Cal Must Play Better Vs. Florida State, Which Is a 3.5-Point Favorite

Even though the Bears are 3-0 and received more voting points in the top-25 polls, they are underdogs to the 0-3 Seminoles in their ACC opener

Cal wide receiver Nyziah Hunter caught a touchdown pass Saturday, giving him four TD receptions for the season / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Cal won by 21 points on Saturday night and received a little more respect in both top-25 polls on Sunday, but it still was not a particularly satisfying 31-10 victory over a San Diego State team that was playing without its starting quarterback.

“That was not a clean game at all for us,” Cal head coach Justin Wilcox. “We have to play much better than that.”

The Bears have to play better than that to have a chance in their ACC opener next Saturday night at Florida State, which, despite being 0-3 for only the second time since 1976, has been made a 3.5-point favorite by Fan Duel in its home game against Cal, which is 3-0 for the first time since 2019.

The Bears’ shortcomings on Saturday were obvious:

---Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza was sacked six times, and two of them were vicious hits that could have caused fumbles (but didn’t).

---Cal committed 12 penalties that cost the Bears 113 yards. (Two of those penalties and 30 of those penalty yards were assessed because fans threw objects onto the field, and being penalized twice for the same crowd offense may be a school record of sorts.)

---Cal failed in all three attempts to get a first down on fourth-and-1 plays.

---Cal receivers dropped several passes.

---Cal kicker Ryan Coe was 1-for-3 on field goal attempts and is now 2-for-6 for the season. (One of the misses Saturday was a 62-yard attempt at the end of the half; however, he did miss a 37-yard attempt in the fourth quarter.)

It sounds like the recipe for defeat, yet Cal walked away with a 21-point win and creeped a little closer to a top-25 ranking. The Bears received 11 voting points in the AP poll on Sunday, up from three a week ago, putting Cal in the No. 35 spot if the rankings were carried out that far. Cal got 10 voting points in the coaches poll, up from five a week ago, and would occupy the No. 38 spot in that poll.

Of course, playing a San Diego State team that was a 17.5-point underdog and used a redshirt freshman quarterback (Javance Tupou’ata-Johnson) making his first college start certainly helped the Bears’ cause.

So did the play of Jaivian Thomas, who, in his first college start, rushed for 169 yards and had runs of 57 and 37 yards that led to Cal touchdowns. (He started in place of Jaydn Ott, who did not play because of an ankle injury. It's unclear whether Ott will play against Florida State.)

So did the play of quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who, despite being roughed up by the Aztecs’ pass rush, completed 21-of-29 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns. He threw his first interception of the season but it was an accurate pass that bounced off the shoulder of wide receiver Mikey Matthews and into the hands of an Aztecs defender. Mendoza also scrambled effectively several times and scored his first touchdown of the season on an 8-yard run.

So did the play of the defense, which limited San Diego State to 10 points and picked off two more passes. That runs Cal’s season interception total to nine, which is two more than any other team in the nation. Cal’s turnover margin of plus-eight (2 turnovers, 10 takeaways) ranks tied for second in the country, behind Maryland plus-nine. Cal cornerback Nohl Williams recorded his fourth interception of the season, which leads the nation.

So Cal did just enough on Saturday night to improve to 3-0.

“Is just enough good enough?” Wilcox said, “I would hope not.”

It wasn’t good enough for the oddsmakers at Fan Duel, who still have the Seminoles as the favorites despite their disappointing showing in their 20-12 home loss to Memphis on Saturday.

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