Cal Football plays with high stakes against No. 9 SMU in the season finale

The Cal Bears lost their first four ACC games by a total of nine points and have had to try to put a heartbreaking loss behind them all too often this season.

This week the Bears face a different task. They had to put last Saturday’s invigorating 24-21 comeback win over Stanford in the Big Game behind them and prepare to face No. 9 SMU in Dallas.

“I’ve already put the Stanford game behind me and I think most of my team has,” Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza said Tuesday. “Even though it was a rival win and it made us bowl eligible, it’s not the time to be complacent.

“We understand that SMU is a really good team.”

That is considered an understatement. The Mustangs (10-1, 7-0), ranked ninth nationally, have won eight straight games since a three-point loss to BYU on Sept. 6 and were averaging 39.3 points per game entering Friday fourth place in the country.

SMU will face either No. 8 Miami or No. 12 Clemson in the ACC championship game on Dec. 7 in Charlotte, N.C.

The Mustangs “have speed all over the field,” Cal head coach Justin Wilcox said. “They’ve done a great job recruiting and developing their team there. When you turn on the tape, it’s easy to see why their record is what it is.”

SMU’s record is 8-0 since Kevin Jennings became their starting quarterback. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound redshirt sophomore has completed 66.7% of his passes for 2,521 yards with 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions. His passer rating of 162.8 ranks second in the ACC behind Miami’s Cam Ward (171.2).

Mendoza was named ACC Quarterback of the Week after completing 25 of 36 passes for 299 yards and three touchdowns against the Cardinal. Mendoza’s 22-yard TD connection to Jonathan Brady with 2:40 remaining gave the Bears the lead to stay.

The outcome was still in doubt until backup quarterback Chandler Rogers ran for 7 yards on 3rd-and-5 at the Stanford 15 with under two minutes remaining.

Rogers, a transfer from North Texas, competed with Mendoza for the starting spot in preseason camp. Although Rogers only threw 10 passes in 2024, he impressed Cal coaches with his attitude.

“He was just the ultimate professional,” Wilcox said.

Offensive coordinator Mike Bloesch said Rogers “never wavered from his personality, his work ethic and his mentality. “He was an incredible teammate.”

Bloesch occasionally ran a series of plays with both Mendoza and Rogers on the field. “It’s a great package, the boys are enjoying it and it’s something we’ll definitely continue to build on,” said Bloesch.

Rogers is one of 19 players on the Cal roster who grew up in Texas. The Bears have made the Lone Star State a cornerstone of their recruiting process.

“We will start here in California,” Wilcox said, “but this is an area that we do very well and we will continue to mine in this area.”

The Bears’ starting safeties, Miles Williams and Craig Woodson, are from suburban Dallas. They have been in the program for six years and are committed to Cal and to bringing players with a Texas background to Berkeley.

In a recent interview with the Chronicle, Woodson said he told personnel manager Benji Palu to “get some Texas guys. “There are some playmakers.”

Williams, whose first college offer came from SMU, said, “The water is different. That’s all I’ll say. The water out there in Texas is different.”

Cal (6-5, 2-5) would post its first winning season since 2019 if it can pull off the upset of SMU. The Mustangs, on the other hand, can just about clinch a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff if they beat the Bears, regardless of what happens in the ACC title game.

“The Stanford game was great,” Mendoza said. “But our job is to make the best bowl game possible right now. And the way to get there is to go to Dallas, do our best and ruin SMU’s season.”

Reach Steve Kroner: [email protected]; X: @SteveKronerSF