What to know before Cal kicks off against No. 9 SMU
CAL at No. 9 SMU
Records: Cal 6-5, 2-5 ACC; SMU 10-1, 7-0 ACC
Kickoff: 12:30 p.m. PT Saturday at Ford Stadium, University Park, Texas
TV: ESPN2
Radio: 810 AM
Series history: SMU won the only previous meeting, beating a one-win Cal team 13-7 at Berkeley on Sept. 21, 1957. A year later, the Bears played in their most recent Rose Bowl game.
Cal storylines: The Bears will close out their inaugural season in the ACC with a chance to possibly spoil SMU’s playoff aspirations . . . Cal became bowl eligible for the second year in a row with its 24-21 come-from-behind win over Stanford in the 127th Big Game last Saturday. The Bears won it after Fernando Mendoza directed a fourth-quarter drive he dubbed “98 yards with my boys” during an emotional on-field interview afterward . . . Most bowl experts expect Cal to land in the L.A. Bowl, scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 18 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, although matchups have not been determined . . . ILB Cade Uluave and OG Sioape Vatikani are listed as day-to-day after missing the Big Game due to injury.
SMU storylines: The Mustangs, also first-year ACC members, have clinched a spot in the ACC championship game, Dec. 7 at Charlotte, North Carolina. The Mustangs will play Miami, if the Hurricanes beat Syracuse on Saturday, but otherwise would face Clemson. SMU is No. 9 in the latest CFP rankings, giving it a solid shot at a spot in the new 12-team playoff . . . SMU is looking to complete back-to-back unbeaten conference seasons after running the table last season in the American Athletic Conference . . . The Mustangs are 8-0 and have averaged 41 points since redshirt sophomore Kevin Jennings took over as the starting quarterback . . . They are coming off a 33-7 road win over Virginia in which they sacked the quarterback nine times.
Stats that matter: The game matches the two toughest defenses in the ACC, with the Bears leading the conference in fewest points allowed (20.7 per game) and the Mustangs a close second (21.0) . . . Cal is tied for second nationally with 17 interceptions and top-10 in turnovers gained at 22, but does not have a takeaway the past two games . . . The Mustangs’ 7-0 conference record is the best by any program moving up from a mid-major league to a power conference since at least 1978, according to SMU.