The reigning ACC Quarterback of the Week, Fernando Mendoza is just the seventh passer in program history to throw for more 3,000 yards in a season (photo by calbears.com).

After the Cal Bears surrendered a 25-point lead with just over eight minutes remaining in the third quarter October 5 in what turned out to be a heartbreaking 39-38 loss to Miami, head coach Justin Wilcox faced a challenge: somehow, he had to help his team rebound from a gut-punch of a loss. Coaches sometimes follow a tough loss by preaching that a team “can’t let [the opponent] beat us twice.”

That challenge proved daunting, as the Bears dropped two more games — 17-15 at Pitt the following week and 24-23 a week later at home against North Carolina State — before getting back on the winning track by pasting Oregon State, 44-7, October 26.

(photo by PonyFans.com).

Now Wilcox and his staff face the opposite challenge. The Bears (6-5 overall / 2-5 in Atlantic Coast Conference games) head to Dallas for Saturday’s 2:30 (Central time) game at SMU on the heels of an emotional 24-21 win over Stanford in the contest known on both campuses as “the Big Game.” The Bears love to beat their rivals from Palo Alto, but Wilcox said the Mustangs provide all the evidence they will need to help keep their players focused on the task at hand.

“You really want to carry that emotion and momentum into Monday’s meetings, Monday’s practice — which I think the guys did a great job of,” Wilcox said. “I would say it’s easier to do that coming off an emotional victory than an emotional defeat.

“They all know what’s in front of us. Everybody knows the [Mustangs’] record. Obviously, they’ve had a great season, they’ve got phenomenal players down there at SMU. As soon as you turn the tape on — and we did, as coaches, on Sunday … We have crossed over with some common opponents, so we have seen them before — but it doesn’t take very long to see why their record is what it is. They’re very, very good, really at every phase of the game, and extremely explosive and quick and fast. They’ve got a dominant D-line. So we’ve got a lot of challenges in front of us, and our guys are excited for that.”

The win over Stanford made the Bears bowl-eligible for the second consecutive season, and pushed their record over the .500, but it’s safe to suggest that the team might be significantly better than its record, since all five of its losses have been by a single score.

“[We are] excited to finish out the regular season — [we] get to be at home one more time in Ford Stadium for our seniors, against a really good opponent,” SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee said. “I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a better 6-5 team in America. I think you can conservatively can say they very, very easily should be 9-2. [Cal has played in] five one-score games, and two or three of them [were] a very makeable kick away from winning those against good people. We saw what they did against Miami, being up 35-10 in the third quarter.”

According to quarterback Fernando Mendoza, Wilcox’s message has gotten through to the players.

“SMU is a fantastic team,” Mendoza said, “and the flip side of it — that’s the beauty of college football — you can be dominating the entire game, and in the fourth quarter, the [opposing] team is playing really good football, and it can go their way. That’s what happened to us in the Miami game, and we’re on the flip side of it this weekend. So there has definitely been a lot of great emotion tied to the win [over Stanford], but … like I said, I have moved on from the Stanford game, and I believe most of my team has. Although it’s a rivalry win, although it made us bowl-eligible, it’s not time to be complacent.”

Once overshadowed by teammate Jaydn Ott, sophomore running back Jaivian Thomas has emerged as the top rushing threat for the Cal offense (photo by calbears.com).

The reigning ACC Quarterback of the Week, Mendoza (6-5, 225) is a redshirt sophomore who steers the ship for the Cal offense that has outscored its opponents by about a touchdown: the Bears are averaging 27.91 points per game, and surrendering an average of 20.73 points per game. Cal averages a robust 394.5 yards per game, while allowing 334.6. He currently is riding a wave of popularity in Berkeley after leading the Bears on a 98-yard game-winning drive against Stanford.

With Mendoza at the helm, the aerial game is potent and efficient. He has completed 265 of 368 (68.65 percent) passes this season for 3,004 yards and 16 touchdowns, while throwing just six interceptions in 11 games. His total marks the ninth time a Cal quarterback has thrown for at least 3,000 yards in a season, and he is the seventh Bear to do it; Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff reached the milestone three times. He ranks 11th in the nation in passing yards and completion percentage, and 12th in passing yards per game (273.1) and completions per game (24.09), and 16th in total offense (282.6 yards per game).

At least one Mustang defender is more than familiar with Mendoza: he and SMU defensive end Elijah Roberts were teammates at Columbus High School in Miami.

When told that some were attaching the letters “BGH” — for “Big Game Hero” — to his name, Mendoza deflected the praise, saying that label belongs this year to junior wideout Jonathan Brady (5-10, 180), the versatile do-everything receiver who caught a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes in the win over Stanford. Known to some by his nickname, “Ballgame,” Brady has been on a tear, with at least five receptions in each of the last three games and five of the last six. Brady’s 34 receptions this season are second among Bears receivers, trailing only the 48 hauled in by redshirt sophomore tight end Jack Endries (6-4, 240), who also leads the team with 555 receiving yards. The top scoring receiver is redshirt freshman Nyziah Hunter, who has reached the end zone five times among his 35 catches, on which he has amassed 493 yards.

Before Mendoza and the Bears took flight this year, many believed the Cal offense would go only as far as the ground game would take it. Junior running back Jaydn Ott (6-0, 210) is widely accepted to be one of the best ball carriers in the entire nation, but he has been limited this year. He missed the team’s first three games because of injury and has been limited since, and while he leads the teams with 92 carries, he has averaged just 33 yards per game and 2.9 yards per carry. In his place, sophomore Jaivian Thomas (5-10, 190) has burst on to the scene, averaging a gaudy 6.2 yards per carry and leading the team with 598 rushing yards and seven of the team’s 16 rushing touchdowns. Thomas and Ott have every Cal carry over the Bears’ last two games.

In 11 games, the Bears have started six different combinations across the offensive line; the group that has played the most games (four) together is the quintet that started against Stanford — redshirt freshman left tackle Nick Morrow (6-8, 305), senior left guard Rush Reimer (6-5, 305), redshirt senior center Will McDonald (6-2, 300), redshirt junior right guard Bastian Swinney (6-6, 305) and redshirt senior right tackle T.J. Session (6-4, 305). Swinney was in the lineup because the Bears faced Stanford without normal starter Sioape Vatikani (6-4, 315), who has been practicing this week and is, according to Wilcox, day-to-day. Morrow is the only Cal lineman who has started every game this season.

The Bears boast the ACC’s top scoring defense, allowing just 20.7 points per game — an improvement of 12.1 points per game compared to last year. The Bears are tied for second in the nation with 17 interceptions.

Cornerback Nohl Williams leads the Cal defense — and the entire nation — with seven interceptions (photo by calbears.com).

“This is probably the most complete defense we have played … for sure in our league,” Lashlee said of the Bears. “There’s a reason I think their D and our D are kind of 1 and 2 in a lot of categories. They’re similar, in that there’s not a lot of superstars — they’re just a really good team defense.”

At least on paper, the Cal defense operates out of an unorthodox 2-4-5 alignment. Senior Ricky Correia (6-4, 325) and redshirt junior Aidan Keanaaina (6-3, 320) alternate beside either junior Nate Burrell (6-2, 285) or redshirt junior T.J. Bollers (6-2, 290) as the only true down linemen. In the scheme run by defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon — like SMU’s Scott Symons, Sirmon is nominated for the Broyles Award, which is given annually to the nation’s premier assistant coach — the Bears’ two outside linebackers spend considerable time rushing off the edge. Redshirt senior outside linebacker David Reese (6-2, 240) is very productive, with 16 tackles, 4.5 sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss, but his bookend on the other side might be the most impressive player on the entire roster: senior Xavier Carlton is a 6-6, 275-pound force who leads the team with nine sacks and is tied for the team lead with 11 tackles for loss, to go along with 46 tackles. Carlton brings a rare combination of size, speed and power to the position, and is a matchup nightmare for every team that faces the Bears.

Inside, the Bears might be without linebacker Cade Uluave (6-1, 240), the über-productive sophomore who ranks second on the team with 67 tackles, despite missing three games with a nagging injury. Wilcox cited Uluave’s toughness and urgency to get back in the lineup, but said he also is day-to-day.

If Uluave can’t play, that will be a significant loss for the Cal defense, in which case his void will be filled by redshirt junior Hunter Barth (6-2, 230) and senior Liam Johnson (6-0, 225). Barth has started three of the last four games and tied his career high with seven tackles in each, against Oregon State, Syracuse and Stanford. But for all of his production, he often gets overshadowed by his partner in the middle of the defense, senior Teddye Buchanan (6-2, 235), who leads the team with 105 tackles and is tied with Carlton’s team-high 11 tackles for loss.

Saturday’s game will be the final regular-season game for the seniors on both teams; for Cal safeties, it also represents a homecoming: Miles Williams (6-0, 190) played at Mansfield High School, while Craig Woodson (6-0, 210) played at South Grand Prairie.

“Craig and Myles have meant a lot to us,” Wilcox said. “In this era of college football, to have two guys playing the same position, coming from Texas, an [having] been here that long. You know, they’ve had ups and downs — both of them — but just incredibly proud of what they have accomplished, on the field and off the field, and it has just been a joy to watch those guys grow up as football players and as men.”

Woodson and Williams rank third and tied for fourth on the team with 60 and 47 tackles, respectively. Woodson has 2.5 tackles for loss, one more than his running mate in the Cal secondary.

Cal opponents often try to throw away from senior cornerback Nohl Williams, and with good reason: the 6-1, 200-pound senior leads the entire nation with seven of the team’s 17 interceptions, which has helped him become a semifinalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award for the nation’s top defensive player and for the Jim Thorpe Award, which is given annually to the nation’s top defensive back.

Most teams would love to have a solid, reliable kicker; the Bears have two. Derek Morris earned ACC Specialist of the Week honors after tying the program record with five field goals against Oregon State, only to watch Ryan Coe earn the same honor a week later when he connected on two field goals in one game from 54 yards against Wake Forest. Lachlan Wilson is among the nation’s best punters, averaging 46.02 yards per punt, good for second in the ACC and eighth in the country. His career average of 44.65 ranks eighth among all active FBS punters.

For the Bears, Saturday’s game is about sending off their seniors with a victory in the regular-season finale. But they also are well aware of the magical season that has unfolded in 2024 in Dallas, and they relish the idea of playing spoiler for their fellow first-year ACC team.

“We understand that SMU is a really good team,” Mendoza said. “It’s going to be similar to a [defensive] front seven that, maybe, we played in the Miami game, or an Auburn game or a Florida State game — of that talent level. As an offense, we understand that we’ve got to be ready for it. The Stanford game was amazing. However, our task at hand s to make the best bowl game right now, and the way to do that is to go into Dallas, give it our best and ruin SMU’s season.”