Cal Football Summary: Bears Beat UCLA 33-7
Cal became bowl-eligible by defeating UCLA 33-7 on Saturday night in Pasadena in the very last regular-season game of the Pac-12 conference in its current makeup.
By winning their sixth game, the Bears are headed to a bowl, and it probably will be the December 16 Independence Bowl, where its opponent would be a Big 12 team, probably Texas Tech but possibly Iowa State or Kansas.
The turning point against UCLA was Jaydn Ott's 100-yard kickoff return in the second quarter, which turned a 7-6 Cal deficit into a 13-7 Cal lead.
UCLA starting quarterback Ethan Garbers left the game in the first quarter with an injury and did not return. Dante Moore was the Bruins' quarterback the rest of the game.
The game summary:
CAL 33, UCLA 7
RECORDS: CAL (6-6, 4-5 Pac-12), UCLA (7-5, 4-5 Pac-12)
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Cal linebacker Cade Uluave. Uluave had 11 tackles, including one sack and two tackles for loss, one of which was a critical stop for a 3-yard loss on a fourth-and-1 play by the Bruins in Cal territory. Uluave also had an interception to end another UCLA threat.
PLAYER OF THE GAME II: Cal receiver Jeremiah Hunter. Hunter had eight receptions for 101 yards ad two touchdowns.
TURNING POINT: Jaydn Ott's 100-yard kickoff return in the second quarter turned a 7-6 Cal deficit into a 13-7 Cal lead. It was Ott's first kickoff return of his college career.
KEY PLAY 1: UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers was hit by Cal’s Xavier Carlton just as Garbers released the ball, causing an incompletion. Garbers was injured on the play and left the game, replaced by Dante Moore with 9:10 left in the first quarter and the ball at the Cal 24-yard line. Garbers did not return to the game.
KEY PLAY 2: One play after Garbers left the game, Dante Moore’s first pass was tipped by Cal safety Patrick McMorris and intercepted by Cal safety Craig Woodson in the end zone. It gave Cal the ball at its own 20-yard line with 9:05 left in the first quarter.
KEY PLAY 3: On a third-and-11 play from the Cal 19-yard line, Cal’s Fernando Mendoza completed a 49-yard pass to Jeremiah Hunter to the UCLA 32-yard line with 7:58 left in the first quarter.
KEY PLAY 4: On that same Cal possession, Cal’s Mateen Bhaghani kicked a 43-yard field goal, giving Cal a 3-0 lead with 5:25 left in the first quarter.
KEY PLAY 4: Cal’s Mateen Bhaghani kicked a 36-yard field goal, giving Cal a 6-0 lead with 37 seconds left in the first quarter.
KEY PLAY 5: On a UCLA fourth-and-1 play from the Cal 20-yard line, Cal’s Cade Uluave stopped UCLA’s Carson Steele for a loss of 3 yards, turning the ball over the Cal with 11:53 left in the second quarter.
KEY PLAY 6: On a second-and-9 play from the Cal 47-yard line, Cal’s Fernando Mendoza threw a pass that was intercepted by UCLA’s Kamari Ramsey at the UCLA 35-yard line. A personal foul penalty on Cal’s Jeremiah Hunter on the play moved the ball to the 50-yard line with 10:06 remaining in the second quarter.
KEY PLAY 7: UCLA kicker Blake Glessner missed a 23-yard field-goal attempt, leaving the Cal lead at 6-0 with 6:58 left in the first half.
KEY PLAY 8: On a second-and-6 play from the Cal 24-yard line, Cal’s Fernando Mendoza threw a pass that was intercepted by UCLA’s Laiatu Latu at the 29-yard line. Latu returned the interception 21 yards to the Cal 8-yard line with 6:25 left in the second quarter.
KEY PLAY 9: On the UCLA possession that resulted from the interception, UCLA’s Dante Moore threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Logan Loya, giving UCLA a 7-6 lead with 5:38 remaining in the first half.
KEY PLAY 10: Cal’s Jaydn Ott returned the ensuing UCLA kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown that put the Bears ahead 13-7 with 5:27 left in the first half. It was Ott's first kickoff return of his college career.
KEY PLAY 11: On a first-and-10 play from the UCLA 19-yard line, UCLA’s Dante Moore was sacked by Cal’s David Reese, causing a fumble. The fumble was recovered by Cal’s Brett Johnson at the UCLA 11-yard line with 48 seconds left in the first half.
KEY PLAY 12: On the Cal possession that resulted from the turnover, Cal’s Fernando Mendoza threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Hunter with 10 seconds remaining in the first half, giving Cal a 20-7 lead.
KEY PLAY 13: UCLA's Dante Moore threw a pass that was intercepted by Cal's Cade Uluave at the Cal 35-yard line with 12:43 left in the third quarter and Cal holding a 20-7 lead.
KEY PLAY 14: On a fourth-and-13 play from the Cal 36-yard line, UCLA's Dante Moore threw a pass that was knocked down at the line of scrimmage by Cal's Xavier Carlton. That turned the ball over the Cal with 4:46 left in the third quarter.
KEY PLAY 15: Cal's Mateen Bhaghani kicked a 32-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter to give Cal a 23-7 lead.
KEY PLAY 16: UCLA's Colson Yankoff fumbled on a kickoff return on the play immediately following Bhaghani's field goal. The fumble was caused by a hit from Cal's Hunter Barth, and Cal kicker Michael Luckhurst recovered the ball at the UCLA 25-yard line.
KEY PLAY 17: On the resulting Cal possession, Cal's Fernando Mendoza threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Mendoza, giving Cal a 30-7 lead with 13:35 left in the fourth quarter.
STAT OF THE GAME: UCLA had three drive of 10 plays or more in which the Bruins scored zero points.
STAT OF THE GAME II: UCLA committed four turnovers. Cal committed two turnover, but the Bruins turnovers just seemed most costly.
INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE GAME: Cal running back Jaydn Ott rushed for just 80 yards, but 69 of those yards came in the second half. This came against a UCLA defense that entered the game leading the nation in yards allowed per rush at 2.17 yards per carry.
QUARTERBACK STATISTICS: Cal's Fernando Mendoza was 19-for-30 for 178 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. UCLA’s Ethan Garbers was 7-of-9 for 43 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. UCLA’s Dante Moore was 23-for-38 for 266 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
WHAT IT MEANS: Cal finished with three straight wins and wound up tied with UCLA for seventh place in the Pac-12. The Bears' 4-5 Pac-12 record matches their best conference mark since 2009, which was the last time Cal had a winning conference record. Cal also finished 4-5 in 2021, 2019, 2018 and 2015. Cal finished with a losing conference record for the 14th straight season, which is now the longest such active streak among FBS schools, since Kansas had a winning conference mark this season to end its 14 straight losing conference records. Cal has a chance for its first winning season since 2019 if it wins its bowl game.
CAL'S BOWL BAROMETER: The Bears' chance of landing bowl berth are about 99%. It would take an unforeseen series of events to keep Cal from playing in a bowl game for the first time since 2019.
NEXT GAME: Cal (6-6, 4-5 Pac-12) probably will play in the Independence Bowl against a Big 12 team in Shreveport, La., on Saturday, December 16. Kickoff time: 7:15 p.m. Pacific time. TV: ESPN
HIGHLIGHTS OF SATURDAY NIGHT'S GAME:
Cover photo of Justin Wilcox by Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports
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