Cal's offensive struggles return as defense can't hold down Utah in loss

Going into its second week of five straight ranked opponents, Cal was hoping to get an upset win against No. 16 Utah. Instead, the Bears saw a lackluster performance, especially on defense, leading to a 34-14 loss to the Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday.

Cal (3-4, 1-3 Pac-12) got off to a strong start with a career-long 48-yard reception for running back Jaydn Ott and a career-long completion for Fernando Mendoza for a touchdown in the first quarter — the first score of the game and the only touchdown or field goal the Bears would get in the first half.

But Cal’s defense, normally a strong suit of its team, was lacking for the second week in a row. With starting middle linebacker Jackson Sirmon, the team’s second leading tackler, out with an injury and with Nate Burrell going down early in the second quarter, the defense was depleted and seemingly lacking energy against a struggling Utah offense.

The second quarter was ridden with defensive mistakes and missed tackles for the Bears, something that cost them dearly with a two-score second quarter for the Utes. With quarterback Cam Rising still out, it was crucial for Cal to capitalize on a weaker Utah offense plagued with injury.

That is exactly what Cal didn’t do.

“There’s no magic calls that the ball carrier just goes on the ground. They were more physical than us up front for most of the day. We missed I don’t know how many tackles in critical downs,” said Cal head coach Justin Wilcox. “... We gave up too many points for us to win today.”

Granted, it was without several key players, but the defensive unit has been strong overall in the past, and Saturday’s performance certainly cost Cal the game.

The defensive woes continued throughout the second half as the Bears failed to get stops and continued to miss tackles while the Utes leaned on two-way player Sione Vaki, who turned in a career performance. The safety rushed for 158 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including a 72-yard score in the fourth quarter. It was the best rushing performance by a safety in Pac-12 history.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Bears lost momentum after Mendoza had his pass tipped near the line of scrimmage resulting in an interception early in the second quarter.

“The tipped ball interception was a third down play in the second quarter … If that ball was not tipped, I think that’s a big play,” Wilcox said. “You know, coulda, shoulda, woulda. He put the ball where it needed to be.”

While the redshirt freshman had a solid start — and has certainly looked better than Cal’s other quarterbacks throughout the past six weeks — he had very little time with the ball.

At the half, the Utes (5-1, 2-1) had double the possession time of the Bears, with Utah holding the ball for just under 20 minutes to Cal’s 10:34. Cal ran 20 fewer plays than Utah on the day.

When the offense did get the ball, however, it was tough going. Where Mendoza distributed the ball with seeming ease last week, Saturday proved tougher for the young quarterback. Mendoza got sacked twice but showed great signs of decision making and precision passing.

The second-year freshman finished the game with 149 yards through the air before he was taken out. Interestingly, the Bears relied less on their run game than usual — with a 24-31 run-pass split. Mendoza left the game briefly following a hit — during which he was replaced by Ben Finley — and then was replaced by Finley again on a later drive in the fourth quarter.

Wilcox did not have enough information from team doctors to provide an injury update after the game, but Mendoza assured reporters that he is 100% despite needing to be removed from Saturday’s contest after taking a hard hit.

The Utah offense found its spark in the middle of the game, scoring 24 straight points off of three rushing touchdowns and a field goal. At that point, Cal lost any semblance of momentum or offensive cohesion, combined with its defensive woes.

“I don’t know that the offense or the special teams did enough for us to win today either. It’s alarming in the sense that we need to play better football all around,” Wilcox said.

When it came to the Bears’ play on offense, Cal was hurt by mistakes made by skill players. Decision making at quarterback was also much more lackluster following Finley’s entrance into the game. The NC State transfer went 5 for 14, earning a 36% completion rate in what was a tough outing, one that certainly hurt the Bears on offense.

In the fourth quarter, Cal fell apart at the seams. Nothing was going the Bears’ way as the Finley-led offense was struggling to find any completions with penalties galore.

But the Bears’ offensive struggles were nowhere near its defensive woes in terms of costly performance, and Cal’s inability to capitalize on a weaker Utah offense proved to be detrimental.

Passing

Fernando Mendoza – 10/17, 149 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception

Ben Finley – 5/14, 39 yards

Rushing

Jaydn Ott – 8 rushes, 46 yards

Fernando Mendoza – 7 rushes, 12 yards

Isaiah Ifanse – 4 rushes, 9 yards

Jaivian Thomas – 1 rush, 9 yards

Receiving

Taj Davis – 7 catches, 93 yards, 1 touchdown

Jaydn Ott – 2 catches, 48 yards, 1 touchdown

Monroe Young – 1 catch, 17 yards

Jack Endries – 1 catch, 15 yards

Trond Grizzell – 2 catches, 6 yards

Defense

Matthew Littlejohn – 10 tackles (4 solo)

Patrick McMorris – 9 tackles (3 solo)

Cade Uluave – 9 tackles (5 solo), 1 tackle for loss

Nohl Williams – 7 tackles (6 solo)

Xavier Carlton – 7 tackles (3 solo), 1/2 tackle for loss