11 Oct A Roller Coaster of Emotion: My Experience at Cal Football’s First ‘GameDay’

California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley was packed with fans — a rare sight — for the Cal Golden Bears’ nationally televised game against the Miami Hurricanes.

Commentary and photos by Joe Porrello

The University of California vs. undefeated, No. 8-ranked Miami University football game in Berkeley on Oct. 5 was a true test of loyalty and the ability to control blood pressure for fans of both teams.

Long before I arrived on campus, Golden Bears’ enthusiasts were clawing at the chance to upset Miami University and couldn’t wait to show their support.

ESPN “College GameDay,” which features a panel of sports celebrities who travel to a different location every week, was set to broadcast live at 6 a.m. But Bears’ fans circumvented security and broke into Memorial Glade at midnight to get ideal positioning in “the pit” that can be seen on TV. 

A staple of “GameDay,” the pit is always full of comical posters by students often featuring personal jabs at schools or opponents. Sometimes they go viral. Signs that were seen Oct. 5 said things like:

• “I ONLY DO LINES OF CODE,”
• “DEI vs DUI,” 
• “I thought this was a protest,”
• “I’m Looking 4 an Internship,” and
• “YOU PEOPLE ARE BLOCKING THE LIBRARY.”

ESPN’s “GameDay” had never come to Berkeley in its 37 years. Only five other schools in the top four Division I conferences have yet to get the broadcast. The ESPN show made the day a celebration of relevance, full of smiles and noteworthy moments that will go down in Cal lore. 

With hundreds of plastic orange hard hats on fans’ heads, the area could have been mistaken for a construction site, but it was just another “GameDay” custom by sponsor Home Depot. 

The sun had yet to rise when the show began. Blue and gold lights along with the school logo adorned Campanile Tower and glowed over a sea of fans while former Cal player and current Richmond City Council candidate Ahmad Anderson pumped up the crowd. The man who witnessed “The Play” firsthand in 1982 against rival Stanford loudly repeated the chant on stage that he created over 40 years ago — and thousands echoed him enthusiastically: “You know it. You tell the story. Tell the whole damn world this is Bear territory!”

The roar of chanting fans could be heard more than a mile away.

Another “GameDay” routine is that one Cal student gets a chance to kick a field goal for a cash prize. Daniel Villaseñor, a sophomore majoring in civil engineering who played soccer at Livermore High School shocked everyone Oct. 5 when he made a roughly 30-yard kick slightly uphill through a field goal post set up on campus — while wearing beat-up Vans. That earned him and a Hurricane Helene relief fund each $100,000, donated by “GameDay” host and former NFL punter Pat McAfee.

It was nostalgic for fans when former Bear running back Marshawn Lynch hopped on the injury cart to drive like he did almost 20 years ago on the field.

 Fans jeered at ESPN panelist and former Alabama head coach Nick Saban to take off his red tie, a la the “Take off that RED shirt!” chant originally aimed at Stanford fans that now applies to all articles of clothing in the forbidden color on game day — regardless of team association. Saban obliged and donned a blue and gold tie because all of his National Championship appearances still could not prepare him for the pressure that is the “red” chant.

 Some fans didn’t even make it through the broadcast; a few attendees were seen sleeping on the ground or in folding chairs.

 And all of this was before 9 a.m., 10 hours prior to kickoff.

It was Cal’s first game facing off against an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent at home after leaving the Pac-12 following last season. The switch has given creative social media pundits a chance to shine by starting something that has gotten the attention of The New York Times. 

Golden Bear supporters use Photoshop and A.I.-generated memes in “The Calgorithm,” contrasting stereotypes of Berkeley and new conference opponents from the South. 

 Still, it was clear Oct. 5 that regardless of political affiliations, personal backgrounds or beliefs, “GameDay” brings out the football fan in people.

But this football fan almost didn’t make it in the stadium.

I made the foolish mistake of having my tickets sent to an email address that was full and couldn’t receive messages. I sat on a live chat with customer service for about 40 minutes while my friend waited patiently — probably wondering why he trusted me to buy the tickets — before being told I was basically out of luck. 

After some debate about going home, my buddy said he needed to use the bathroom and we headed toward port-a-potties in the distance. We had already gone through one security line that had a metal detector and a person scanning tickets. So my friend and I walked through the metal detector and around a large group of people scanning their tickets. As I was waiting for him to use the toilet, I realized that we had inadvertently snuck into the game. When he got out of the port-a-potty, we hugged in celebration. I didn’t care that his hands weren’t washed, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

As we walked into the stadium, “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC blared from the speakers as Cal ran onto the field with fireworks blasting, illuminating the sky— goosebump city. My luck went from worst to best in minutes. 

It was the first sellout crowd in over a decade against an opponent other than Stanford. The atmosphere of 52,428 fans — plus hundreds more on “Tightwad Hill” overlooking the stadium —  felt like a movie, or at least an SEC conference game. 

The Golden Bears have only had a single win against a top 10-ranked opponent in more than 20 years. So seeing Cal up by 25 points was basically an out-of-body experience. I was in disbelief, and I think everyone else was too, be it Hurricane or Cal enthusiasts.

The 25-point third quarter lead eerily matched the Atlanta Falcons’ in the 2017 Super Bowl, which they infamously lost to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Sure enough, the Golden Bears were seemingly one play from icing the game over and over again but slowly and painfully blew their edge.

After a controversial targeting review that would have all but guaranteed the Bears the upset win was called in favor of the Hurricanes, the mood completely changed. And soon thereafter, Miami scored the game-winning touchdown with 26 seconds remaining and secured the largest comeback win of the college football season thus far.

It was the most gut-wrenching loss I’ve seen out of hundreds of live sporting events in 20 years.

 Between injuries, flags, reviews and commercial timeouts, the game took more than four hours, finishing after 11 p.m. The weather made it tolerable, by being warm enough to wear shorts and a T-shirt in Berkeley.

Even though the Golden Bears lost, it will be a day I’ll never forget.

With luck, the magic that transpired Oct. 5 will be remembered as an all-time classic college football battle. And maybe it will be the start of Berkeley football getting back on the map.

Roll On, You Bears!