Except for their secondary and pass rush the California Golden Bears have done a good job on defense—No. 1 in the ACC in points allowed per game, No. 3 in rushing yards allowed, and No. 4 in total yards of offense allowed. But in spite of their Sophomore QB Fernando Mendoza who will pass for 3,000+ yards and 15+ TD’s this year, without their Junior RB Jaydn Ott who has been in and out most of the season due to injuries he received early in the year the Bears have been unable to generate enough offense to outscore their opponents with this last Saturday’s 33-25 loss at home to Syracuse the latest example. As Jeff Faraudo points out regarding Ott in his story for Sports Illustrated; “Through the Bears’ first nine games (he played in six of them), Ott was averaging 28 rushing yards per game, 2.4 yards per attempt. A year ago, those numbers were 109 yards per game, 5.3 per carry.” After rushing for over 1,300 yards last season Ott was expected to be one of the ACC’s leading rushers and in the Top-20 nationally. With Cal sitting at 5-5 overall and two games left to play let’s hope his 78 yard game and 15 yard TD run in the loss against Syracuse this past Saturday—his best of the season—is a precursor for what the Golden Bears will see and need out of their star running back to become bowl eligible.
In Mendoza’s first nine games of the year for Cal he had thrown for 2,480 yards, 12 TD’s and just 4 interceptions. In this one he threw up an interception their first two possessions of the game—giving Syracuse a head start that they never relinquished. The Orange scored on their first five possessions starting with back-to-back field goals and then back-to-back-to-back touchdowns to be up 27-to-7 at the break with the seven coming on a Jaivian Thomas 75 yard TD run on Cal’s second play from scrimmage early in the 2nd Qtr. The Bears settled down after the half, outscored their opponent, and even kept Syracuse out of the end zone the rest of the way. Against just a couple of field goals, Cal’s two TD’s, field goal, and two-point conversion weren’t enough to put them over the top in this 33-25 loss at home.
For Cal, Mendoza was 22-of-34 for 225 yards, 1 TD to Junior WR Jonathan Brady, and those two picks while rushing six times for a negative 1 yard. On the ground Ott and Sophomore RB Jaivian Thomas combined for 158 of the team’s 166 total rushing yards and a TD each on just 14 carries. On the Syracuse side their Senior QB Kyle McCord, second only to Miami’s Cam Ward nationally in total passing yards, connected on 29-of-46 for 323 yards—206 of those to Junior TE Oronde Gadsden II and WR Trebor Pena—as well as 1 TD to Senior WR Jackson Meeks while also rushing five times for another sixteen yards. On the ground Junior RB Lequint Allen did most of the hard work while rushing 23 times for 109 of the team’s 148 total yards as well as both rushing TD’s. The Orange pretty much dominated the game stats and led in first downs, 26-19; total yards of offense, 471-391; had no turnovers against Cal’s two to start the game; had possession of the ball 17 minutes longer; and were 4-for-4 in 4th down conversion attempts.
Needing one more game to become bowl eligible and sitting 5-5 overall but only 1-5 in conference play, Cal is just one spot from the bottom—a place currently held by a Florida State Seminole team who has fallen all the way from No. 6 nationally last year with a 13-1 record to the basement of the ACC this year and a 1-9 record overall. Just one spot above Cal is their next and familiar opponent, Stanford—a team that has been struggling now for quite a few years but still has one more conference win than the Golden Bears who will travel to Berkeley to take on the Cardinal. If Mendoza has a normal game for him and Ott can produce, Cal should be able to easily take that game. If not, they’ll have to get it done on the road against No. 14 SMU.