Cal Football: Bears Drop 15-17 Nail-Biter at No. 22 Pitt
Golden Bears' offense falls apart in the second half
The California Golden Bears (3-3, 0-3 ACC) could not find a way to win, as it dropped a 15-17 nail-biter to the No. 22 Pittsburgh Panthers (6-0, 2-0 ACC) Saturday evening.
The visiting Golden Bears scored on its first possession, marching down the field 75 yards in 10 plays. Running back Jaivian Thomas, who started instead of Jaydn Ott, carried the rock 21 yards to give California the 6-0 lead, but instead of kicking a point-after, the Golden Bears stayed on the field to try for two. A pass from punter Lachlan Wilson to snapper David Bird might have been too creative to execute, as California failed to convert the two-point conversion.
“We felt like we had a good opportunity for a chaos play. I felt like it was there,” California head coach Justin Wilcox told reporters in the post-game press conference, stressing he was eager to get ahead early.
The missing two points may have proved decisive in the close game.
California’s offense out-gained Pittsburgh 206 to 178 yards and owned the time of possession 20:43 to 9:17 in the first half, but trailed 9-17 at halftime.
Pitt’s running back, Desmond Reid, had 120 rushing yards and two touchdowns while carrying the ball against Cal. Reid had 98 rushing yards in the first two quarters alone, including a five-yard score in the first quarter and a 72-yard rushing touchdown to bring Pitt’s advantage to 14-6 at the beginning of the second quarter.
Panther kicker Ben Sauls nailed a 58-yard kick with 10:04 remaining in the second quarter to bring his team up 17-6.
California quarterback Fernando Mendoza was 27-for-37, throwing 272 yards and one touchdown, often finding his favorite target, sophomore tight end Jack Endries, on key plays. Endries found himself frequently open, which allowed him to haul in a game-high 119 receiving yards and a touchdown. His score cut California’s deficit to 15-17 early in the fourth quarter, giving the visiting team hopes of earning an upset against a top-25 team.
But Pitt’s defense came together to close out the game.
The Golden Bears’ longest drive in the third quarter was just five plays, with three other possessions resulting in unmemorable three-and-outs.
Cal place-kicker Ryan Coe’s 40-yard kick, which would have given the Bears an 18-17 advantage, went wide right with 1:50 left in the game, proving to be the nail in the coffin for the upset bid.
“We all failed today,” Coach Wilcox said after the game.
Read the insta-reactions to the Cal v. Pitt game. Don’t forget to rate the game!
Thanks Rick.
It must grow tiresome finding different ways to say the exact same frigging things each week with this coaching staff.
Your efforts are appreciated, bud.
Maybe someone can post idiocy like last week, where they said the last second loss to Miami would give those who want to fire Wilcox more ammunition? No, we don't need more ammunition, the guy is a total and complete failure at coaching, nice guy, bad coach. This is 100% on play calling, execution, strategy, preparation, and coaching, not effort or desire. I feel bad for the kids, they just haven't been taught to win. Winning breeds winning, and they just don't know how to close out games. Losing close while literally dominating every stat is insanity. But even more insane is that Wilcox is still the coach. I say redirect your NIL money to his buyout, it's higher value return. And to those who are content with Wilcox, contemplate this stat after 8 years: against Power 5 teams in regular season, Wilcox is 29-42. Only 8 of those wins were against teams that finished above .500. If that's not a fireable offense, I don't know what is.