Should Cal, Jaydn Ott, Fernando Mendoza Be Proud of This Win?

Bears nearly blew a big lead, Ott fumbled twice, Mendoza said he nearly had a heart attack at the end -- but Cal beat Washington State

Should Cal as a team, or Jaydn Ott as an individual, feel good about their performance in the the Bears' 42-39 victory over Washington State? And should Fernando Mendoza be proud of his day?

The bottom-line is that Cal ended a four-game losing streak, kept alive its hopes of a winning season and a bowl berth, and won a close game, something it has rarely done the past few years. The Bears had a 4-14 record in one-score games since the start of the 2020 season, which, as much as anything, led to Cal's losing records in the past three-plus seasons.

Good teams find a way to win those close games, and Cal found a way even though Washington State outgained Cal by 146 yards, had twice as many first downs as Cal (32-16) and ran 40 more offensive plays than the Bears (97-57).

However -- and it's a big however -- if Dean Jankowski's field goal attempt in the final minute had gone one yard farther to the right, instead of missing wide left by a foot or two, the game would have gone into overtime, and the Bears' might suffered a crushing defeat. Also, if Cameron Ward's final Hail Mary heave had found a Washington State receiver -- and it almost did -- the Bears would have taken a loss that would have been hard to accept.

That's because the Bears held an 18-point lead after scoring a touchdown with 9:26 left, and nearly let it get away. And losing that game with such a sizable lead against a team that had lost five games in a row might have left a stain that could never be removed,

"We made it a lot harder than it needed to be," Cal coach Justin Wilcox said.

How would Ott feel? He had rushed for 167 yards for his fourth game this season of 150 yards or more.  Plus he surpassed 1,000 yards for the season, standing at 1,016 yards with two games left. His 52-yard run set up a fourth-quarter touchdown.

However, he had fumbled twice, the second of which was recovered by Washington State at the Cal 37-yard line and led to a Washington State touchdown that cut the Bears' lead to 42-39 with 5:32 left.

"That could have been the reason we lost, and it almost was," Ott said.

So he had to watch in agony as WSU had two final possessions with a chance to take the lead, including one that got to the Cal 31-yard line and Janikowski's missed field goal. 

Ott described what went through his mind as the Cougars nearly stole the game.

"Man, just scared that I had lost us the game," he said. "Just nervous, I didn't want to watch it, but I did. I'm just thankful my defense was able to step up and get it done."

Mendoza had similar tense moments.

"I almost had a heart attack at the end," Mendoza said, "but a win is a win whether it's messy or beautiful."

Mendoza's performance was not beautiful by any means. He threw two touchdown passes with no interceptions, but had performed better in previous games. Cal won the game because it returned two Washington fumbles for touchdown and a Cal center (Brian Driscoll) recovered an Ott fumble in the end zone.

However -- and this is another big however -- it amounted to Cal's first win with Mendoza as its starting quarterback after losses in his first four starts.

And a quarterback's value is measured in wins and losses.

Cover photo of Justin Wilcox is by Darren Yamashita, USA TODAY Sports

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