Cal Football: Fernando Mendoza Says Bears Are`Burning the Boats' to End Skid

Cal needs to win three in a row to become bowl eligible, starting Saturday vs. Washington State.

Asked if Cal’s home finale against Washington State on Saturday afternoon is a big moment in the season for his team, quarterback Fernando Mendoza took it a step further.

“This is huge,” he said. “We’ve had the analogy this week that we’re going to burn the boats. That means that we’re going to be all in this week.

“We’re all in every week, however this week it means more because if we win out these next three games we’re going to go to a bowl game and that would be huge for the program, huge for the coaches and huge for my fellow players.

“Our team is prepared and I can’t wait for Saturday — it’s going to be a great showing for us.”

The Bears (3-6, 1-5 Pac-12), locked in a four-game losing streak, do need to sweep WSU, Stanford and UCLA to become bowl eligible. The visiting Cougars (4-5, 1-5) are only a little better off, needing two wins in their final three games to get it done.

But the Cougars have lost five a row since a 4-0 start that lifted them to No. 13 in the AP Top-25.

Fernando Mendoza, meeting with Oregon's Bo Nix, looks forward to a happier post-game / Photo by Troy Wayrynen, USA Today

Mendoza is preparing to make the fifth start of his young career, the first one against a team not currently ranked.

WSU coach Jake Dickert looks at the Bears and sees a different team than we watched early in the season.

“I think (Mendoza) completely changed their offense,” Dickert said. “Now they can really throw the RPO game like they want to. He has enough escape ability, and they have big, long trees at wide receiver and they’re willing to take the ball down the field and go get it.

“So they’ve been extremely scary on that side of the ball.”

They’ve been better at home, for sure, than on the road. In Mendoza’s two starts at Memorial Stadium, the Bears scored 40 points against Oregon State and 49 against USC.

They weren’t nearly so prolific on the road, losing 34-14 at Utah and 63-19 at Oregon last week.

Mendoza notes the difference in the opponents home vs. road.

“I believe our fans and our environment helps a lot,” he said. “However, I do believe it is a small sample size, playing Utah and Oregon in really hostile environments. And I believe they are the top two Pac-12 defenses by a large margin.

“At Utah and Oregon I had a lot of missed opportunities I could have capitalized on to score more points. At home it seems that we get in a rhythm and I’m looking forward to gaining a rhythm when we play away.”

Mendoza seems entirely comfortable in his role as the Bears’ starting quarterback. He is growing as a young leader and his teammates respond to him.

It’s been a fun experience . . . except for the losing.

“I would say there is a balance. This has been a tough month, not winning any games,” he said. “I’ve been playing decently well — I haven’t been playing up to my standard. I still have a lot to improve in my game.

“I’ve been enjoying playing with my brothers and being out there and the experience of playing college football with my best friends. I’ve been finding joy in the process of that. That’s kind of how far my enjoyment has gone.”

The losing clearly gnaws at him.

“We haven’t won any games under my tenure yet, so that’s been very frustrating,” Mendoza said, “and I’m looking to change that this Saturday.”

Cover photo of Fernando Mendoza handing off to Jaydn Ott by Troy Wayrynen, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo