Like I said last week regarding the Golden Bears; “In spite of Cal not yet winning a single game against an ACC opponent they have been one tough out every week, losing to No. 8 Miami by 1 point in Week-6 and to No. 22 Pittsburgh this past Saturday by just two points 17-15.” To that you can add another 1 point loss to North Carolina State, 24-23, this past Saturday. This one had to be a heart breaker for the team after taking a 7-0 lead on their first possession of the game and leading 23-10 at the end of the 3rd Qtr only to be held scoreless in the 4th while the Wolfpack added 14 points to the scoreboard to win by just one—ugghh!
A couple of mistakes really hurt them in this one. First, leading 7-3 and after a missed field goal by North Carolina State, Cal’s talented Sophomore RB Jaivian Thomas would fumble the ball at their own 35 yard line which led to a TD and put the Wolfpack up 10-7 with 3+ minutes left in the half. Cal would get back-to-back field goals after holding North Carolina State to a three-and-out on their next possession to get back on top 13-10 by the break, but it was seven points that the Wolfpack might never have seen without getting setup just 15 yards shy of the red zone by the fumble. In spite of that mistake the Golden Bears, down by one late, still had a chance to win but Freshman Place Kicker Derek Morris missed a 28 yard field goal that would have put them up 26-24 with just 1:34 left in the game.
In spite of the fumble and missed field goal it was still those two guys that provided all the points on the scoreboard for Cal in this one even though their Sophomore QB Fernando Mendoza connected on 30-of-42 for 282 yards without an interception but also without a TD. On the ground Jaivian Thomas and Sophomore RB Byron Cardwell Jr. would collectively rush 19 times for 112 of the team’s 117 rushing yards with Thomas getting into the end zone twice for the only TD’s of the game for Cal. The other 11 points were provided by Morris who was 2-for-2 on PAT’s as well as making 3-of-4 field goal attempts. For North Carolina State, Freshman QB CJ Bailey would connect on 25-of-36 for 306 yards, 2 TD’s, and no interceptions while in spite of an anemic running game—just 29 rushing yards—Sophomore WR Kevin Concepcion while only rushing one time for two yards still found his way into the end zone for their only TD on the ground.
As the AP wrote in their Takeaway from this game for ESPN; “A fourth straight gut-punch loss for the Golden Bears has Justin Wilcox’s squad reeling. Cal did almost everything right but couldn’t sustain the momentum for a full 60 minutes and paid the price for letting up at the end.” What’s that old saying, “the beatings will continue until morale improves.” Cal stays home to host Oregon State this next Saturday