Cal Football Game Summary: Bears Lose to No. 15 Oregon State

Cal redshirt freshman quarterback Fernando Mendoza makes his first collegiate start and performs well

Cal may have found a quarterback, but the Bears lost the game.

The Golden Bears gave redshirt freshman quarterback Fernando Mendoza his first collegiate start on Saturday night, and he performed well. But it was not enough against 15th-ranked Oregon State, which beat Cal 52-40 before a crowd of 34,930 in Berkeley.

Mendoza went 21-for-32 for 207 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.  He also ran for 41 yards to help bring the Bears within three points heading to the fourth quarter. (His one interception came in the fourth quarter with the Bears trailing by 17 points.)

"I thought he did a heck of a job," said Cal coach Justin Wilcox, who confirmed that Mendoza will be the Bears starting quarterback next Saturday at Utah. "He did a great job. You could tell the tempo on offense was different.  Overall I'm very pleased with what Fernando did."

Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei and Aidan Chiles combined to throw six touchdown passes with no interceptions. Uiagalelei threw five of those touchdown passes.

Injuries are a concern for Cal.

--Cal running back Jaydn Ott finished with 85 rushing yards, but he played just one play at the start of the second half, left the field and did not return.  Justin Wilcox said Ott aggravated a previous injury.  

--Cal offensive lineman Sioape Vatikani had to be taken off the field on a cart after suffering an apparent leg injury in the second half.

--Cal inside linebacker Jackson Sirmon, a first-team all-Pac-12 selection last season, left the game in the second half with an injury and it did not return.

The status of all three players for next week's game against Utah is uncertain.

Oregon State's 52 points were the most it scored against an FBS opponent this season. (The Beavers scored 55 against UC Davis.)

"Man, hoo, that was bad defense by us," Wilcox said.

Oregon State took the lead for good late in the second quarter, then the Beavers scored touchdowns on each of their first four possessions of the second half.

Game summary:

No. 15 OREGON STATE 52, CAL 40

RECORDS: CAL (3-3, 1-2 Pac-12), OREGON STATE (5-1, 2-1 Pac-12)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. He went 16-for-20 and threw five touchdown passes with no interceptions. His passer rating for the game was 263.3.

TURNING POINT: Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Jack Velling to give the Beavers a 21-17 lead with 2:00 left in the first half. The Beavers never lost that lead.

KEY PLAY 1: On a fourth-and-2 play from the Oregon State 4-yard line, Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza threw an incompletion, turning the ball over to Oregon State with 12:56 left in the first quarter of a scoreless game. Oregon State scored on its resulting possession.

KEY PLAY 2: Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Jack Velling to complete a 53-yard drive and give the Beavers a 7-0 lead with 7:42 left in the first half.

KEY PLAY 3: On the first play of the second quarter, Cal’s Mateen Bhaghani kicked a 20-yard field goal to complete a 53-yard drive and reduce Oregon State’s lead to 7-3.

KEY PLAY 4: Oregon State’s Silas Bolden returned a kickoff 59 yards to the Cal 41-yard line. On that play Cal’s Ryan McCulloch was penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness, putting the ball at the Cal 26-yard line. Four plays later, Oregon State quarterback Aidan Chiles threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Silas Bolden, giving the Beavers a 14-3 lead with 12:24 left in the first half.

KEY PLAY 5: Oregon State attempted an onside kick and Cal’s Ryn McCulloch grabbed it at the Cal 45-yard line and returned it 45 yards to the Oregon State 19-yard line. Five plays later, Cal quarterback Fernando Mendozo completed a 9-yard touchdown pass Isaiah Ifanse to reduce the Oregon State lead to 14-10 with 11:16 left in the first half.

KEY PLAY 6: Cal’s Jackson Sirmon forced a fumble by Oregon State’s Silas Bolden. The ball was recovered by Cal’s Patrick McMorris at the Cal 42-yard line and he returned it 9 yards to the Oregon State 49-yard line. Seven plays later, Cal’s Isaiah Ifanse scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to put Cal ahead 17-14 with 8:09 left in the first half.

KEY PLAY 7: On a fourth-and-goal play from the Cal 3-yard line, Oregon State’s DJ Uiagalelei threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Jack Velling, putting the Beavers ahead 21-17 with 2:00 left in the first half. The Beavers had a Damien Martinez run of 24 yards and a Uiagalelei pass completion of 26 yards on that drive.

KEY PLAY 8: Oregon State's DJ Uiagalelei threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Jesiah Irish, giving the Beavers a 28-17 lead with 13:32 left in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY 9: Cal's Isaiah Ifanse scored on a 5-yard touchdown run that reduced Oregon State's lead to 28-24 with 9:53 left in the third quarter. Ifanse also had a 24-yard run in that drive.

KEY PLAY 10: On third-and-4 play from the Cal 7-yard line, Oregon State's DJ Uiagalelei threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Jack Velling, increasing the Beavers'  lead to 35-24 with 5:40 left in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY 11: On Cal's fourth-and-13 play from its own 33-yard line, Oregon State's Jake Reichle was called for a 15-yard roughing-the-kicker penalty for running into Cal's punter Lachlan Wilson.  That gave Cal a first down at the 48-yard line.  Cal scored on that possession.

KEY PLAY 12: Cal's Fernando Mendoza threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jack Endries. Mendoza then threw a 2-point conversion pass to Jeremiah Hunter to reduce the Oregon State lea to 35-32 with 2:45 left in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY 13:  Oreon State's Damien Martinez scored on a 1-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-goal play from the 1-yard line to give the Beavers a 42-32 lead with 14:25 left in the fourth quarter. DJ Uiagalelei's 31-yard completion to Anthony Gould on a third-and-8 play from the Beavers' 38-yard line had kept that drive alive. 

KEY PLAY 14: Cal's Ashton fumbled, and Sione Lolohea, who caused the fumble, also recovered it at the Cal 49-yard line early in the fourth quarter. The Beavers scored on the resulting possession.

KEY PLAY 15: DJ Uiagalelei threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Hodgins two plays after throwing a 30-yard completion to Anthony Gould.  Hodins touchdown gave the Beavers a 49-32 lead with 12:32 left in the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY 16: Fernando Mendoza threw a pass that was intercepted by Oregon State's Jermod McCoy at the Beavers' 25-yard line with 11:37 left in the fourth quarter.

STAT OF THE GAME: Cal had 128 rushing yards in the first half and finished with 241 rushing yards. Oregon State, which began the game ranked fourth in the nation in rushing defense, had not given up more than 106 rushing yards in a game in any of its previous five games this season.

STAT OF THE GAME II: Oregon State piled up 499 yards of total offense, but Cal had 448 yards.

STAT OF THE GAME III: Oregon State quarterbacks threw six touchdown passes with no interceptions.

INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE GAME: Jaydn Ott had 82 yards on 12 carries in the first half, but had only one carry for 2 yards in the second half and did not play after the first series of the third quarter.

INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE GAME II:  Oregon State's Silas Bolden had 109 yards on two kickoff returns.  He also had 11 rushing yards and 34 receiving yards.

QUARTERBACK STATISTICS: Cal's Fernando Mendoza was 21-for-32 for 207 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He also ran for 41 yards on four carries.  Oregon State’s DJ Uiagalelei was 19-for-25 for 275 yards, five touchdown and no interceptions. Oregon State’s Aidan Chiles was 2-for-2 for 21 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.

WHAT IT MEANS: Cal showed its offense can move the ball against a quality defense with Fernando Mendoza at quarterback, and he will remain the Bears' starter next week against Utah.  But the Bears' defense did not hold up its end, yielding 52 points.  Cal's chances of finishing with a winning record are diminishing.

CAL'S BOWL BAROMETER: The Bears' chances of landing a bowl berth dropped to 30%.  They need three more wins to become bowl-eligible, and they will probably be underdogs in five of their remaining six games.

NEXT GAME: Cal (3-3, 1-2 Pac-12) vs. No. 18 Utah (4-1, 1-1 Pac-12) at Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Saturday, October 14. Kickoff: noon Pacific time. TV: Pac-12 Network. Utah had a bye this week after losing to Oregon State 21-7 last week. Utah has won 17 straight home games and 28 of its past 29 games at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Utes quarterback Cameron Rising has yet to play this year because of a knee injury, and it’s unclear whether he will play against Cal.

Cover photo of Jaydn Ott by Kyle Terada, USA TODAY Sports

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