Cal Sports Report

Cal-SMU Game Thread: Bears Try to Clinch First Winning Season Since 2019

Bears must face the nation's No. 9 team without QB Fernando Mendoza and two other key starters

Jeff Faraudo

Chandler Rogers makes an emergency start vs. SMU
Chandler Rogers makes an emergency start vs. SMU / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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Cal hopes to win for the fourth time in five games and clinch its first winning season since 2019 when it takes on No. 9 SMU today at the Mustangs’ Ford Stadium.

Cal (6-5, 2-5) already has secured bowl eligibility for the second straight season. The Bears are coming off a 24-21 come-from-behind win over Stanford in the 127th Big Game.

*** The big pre-game news, courtesy of Cal's pre-game radio show, is that quarterback Fernando Mendoza will not play today due to an illness. Chander Rogers will start in his place. Also, leading rusher Jaivian Thomas and OT Nick Morrow are out, unexpectedly. The details here.

The Bears are playing a game in the state of Texas for the sixth time this century. They have won four of the previous five, but SMU is nearly a two-touchdown favorite so this one will be a seriouss challenge.

SMU (10-1, 7-0) already has locked up a spot in next Saturday’s ACC championship game against either Miami or Clemson. The Mustangs’ opponent will be determined today.

Before kickoff, we’ll have the status reports on injured starters ILB Cade Uluave and OG Sioape Vatikani.

COIN FLIP: SMU wins the toss and elects to receive the opening kickoff

In the meantime, here's our game preview for today

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Jeff Faraudo
JEFF FARAUDO

Jeff Faraudo was a sports writer for Bay Area daily newspapers since he was 17 years old, and was the Oakland Tribune's Cal beat writer for 24 years. He covered eight Final Fours, four NBA Finals and four Summer Olympics. 

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