By John Reid

Daily News Staff Writer

Let the emotions flow. The large video screens at both ends of Stanford Stadium zeroed in on the Cardinal seniors racing for The Axe after a 35-22 victory over Cal in the 118th Big Game on Saturday. First to arrive was Palo Alto High grad Kevin Anderson, a fifth-year senior, who had a pair of tackles, a near sack and a near interception, leaving everything out on the field. A tear could be seen coming out of Anderson’s left eye.

Graduate transfer Brennan Scarlett, who came to Stanford for his final year of eligibility after four years at Cal, was front and center, touching The Axe for the first time.

“That Axe is heavy,” said Scarlett, a defensive end. “I didn’t know how heavy it was. It’s a great feeling for me, for the seniors and for the whole rest of the team to keep their hands on it.”

The previous week, Oregon had dealt a heart-breaking 38-36 loss to the Cardinal, dampening its playoff homes. On Saturday, Stanford indirectly enacted its revenge. Stanford’s win over the Bears ensured it the Pac-12 North championship and a berth in the Pac-12 title game on Dec. 5. Had the Cardinal lost, Oregon could have wrapped up the North title with a victory over hapless Oregon State in the Civil War game on Saturday.

“After Oregon, we looked forward,” Scarlett said. “This game was all about beating Cal and clinching the Pac-12 championship. We’re proud of that.”

Stanford coach David Shaw made it clear all focus was on the Bears, not Oregon or the national playoff picture.

“I’m proud of our seniors,” Shaw said. “They’ve never lost The Axe. We had some questions during the week about us bouncing back. I’m telling you it was Cal Week. When it is Cal Week, we don’t worry about anything else. This was the Big Game. Our guys were phenomenal in practice all week.”

While Scarlett is only at Stanford for one season, he is a huge part of the team.

“We don’t know where we’d be without Brennan Scarlett,” Shaw said. “The guys wanted to win the game for him.”

Sophomore running back Christian McCaffrey, who had 389 all-purpose yards — a school and Big Game record — and 192 yards rushing on 29 carries, was happy for the seniors.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling, especially for these seniors who have never given The Axe up,” McCaffrey said. “To go out there and win The Axe for them was awesome.”

Cal quarterback Jared Goff was as advertised, throwing for 386 yards, breaking Troy Taylor’s for a Cal quarterback in a Big Game. Taylor threw for 377 yards in the 1989 Big Game. Goff’s 54 passing attempts did not match his school-record 64 attempts set vs. Northwestern two years ago, but it is presumed to be a Big Game record for attempts. The Cardinal secondary allowed Goff to steal 5 to 10 yard pass completions, rather than let the Bears’ wide receivers get deep. Goff, who completed 37 passes, threw for just two touchdowns, one with 1:44 to play when the game was already in the books. “I hate the phrase ‘bend, but don’t break,'” Shaw said. “It sounds passive and we aren’t very passive. We wanted to keep the ball in front of us. Give them third-and-five in the red zone. It’s math. If we can go down and score touchdowns and they kick field goals, we win.” The Cardinal mixed up its blitz scheme, somehow managing to come up with two sacks of Goff, who has a quick release. “We blitzed a little early,” Shaw said. “He’s smart and sees it coming. He changed the protection. We came Scot-free a couple of times, but he has the quick release. We sent our linebackers and hit him a few times. We’re talking about a really talented quarterback and he got the ball out of his hand.”

Stanford used its version of the Four Horsemen (see 1924 Notre Dame football team) on kickoff returns, putting Christian McCaffrey, Remound Wright, Barry Sanders and Bryce Love — four speedy backs — out on the field. The ploy was to counter teams kicking away from the dangerous McCaffrey. “All the running backs are tough guys,” Shaw said. “They’re all great with the ball in their hands, but also good blockers. The ball got kicked deep and those guys made great blocks. Christian exploded and did what he does, finishing in the end zone.” McCaffrey returned one 98 yards for the score right before halftime, giving the Cardinal a 21-6 lead at the break. Sanders laid the final block on the return. Shaw praised special teams coordinator Pete Alamar, who implemented the tweak. Sanders got the last block on McCaffrey’s return. “We knew they did a lot of different stuff with their kicking team, like squib-kicking and pooch-kicking,” McCaffrey said. “We decided to put me, Remound (Wright), Barry (Sanders) and Bryce (Love) back. If they do try to squib it, we have a lot of dangerous guys back. We knew if we put those guys back there, they were going to have to block. It showed how well Barry prepared to put a guy down, sacrificing his body for us.”