Cal Sports Report

Cal Football Game Summary: Bears Beat Wake Forest

Bears hold on in the fourth quarer to get their first ACC victory

Jake Curtis

Fernando Mendoza
Fernando Mendoza / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
In this story:

Cal won its first ACC game by beating Wake Forest 46-36 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Friday night.

The summary:

CAL46, WAKE FOREST 36

RECORDS: CAL (5-4, 1-4 ACC), WAKE FOREST (4-5, 2-3 ACC)

PLAYER OF THE GAME (Offense):  Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza. For the second week in a row, Mendoza set a career high in passing yardage, amassing 385 yards on Friday. He also threw two touchdown passes and ran for a third.

PLAYER OF THE GAME (Special teams): Cal kicker Ryan Coe booted two 54-yard field goals. He had been replaced as Cal's regular place-kicker two games ago.

STAT OF THE GAME:  Cal's Fernando Mendoza threw 40 passes in the first half. It was the most passes in the first half by any FBS team this season and only the fourth time in the past 10 years that an FBS team had atempted 40 passes or more in the first half against an FBS opponent. Only once this season had Cal completed more than 40 passes in an entire game (42 against North Carolina Sate). Mendoza completed 30 of those 40 passes for 289 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

STAT OF THE GAME II: Cal recorded seven sacks.

STAT OF THE GAME III: Cal had four takeaway, including three interceptions, which give the Bears 17 picks for the season.

TURNING POINT:  In a span of nine seconds, Cal scored the first 10 points of a game. On the kickoff following Derek Morris' 38-yard field goal with 10:03 left in the first quarter, Cal's Hunter Barth forced a fumble by returner Desmond Claiborne. Cal's Miles Williams returned the fumble 16 yards for a touchdown that gave Cal a 10-0 lead with 9:54 remaining in the first quarter

CAL PLAYER AVAILABILITY:  Inside linebacker Cade Uluave was in the starting lineup Friday after missing Cal’s previous game with an injury; however, he limped off the field with a leg injury midway through the second quarter and did not return to the game . . . Wide receivers Tobias Merriweather and Kyion Grayes were both available for the first time this season and made their Cal debuts on Friday. . . Tight end Corey Dyches and outside linebacker Ryan McCulloch returned to action Friday after missing the Oregon State game. . . Offensive lineman Rush Reimer was not available.

KEY PLAY 1:  Cal’s Jaydn Ott scored an apparent touchdown on a 1-yard run on fourth down, but the play was negated by a holding penalty called on Bears tight end Jeffrey Johnson, who had just entered the game in place of injured Jack Endries.  Cal settled for a 30-yard field goal by Derek Morris to take a 3-0 lead with 10:03 left in the first quarter.

KEY PLAY 2:  On the ensuing kickoff, Wake Forest returner Desmond Claiborne was hit by Cal’s Hunter Barth, who tore the ball out of Claiborne’s hands for a fumble. It was recovered by Cal’s Miles Williams, who returned it 16 yards for a touchdown that gave Cal a 10-0 lead with 9:54 remaining in the first quarter.

KEY PLAY 3:  On a third-and-7 play from the Wake Forest 48-yard line, Fernando Mendoza threw a pass that was intercepted by Demon Deacons safety Nick Andersen at the Wake Forest 30-yard line.  Andersen returned the interception 30 yards to the Cal 30-yard line with 6:14 left in the first quarter.  It led to Desmond Claiborne’s 1-yard touchdown run that reduced the Cal lead to 10-7 with 3:49 left in the first quarter.

KEY PLAY 4:  Fernando Mendoza threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Mikey Matthews to complete a 57-yard scoring drive that increased Cal’s lead to 17-7 with 13:26 left in the first half.

KEY PLAY 5: Cal’s Derek Morris kicked a 38-yard field goal with 9:21 left in the second quarter to complete a 45-yard scoring drive and extend the Bears’ lead to 20-7.

KEY PLAY 6: On a fourth-and-1 play from the Cal 44-yard line, Desmond Claiborne took the shotgun snap, handed off to Horatio Fields, who was sweeping to the left.  Fields then handed off to quarterback Hank Bachmeier, who threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Claiborne to reduce Cal’s lead to 20-14 with 3:50 remaining in the first half.

KEY PLAY 7:  Fernando Mendoza completed a 2-yard touchdown pass to Tobias Merriweather to finish off a 65-yard drive that gave Cal a 26-14 lead with 1:30 left in the first half. (Mendoza’s pass on a two-point attempt was incomplete.)

KEY PLAY 8: Cal’s Ryan Coe kicked a 54-yard field goal on the final play of the first half to give Cal a 29-14 lead at the break.

KEY PLAY 9: Cal cornerback Nohl Williams intercepted a Hank Bachmeier pass in the Bears’ end zone, keeping Cal’s lead at 29-14 with 11:39 left in the third quarter.  It was Williams’ seventh interception of the season, which leads the nation.

KEY PLAY 10: Wake Forest quarterback Hank Bachmeier completed a 45-yard touchdown pass to Donavon Greene with 7:43 left in he third quarter to reduce Cal's lead to 29-21.

KEY PLAY 11: Cal's TJ Bollers blocked a 51-yard Wake Forest field goal attempt, giving Cal the ball at the Wake Forest 28-Yard line. It led to Fernando Mendoza's 5-yard touchdown run with 18 seconds left in the third quarter, giving Cal a 36-21 lead.

KEY PLAY 12: Wake Forest quarterback Hank Bachmeier scored a touchdown on a 4-yard run, then completed a pass to Harry Lodge for a two-point conversion to reduce Cal's lead to 36-29.

KEY PLAY 13: Cal's Ryan Coe made a 54-yard field goal, giving Cal a 39-29 lead with 6:39 left in the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY 14: Wake Forest's Tate Carney scored on a 2-yard run, reducing Cal's lead to 39-36 with 3:57 to go.

KEY PLAY 15: With 1:54 left in the fourth quarter, Cal linebacker Liam Johnson intercepted a Hank Bachmeier pass at the Wake Forest 42-yard line. It led to Jaivian Thomas' 11-yard touchdown run with 1:10 to go, giving Cal a 45-36 lead.

INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE GAME:  Fernando Mendoza had career-highs in completions (40), attempts (56) and passing yards (385).

QUARTERBACK STATISTICS: Cal's Fernando Mendoza was 40-for-56 for 385 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Wake Forest’s Hank Bachmeier was 19-for-36 for 274 yards, wo touchdowns and three interceptions.

WHAT IT MEANS:  Cal finally got its first ACC win and finally won a game that came down to the closing momens. The Bears still have a shot at a winning record. The Bears now need to win just one of their final three games to become bowl-eligible

CAL'S BOWL BAROMETER:  Cal's bowl chances stand at about 75%. The Bears need o win one of its final hree games against Syracuse, Stanford and SMU. The Bears will be favored against Sanford and will be an underdog against SMU. The Syracuse game is probably a coin flip.

NEXT GAME: Cal (5-4, 1-4 ACC) faces Syracuse (6-2, 3-2 ACC) in Berkeley, California, on Saturday,  November 16. Kickoff time: Noon. TV: The CW Network. Syracuse will play a road game at Boston College on Saturday, November 9, at 9 a.m. Pacific time

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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