A football recruit seemingly out of Cal’s reach, Russell White opted for Berkeley, sat out his first year due to academics then exploded onto the scene at Memorial Stadium
As the Pac-12 Conference era comes to a close after more than a century, we count down the Top 50 moments involving Cal athletics.Cal fans waited an extra year to see what all the fuss was about after Russell White was forced to sit out his freshman season in 1980. No one was disappointed on Sept. 15, 1990 when, against defending national champion Miami, White returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown the first time he touched the football at Memorial Stadium.
White’s academic issues were unraveled at Cal when he was diagnosed as suffering from the reading disability dyslexia. White needed no help on the football field. He rushed for exactly 1,000 yards his sophomore year and coach Bruce Snyder’s team beat Wyoming 17-15 at the Copper Bowl for its first postseason victory since the 1938 Rose Bowl.
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