Cal’s gut-wrenching loss to Miami turns up heat on first ACC season

BERKELEY — Cal coach Justin Wilcox called it “a pivotal moment for the team.” Quarterback Fernando Mendoza said the Bears face a fork in the road.

What’s next for Cal will be critical after basking in college football’s national spotlight at both ends of Saturday before a fourth-quarter collapse in a 39-38 loss to No. 8 Miami.

“What’s the mood?” Wilcox repeated during his midnight news conference. “As bad as you can imagine.”

If so, it was appropriate. More than 3,000 wildly enthusiastic Cal fans jammed Memorial Glade in the heart of the campus before dawn Saturday morning to wow the ESPN ‘College GameDay’ crew.

Then 52,428 filled Memorial Stadium — Cal’s first sellout against anyone other than Stanford since 2013 against Ohio State when the Strawberry Canyon facility had a capacity of 62,647.

“We were very appreciative of all that happened today,” Wilcox said. “The fans were incredible, the student body was incredible.”

And for much of the night, Cal answered the call in its first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference home game. The Bears (3-2, 0-2 ACC) led 35-10 midway through the third quarter and 38-18 less than a minute into the final period.

The program’s first victory over a top-10 opponent since 2017 was in reach.

Then the roof caved in. Quarterback Cam Ward threw two touchdowns and ran for in the fourth quarter as the Hurricanes (6-0, 2-0) scored 21 straight points. His 5-yard TD pass to tight end Elijah Arroyo and the ensuing extra point with 26 seconds left crushed the Bears and their fans.

Here are takeaways:

What’s next?

The Bears will make their third East Coast trip of the season to face Pitt on Saturday afternoon. Led by redshirt freshman quarterback Eli Holstein, a transfer from Alabama, the Panthers improved to 5-0 for the first time since 1991 and will likely move into the AP Top 25 after a 34-24 win at North Carolina.

“Everybody’s got to make the decision to respond,” Wilcox said. “And it’s not going to happen right now, tonight. It might not happen in the morning. But by the time we all come in Monday, that’s what we have to do.”

“Every team ahead of us is beatable,” Mendoza said. “We believe Miami was the best team we faced all year and it sucks. This one really, really hurts. It’s all about our response.”

The non-targeting call

The Bears led 38-32 with 1:50 left when Miami linebacker Wesley Bissainthe drilled Mendoza as he tried to scramble for yards on a third-and-17 play from the Cal 42.

While Mendoza remained on the turf for a few moments, ESPN commentator Brock Osweiler said “by definition that is 100 percent targeting.” The video replay showed that Bissainthe led with his helmet, hitting Mendoza around his neck or head.

But officials deemed it legal after a video review, forcing Cal to punt. Lachlan Wilson’s 46-yard kick pinned the Canes back at their 8-yard line. But Ward found a wide-open Xavier Restrepo for a 77-yard completion to the Cal 15, and the die was cast.

Wilcox declined to comment on the non-call. “I’m not going to talk about that,” he said. “You can write whatever you want.”

Mendoza said afterward he was feeling fine.

Fourth-quarter onslaught

Cal entered the final 15 minutes of playing having outgained Miami 344 yards to 297. But in the fourth quarter, the nation’s second-highest scoring team rolled up 278 yards —including 238 through the air — and the Bears totaled just 26 yards.

“We ran out of gas,” Wilcox said. “We didn’t make enough plays in the second half against an extremely talented team.”

Ott’s disappearance

Running back Jaydn Ott, slowed most of the season by an ankle injury, scored on a 5-yard run and a 66-yard reception. But he wasn’t on the field for much of the fourth quarter.

Wilcox seemed to suggest Ott wasn’t fully healthy at the finish. “I don’t have a full update,” he said. “There were a couple things that came up so we’ll see where that’s at.”

Nearly a Miami dream

Mendoza, who had four completions of more than 50 yards and totaled 285 passing yards and two TDs, grew up a half-mile from the Miami campus. The nature of the loss to his hometown team was numbing.

Asked how his childhood self would have felt about the chance he got Saturday night, Mendoza said, “If you would have told me we’d won, I’d probably cut off a leg for that.”