Cal Football's Season Not Left in a Wake at Wake Forest

Onwards and upwards the Bears go.

Fernando Mendoza via @calfootball on twitter

A Friday night game in Winston-Salem is enough to raise everyone’s anxiety levels. The California Golden Bears sent those feelings off the scale in spurts, but eventually came out on a top for their first ACC victory. At times, there was a dreaded feeling of “here we go again”, but the Cal players stood up and stood firm when plays had to be made. While definitely not a perfect performance, the Bears now have their second winning streak of the season established and can ensure bowl eligibility with a win over Syracuse next week.

Doing it when it counts

Cal got ahead by two scores against Wake Forest, but had to hold on for dear life at the end. It’s odd, the Bears outgained the Demon Deacons by over 100 yards, won the turnover battle by 2, dominated special teams, and still were only up three with two minutes left and on defense. A weird phenomenon to be sure, but as we’ve all learned with this iteration of the California Golden Bears, things can quickly dip into abnormal status.

When Cal was presented these scenarios, they didn’t wilt. Liam Johnson, who alongside Hunter Barth stepped up in place of Cade Uluave, made the game sealing interception. Barth forced a fumble on a kickoff, had a great sack of Hank Bachmeier that lead to a blocked field goal, and was generally a pest. Unquestionably, it was his best career game in a Cal uniform and should Uluave miss some time, Barth will have ample opportunity to close the year strong.

To parlay some more thoughts together, the special teams unit delivered once again. After Oregon State, I put out that the performance against the Beavers was the best stint of the Justin Wilcox era.

Move over, because the best special teams play was against Wake Forest.

• Hunter Barth forced a fumble on a kickoff and Miles Williams returned it for a touchdown.

• Xavier Carlton among others blocked a field goal that was returned several yards.

• Derek Morris made both of his field goals.

• Ryan Coe, the senior kicker who had been much maligned this year, came on to the field and DRILLED two 54 yard field goals. Good for him.

If the special teams unit can keep up even 75% of that performance, that will go a long way in playing complementary football and possibly tip the scales in other close games.

A penny with nickels

For as good as Cal’s defense has been this season, there have been two faults. We’ve been over the roller coaster ride that is 3rd and 4th down defense, but there’s also one pressure point that hasn’t resolved itself throughout the season.

The Bears are struggling at the nickel back position. Whether it’s Matthew Littlejohn or Cam Sidney, the slot corners have been picked on repeatedly in recent weeks. With Nohl Williams and Marcus Harris doing their job on the boundaries, some teams are moving their playmakers around (i.e. Justin Joly on NC State), and forcing mismatches akin to basketball switching.

With two offenses that know how to spread the ball around left on the schedule (Syracuse and SMU), it’s necessary for Cal to get better on those margins if they want a 7-8+ win season. Using their hands and angles to get that sliver of a chance on the ball can make all the difference as we have seen this season.

Maybe the answer is just a healthy Jasiah Wagoner. However, it’s too late into the season to rely on him being in consistent game shape and find a way to make all the right plays.

Weighing the offense out

As Cal is into the final stretch of the 2024 campaign, it’s fair to make some absolutes about how the offense looks. Furthermore, it’s fair game to look at how Mike Bloesch is navigating around his personnel’s strengths and weaknesses.

Fernando Mendoza has taken several strides this season and has the Bears at a good spot in the passing game. Entering Saturday’s action, Cal’s QB1 is 12th in the nation in completion percentage at 69% and 15th in passing yards per game (275.6). Generally, he’s making the right decision, moving the chains between the 20’s, and is still figuring out how to consistently capitalize in the red zone. Mendoza threw for a career high in passing yards, had a career high in pass attempts, and completed 40 passes, showcasing his ability to take on a high volume workload. Whether you believe that’s sustainable is up to you.

On the other hand, the running game has been a tirefire. Understandably, Jaydn Ott’s health plays a role in the ceiling of the rushing attack, but the problems go far beyond that. The offensive line has surrendered too many tackles for loss too many times this season (in the run and pass), putting drives behind the eight ball essentially before they begin. The Bears have had some success with outside runs and dump offs as an extension of the ground game, but tend to curiously go away from it.

Down the stretch of games, Cal can go to the air to move the ball and put points on the board with little issue. The problem? As it transpired against Wake Forest and earlier in the year, Cal can’t sustain any drives with double digit leads because they can’t run the ball. Too often, runs are called between the guards that end up in a pile of humanity.

Of course there aren’t many solutions when Mike Bloesch’s offensive line consistently struggles, but using the boundary runs with Jaivian Thomas may be a start. Due to Ott’s health, JET currently is the more maneuverable running back and may earn more snaps in closing games down the stretch when Cal needs an added dynamic.

Conclusions

Cal is back on the right track for now. A massive credit to the team for winning in a close game, which I’m sure was on their minds regardless of what they said about it to the media.

An out of state road win is no gimme and despite the roller coaster ride of the second half, Cal got it done which is what matters. None of the final three games will be perfect, but its imperative that the Bears find gears that they may not have had earlier in the year.

A win against Syracuse puts together a three game winning streak (and a weird ebb and flow with 3 straight wins, followed by 4 losses, and then 3 wins), clinches bowl eligibility, and sets the tone for Big Game week.

I don’t say this to be a negative nancy, but Cal is a flawed team this year. Their success at the end of this season will be predicated on the coaching staff pushing the right buttons at the right time, enabling strengths while protecting weaknesses. I’m aware that there are a lot of notions about whether good things will happen on that front, but we’ve all been proven wrong before.

While Cal may not have everything in front of them that they once did, it’s comforting to see their resilience and not seek shelther in the storm. They’ll need more of it when Kyle McCord rolls into town next Saturday.