Cal Vows To Climb Off The Mat and Keep Swinging

The Bears' unbeaten record derailed with a 14-9 loss at Florida State, and No. 8 Miami comes to town after a bye week

Fernando Mendoza / Melina Myers-Imagn Images

No. 8 Miami, which visits Cal on Oct. 5, scored 50 points on Saturday.

Brace yourself for this: It was only the third-most points the undefeated Hurricanes have put up in their four victories so far this season.

Looking ahead, Cal coach Justin Wilcox is definitely right about one thing: “Nine’s not enough points.”

It wasn’t enough Saturday at Doak Campbell Stadium, where the Bears (3-1) suffered their first defeat of the season in their Atlantic Coast Conference debut, an agonizing 14-9 loss to reigning league champion Florida State.

Going back nearly 50 years, the Bears have now dropped their past 56 games while scoring single-digit points, since a 7-0 victory over Washington in 1976.

The Seminoles (1-3) turned out to be a tougher bunch than their three losses starting this season suggested they might be. Still, they’re not the offensive juggernaut they were a year ago, when they won their first 13 games.

But their offensive line was good when it needed to be and their defensive front sacked Fernando Mendoza seven times in front of his Mom and Dad, who made the trip to Tallahassee from the family home in Miami.

In fact, FSU had 12 TFLs — tackles for loss — which contributed to the Bears' inability to find a rhythm on offense. Another issue was five false starts among seven pre-snap penalties that may have Wilcox grinding his teeth for the next two weeks. And two missed field goals from mid-range in the second half.

The defense held a fourth straight opponent to 14 points or fewer — the first Cal team to do that since 1979 -- and ranks top-20 nationally, allowing 12.75 per game.

Those Bears beat No. 18 Arizona State 17-9, Arizona 10-7 and San Jose State 13-10 before losing to No. 11 Michigan by an eerily familiar 14-10 score. 

The point is, it wasn’t good enough.

“We can’t be satisfied with where we’re at,” said sophomore linebacker Cade Uluave, noting the Bears were susceptible several times in third-and-long situations. “Defensively, we’ve got to stay hungry.”

Pushing the streak to five games with opponents scoring no more than 14 points will be a good trick. Miami is averaging better than 52 points and hasn’t been held to fewer than 41.

They have played 16 quarters and scored points in all of them. In 13 of those periods, Miami posted at least 10 points.

Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward, a transfer from Washington State, has thrust himself into the early Heisman Trophy conversation. Through four games, he has passed for 1,439 yards and an FBS-leading 14 touchdowns.

"The only thing that can stop us is us," Ward said after Miami's 50-15 win over South Florida.

In two career games against Cal, Ward has 697 passing yards and six TDs, although the Bears did beat Ward and the Cougars 42-39 last season.

Mendoza tossed out the notion that this defeat might be good for the Bears in the long run. Wilcox may not have shared that view, and certainly most Old Blues are not on board with the theory.

But Mendoza, whose only offer out of high school was from Yale before Cal came courting, is a glass half-full kind of guy. Actually, probably three-quarters full. It’s how Mendoza ticks and his optimism can be contagious with his teammates.

He was defiant about how the Bears will respond to this defeat, promising first that there would be “no pouting” on the long flight home Saturday night.

Mendoza wasn’t minimizing the loss. And although he passed for a career-best 303 yards, he understands a quarterback’s job is to produce touchdowns. Cal has dropped to 104th nationally at 23.0 points per game.

“When we got down in the red-zone we shot ourselves in the foot. A big minus on myself,” Mendoza said. “We’ve got to punch the ball in the end zone.”

Mendoza said the players have each other’s backs and there is no division in the locker room. It will be full speed ahead at practice Monday.

“We’re going to attack the bye week,” he said. “It’s only one game. We might have taken a jab. We’re going to come back and hit ‘em with an upper cut.”

The Bears might want to mix in a few touchdowns.