamas when he heard a commotion outside. It was the Cal band, offering sweet serenade. Somehow, the 2-7 Bears pulled off an upset over John Brodie’s Stanford team the next day.

Gazing into my crystal ball for Saturday in Berkeley, I see a prominent role for tubas. And if you have a cello around the house, by all means bring it along.

Bruce Jenkins is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: bjenkins@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Bruce_Jenkins1

119th Big Game

Who: Stanford vs. Cal

When: 2:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Memorial Stadium

TV: Pac-12 Network

Radio: 1050, 810