Quarterback Fernando Mendoza and Cal’s team leaders stood in front of their teammates at a players-only gathering Friday night and set the ground rules for Saturday’s game against Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
“It’s Cal vs. the world,” Mendoza said of the message that was sent. “We’re going to come into a hostile environment — 88,000 — but we know if we just if we execute play by play, we’re going to have a great result.”
Nearly a two-touchdown underdog, the Bears flew home from Alabama celebrating about as good a result as they could envision, a 21-14 triumph over a Southeastern Conference opponent that scored 73 points in its season-opening game.
Cal (2-0) played turnover-free football for the second week in a row, the defense had five takeaways and three sacks, and punter Lachlan Wilson averaged 46.6 yards on seven kicks, twice pinning the Tigers (1-1) back on their 2-yard line.
Cornerback Nohl Williams’ second interception of the afternoon, with 2:13 to play, sealed Cal’s fourth win over an SEC opponent in their past five meetings.
Two weeks away from playing their first game in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Bears suddenly look like a team that could exceed their projected 10th-place finish in their new conference.
A year after the Bears lost 14-10 at home to Auburn when they felt like they were the better team, this provided tangible evidence of improvement. That defeat was among 14 losses Cal had sustained by seven points or fewer over the previous four seasons.
Cal coach Justin Wilcox hopes this performance alters that discouraging pattern.
“There’s really no way to build confidence without demonstrated performance. It validates the work they put in,” he said. “Now the key is we continue to get better. This can’t be the best we play all year.”
Mendoza, who didn’t even play against Auburn last year as a third-stringer, completed 19 of 21 passes for 205 yards in the first half, including touchdowns of 19 and 13 yards to redshirt freshman Nyziah Hunter of Salinas.
Hunter, who now has three touchdown catches in two weeks and began this season as a third-team player, has said repeatedly he wasn’t sure how much he’d play this season. But two projected starters at wide receiver — along two starting offensive linemen — missed their second straight games due to injury, so there was opportunity for players like him.
“The number one thing that shows up environments like this…when the lights are on and there’s 80-whatever thousand people there and it’s loud, (with) some guys that gives them energy,” Wilcox said. “I think Nyziah’s like that.”
Players up and down the roster delivered that energy.
Mendoza and Chandler Rogers were expected to share snaps Saturday, but Mendoza was so good the coaching staff could not take him out. In the first half, he had just one incompletion that wasn’t a throw-away.
Auburn, which geared its defense to stop hobbled Cal running back Jaydn Ott (ankle) in the first half, adjusted to put more pressure on Mendoza after halftime. He was just 6 for 15 for 28 yards the rest of the way and was sacked twice.
Mendoza left the game briefly when he appeared to tweak his left knee while running out of bounds with 4:38 left and the Bears clinging to their seven-point lead.
Rogers came on and got the Bears a first down with a 10-yard keeper, but Mendoza was back on the field for the final snap as time ran out. He said afterward his knee feels fine.
The defense did most of the heavy lifting, especially in the second half.
Linebacker Teddye Buchanan, a transfer from UC Davis, had 11 tackles, two sacks and pried the football loose from running back Jarquez Hunter before safety Craig Woodson recovered at the Auburn 36 with 12:16 left to play.
Sophomore running back Jaivian Thomas scored two plays later, dashing 32 yards untouched for a 21-7 lead. Ott carried the ball 10 times for 11 yards.
Auburn pulled within 21-14 on a 2-yard keeper by quarterback Payton Thorne with 6:06 to play after three 15-yard penalties against the Bears. Linebacker Cade Uluave was ejected following a personal foul for targeting and Williams was twice flagged for pass interference in the end zone, the second one on a controversial call after Williams intercepted the ball.
But Williams got the last word, clinching the win by securing his second official interception with 2:13 to play.
