Cal Football Beaten to a Pulp by the Syracuse Orange

The Bears did not squeeze out bowl juice nor did they come close

Credit @calfootball

In a game where Cal had the chance to become bowl eligible, the Bears were punched in the face over and over, dressed down on all sides of the football, and pulverized by the Syracuse Orange, 33-25. The game was not close throughout despite what the final score says, with two Fernando Mendoza first quarter interceptions dictating how the game would go throughout the afternoon. Kyle McCord was efficient in the pocket, punished soft coverage and penetration from the Cal defense, and the Orange offense did what they wanted when they wanted to. Comprehensively, it was the worst loss of the season for Cal on all sides of the football. The energy wasn’t present, the execution wasn’t there, and the Bears received this deflating output as a result.

The energy was barely present

From the jump, Cal was blitzed by Syracuse. The crowd wasn’t into the game during the first quarter, and as the half progressed, I can’t necessarily blame them. No one brought it. Players, coaches, and fans alike were all groggy as the football game got underway and it’s inexcusable. Bowl eligibility on the line and it seemed as if everyone still needed their morning coffee.

You can slice it however you want with stats, inflection points, and decision making, but the fact of the matter is that Cal did not help themselves as the game unfolded. In the fourth quarter the Bears fought but by that point it was way too late to claw back the sour taste in everyone’s mouth from that performance. Cade Uluave’s availability doesn’t change the systemic issues that were apparent against Syracuse from all parts of the football program.

Defense continues to be pushed around on critical downs

Peter Sirmon and Justin Wilcox emphasize weekly that the defense has to hone in on their critical downs, 3rd and 4th. Each and every week, when opposing offenses are on the ropes, they convert against the Bears. Against Syracuse it was no different even if the Orange were in the drivers seat the whole game.

Syracuse may have only gone 7/18 on third down, but converted every single fourth down (4/4) and moved the chains effectively when necessary. That’s been the nagging bug all season for the Bears on defense, and at this point its clearly more than that. This is a defense that can’t get off the field when it counts.

It’s fair to say that this side of the football shares a bigger burden when asked to go on the field so often but against Syracuse they were thoroughly outmatched and never made Kyle McCord, Trebor Pena, and LeQuint Allen Jr feel uncomfortable at any point during the game.

Fernando Mendoza gets a pass

Understandably, Mendoza did not have a first quarter to remember against Syracuse. However, with his play throughout the bulk of the season, I do believe he’s earned grace for a subpar performance against Syracuse. As usual, the offensive line failed to consistently generate push for running backs and allow wide receivers to develop their routes.

Fernando recently had a stellar stretch of games, and has generally done what he needed to do. It’s on the rest of the team to continue to prop him up when things aren’t firing on all cylinders. Syracuse pounced on Cal’s lack of energy and focus, and Mendoza simply couldn’t get anything going. Postgame, he continued to take accountability for the offenses performance but the deck is clearly stacked against him.

However, that doesn’t mean he can mope about today, and I’m confident he won’t. Fernando Mendoza will need to be the person to lead the charge in the 127th Big Game.

Conclusions

Relative to expectation, this was comprehensively the worst Cal performance of the season. The offense failed to sustain drives, the defense let Kyle McCord and Syracuse do as they please, and the special teams ultimately was a wash with the Orange nailing field goals.

Not the performance that Cal was hoping for with the Big Game right around the corner, and the team will have to dig deep to avoid what would be a full on disaster if the same effort is duplicated next week. Everyone has to own this loss, because the Bears were never really in the game in all facets. Credit to Syracuse for winning the line of scrimmage, but Cal will need to look itself in the mirror after yesterday’s game despite what the final score may say.