Cal Football: Freshman QB Fernando Mendoza Shows Some Grit During Live Scrimmage

The Miami native earns respect of his teammates after `winning' play on Saturday.

The starters were done for the day. Same with the second team.

Cal’s fourth string was on the field to end Saturday’s first scrimmage of fall camp but everyone was still tuned in to watch quarterback Fernando Mendoza, a lean 6-foot-5 quarterback from Miami, Florida, seize the moment.

First, Mendoza scrambled out of the pocket at midfield only to be blasted by the kind of hit coaches don’t want to see in a practice. Pac-12 officials, working the practice, flagged the offender and the offense moved 15 yards closer to the end zone.

A couple plays later, Mendoza threw down the middle, drawing a pass interference penalty at the goal line.

Fernando Mendoza / Photo by Al Sermeno, KLC fotos

Coach Justin Wilcox sprinted to the middle of the field and called for a two-point play. The snap would be the final one of the day and on the line were 10 pushups by the unit that came up short.

Mendoza rolled right after a play-fake, watched and waited and delivered a strike to Kenden Robinson Jr., a fifth-year junior from the East Bay who made previous stops at City College of San Francisco and Northern Iowa.

Mendoza’s offensive teammates mobbed him in a striking scene of jubilation for a practice in mid-August while the defense hit the turf to deliver those 10 pushups.

“It was a great reaction from my teammates,” Mendoza said. “Everybody came and started patting my helmet. It was a really good reaction because we didn’t have to do those 10 pushups, and also we got the score.”

Mendoza has been a surprise through the first week-plus of training camp. While he’s no threat to overtake Jack Plummer or Kai Millner at the top of the still-to-be formalized depth chart, he is making the most of his opportunities. And he got a lot of those Saturday, running several series at the close of practice.

“He’s learning so much each and every day,” coach Justin Wilcox says in the video above. “I think if you ask anybody, Fernando is one of the most eager guys that you’ll meet. He is hungry to learn. He makes the most of his reps, no doubt about that. He’s got a strong arm. He’s just very, very conscientious.”

Wilcox praised the toughness of all of Cal’s quarterbacks, but said it was good for Mendoza to be able to show his teammates that quality after absorbing the big hit, and then respond with a winning play.

“The loser was going to have to do 10 pushups,” Mendoza said, “so there was a lot on the line.”

Mendoza was hardly a big-time recruit out of Columbus High School in Miami. The Cuban-American 18-year-old passed for 1,109 yards with 11 touchdowns in 12 games as a senior, while guiding his team into the semifinals of the 8A Florida playoffs.

The scouting services weren’t bowled over. ESPN and 247Sports gave him three stars, Rivals just two. His other college offers came from Yale, Bryant, FIU, Lehigh and Penn. Not a word from hometown Miami, let alone Florida or Florida State.

But interest from Ivy League schools suggests Mendoza has a good head on his shoulders, and the appreciation he shows for his teammates provides a glimpse into his maturity.

While describing the two-point play in the video at the top of this story, Mendoza mentioned by name all five offensive linemen involved — Dashaun Harris, Josh Stovall, Jackson Brown, Colin Maroney and Colin Hamilton.

“Everybody did a great job of protecting. If you look back at the play, I kind of had four or five seconds,” he explained. “Not many college quarterbacks have that much time. But with those five guys, who are great up front, I had a lot of time to survey the field.”

Mendoza even made sure to compliment the guys on the other side of the line. “The defense did a great job of locking up my first three reads,” he added.

And Mendoza stressed he has no issue with his teammate who plastered him. “We’re best buds,” he said.

More than 3,000 miles from Miami, Mendoza said he feels right at home in Berkeley. He doesn’t have a car but said teammates — even defensive players — volunteer to give him rides.

His goal for this season is to learn and progress and he cited the support he’s getting from the coaching staff and his fellow quarterbacks. “They’ve embraced me and really answered any questions I’ve asked.”

So far, Berkeley is everything he hoped it would be.

“My junior and senior years when I was applying to colleges and researching them I realized how amazing and special it is,” he said of Cal. “So when I had the opportunity to come here, I was thrilled and it was honestly a dream come true.

“I knew I fit in the day I got here. . . . I belong here and I want to do everything I can to positively impact the Golden Bears.”

Cover photo of Fernando Mendoza by Al Sermeno, KLC fotos

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