California quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) gestures after a rushing touchdown during the first half of his NCAA football game against San Diego State in Berkeley, Calif., Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
Fernando Mendoza threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score, leading California to a 31-10 victory over San Diego State on Saturday night.
Jaivian Thomas ran for 169 yards, and Kadarius Calloway had a touchdown run to give the Golden Bears (3-0) three straight wins to open the season for the first time since 2019.
Cal overcame six sacks, 12 penalties, a missed field goal and three failed fourth downs to come away with the victory.
“We all got to learn how to win,” coach Justin Wilcox said. “The team has to learn how to win. The program has to learn how to win. Doing all those little things matters. It just has to be the standard for how you operate. You just can’t play that uneven and expect to sustain success because it will come back and bite you. So we got to demand it from the players and then they have to demand it from themselves.”
The Bears defense did the rest, keeping the Aztecs (1-2) out of the end zone until the fourth quarter. Cal has held all three opponents to 14 points or fewer after giving up 32.8 points per game last season.
The Bears broke open a tight game in the third quarter with Thomas' 57-yard run setting up Calloway's 7-yard touchdown and Mendoza's 20-yard TD pass to Corey Dyches capping a 90-yard drive.
Mendoza added a 15-yard TD pass to Nyziah Hunter in the fourth quarter, giving him four TDs in three games this season .
Sports
“That’s just a testament to his hard work, his dedication, and just his overall buy-in in the process,” Mendoza said. “I’m extremely proud of him and we got to keep it going.”
The Aztecs, coming off a shutout loss to Oregon State, had no answers with Javance Tupou’ata-Johnson making his first career start at quarterback in place of the injured Danny O’Neil.
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Tupou’ata-Johnson went 13 for 29 for 156 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Cal got stopped twice on fourth-and-1 tries in the second quarter but San Diego State was unable to take advantage. The Aztecs were forced to punt after taking over in Bears territory after stuffing the first try.
Tanu Letuli then had an interception on the second that appeared to go for a pick-6 before being called back for an illegal block. San Diego State then converted a fake punt but had to punt after another fourth-down conversion was called back for holding.
The Bears led 7-3 at the half behind an 8-yard TD run from Mendoza before breaking the game open in the third quarter.
“There was no rhythm,” Wilcox said. “We made it really hard on ourselves. Then in the third quarter, obviously offense picked it up, got some scores, which was great. We created some momentum.”
Out of control
The Cal students got their own team in trouble by repeatedly throwing cards used for card stunts on the field despite several warnings. The Bears were penalized twice for it in the third quarter with one coming on a kickoff and the other giving the Aztecs a first down.
That prompted Wilcox to borrow the referee's microphone to plead with the fans to stop.
“Fans, we love you. Stop throwing the cards on the field,” Wilcox told the crowd. “That's two 15-yard penalties. Please stop throwing the cards on the field.”
The takeaway
San Diego State: The penalty problem for the Aztecs went beyond the two that negated the big plays following fourth-down stops. San Diego State's 13 penalties in the first half were tied for the most in any half for an FBS team in the last 10 seasons. The Aztecs finished with 15 penalties for 120 yards.
California: The Bears were missing injured star running back Jaydn Ott, who has been limited by an ankle injury early this season and had just 60 yards on 24 carries the first two games. Ott warmed up before the game but didn't play. Cal will likely need a healthy Ott once the conference schedule starts next week.
Up next
San Diego State: Visits Central Michigan on Sept. 28.
California: Visits Florida State on Saturday in its first conference game since joining the ACC.
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