Cal Defeats Wake Forest, 46-36, Earns First ACC Win in the Heart of ACC Country
Golden Bears ran 87 plays for a whopping 500 yards against the Demon Deacons
The California Golden Bears (5-4, 1-4 ACC) played another fourth-quarter nail-biter but prevailed against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (4-5, 2-3 ACC) Friday night.
California quarterback Fernando Mendoza led the visiting team to a 46-36 win in Winston-Salem, N.C., its first in the Atlantic Coast Conference as first-year members of the predominantly East Coast league. Mendoza threw for 385 passing yards, successfully connecting with his receivers on 40 out of 56 passes attempted. He threw two touchdowns, one interception and had a five-yard rushing score at the end of the third quarter to bring his side up 36-21.
California added another 115 yards on the ground, with Mendoza leading as the team's top rusher with 51 yards, including a team-high rushing play of 24 yards.
"You [have] got to be able to run the ball," California head coach Justin Wilcox told reporters in the post-game press conference, reflecting on his team's pass-heavy performance. "We don't want to be that one-dimensional, ideally, but today, we needed to be."
California running back Jaivian Thomas had 33 rushing yards and one touchdown in the fourth quarter to close out the game for his team. The 11-yard rush to the left with 1:14 remaining in the game proved decisive and put Wake Forest's chances of an upset out of reach, further iced by an interception at the Wake Forest 35-yard line by senior defensive back Craig Woodsoon with less than a minute remaining.
The Golden Bears' star running back, Jaydn Ott, contributed only 23 rushing yards on 14 touches of the ball but also hauled in 19 receiving yards.
The typically stout Golden Bear defense landed three interceptions, but allowed the Demon Deacons to amass 386 yards, including 274 in the air, 25 first downs and a perfect three-for-three on fourth-down conversions, almost giving up a 15-point lead in the second half.
California is now one game away from the post-season with match-ups against Syracuse, Stanford and Southern Methodist, as its upcoming opportunities to earn bowl eligibility.
Read everyone’s instant reactions to the Cal v. Wake Forest game. Don’t forget to rate the game!
Given how things looked in the 3rd, take the win. Props to Coe, and Barth stepping in. Gotta beat Cuse and Furd and keep this momentum going.
Fun game to watch!
‘Nando, next time U choose not to score, let’s do it on say the 2 yard line.