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Cal Football Game Summary: Bears Lose to No. 16 Utah 34-14

Originally posted on Cal Bears on SI | By Jake Curtis | Last updated 10/14/23

Cal lost to No. 16 Utah 34-14 on Saturday afternoon in Salt Lake City as the Utes won their 18th straight home game.

Utah controlled the line of scrimmage, rushed for 317 yards and scored a season-high 34 points.

Utah played without quarterback Cameron Rising, who has yet to play this season after suffering a severe knee injury in last season's Rose Bowl. Bryson Barnes started at quarterback for the Utes and performed well, completing 15-of-21 passes with no turnovers.

Cal redshirt freshman quarterback Fernando Mendoza made his second collegiate start Saturday, and he played OK, completing two touchdown passes and throwing one interception on a tipped pass. However, he left the game with an injury with 11:14 left in the game. He returned four plays later for one play, but then did not play the rest of the game.

Game summary:

No. 16 UTAH 34, CAL 14

RECORDS: CAL (3-4, 1-3 Pac-12), UTAH (5-1, 2-1 Pac-12)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Utah running back/safety Sione Vaki. Vaki, a safety who was put in the offensive backfield Saturday because of injuries to Utah running backs, rushed for 157 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 10.5 yards per carry. He also recorded four tackles on defense.

TURNING POINT: Utah drove 89 yards and ate up more than six minutes on the clock before scoring a touchdown with 26 seconds left in the first half, giving the Utes a 14-7 lead. The Utes then took the second half kickoff and converted that possession into a 23-yard Cole Becker field goal that make it a 17-7 game.

CAL INJURIES: Bears inside linebacker Jackson Sirmon, a first-team all-Pac-12 selection last season, did not play because of injury. Starting defensive lineman Ethan Saunders also sat out with an injury. Defensive lineman Nate Burrell left the game with a lower-body injury in the first half.

KEY PLAY 1: On a third-and-8 play from the Utah 48-yard line, Cal’s Fernando Mendoza threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to Jaydn Ott, who covered 48 yards after catching the pass at the line of scrimmage. Mendoza was leveled as he released the pass. It gave Cal a 7-0 lead with 5:41 left in the first quarter.

KEY PLAY 2: Utah’s Cole Becker missed a 33-yard field-goal attempt, keeping the Cal lead at 7-0 with 1:18 left in the first quarter.

KEY PLAY 3: A pass by Cal’s Fernando Mendoza was tipped at the line and intercepted by Utah’s Lander Barton at the 50-yard line. Barton returned it 2 yards to the Cal 48-yard line with 13:29 left in the second quarter. Utah turned the resulting possession into a touchdown.

KEY PLAY 4: Utah running back Ja’Quinden Jackson scored on a 3-yard touchdown run, tying the score 7-7 with 7:56 left in the first half.

KEY PLAY 5: Utah’s Sione Vaki scored on a 1-yard touchdown run, completing an 89-yard touchdown drive that ate up 6:02 of the clock. It gave Utah a 14-7 lead with 26 seconds left in the first half. Utah converted a fourth-and-1 play from the Cal 43-yard line midway through the drive.

KEY PLAY 6: Utah’s Bryson Barnes completed a 41-yard pass to Munir McClain, putting the ball at the Cal 12-yard line. Four plays later Cole Becker kicked a 23-yard field goal, extending Utah’s lead to 17-7 with 10:36 left in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY 7: Cal's Fernando Mendoza fumbled when he was hit by Jonah Elliss while he was about the pass, and Utah's Cole Bishop recovered the ball at the Cal 13-yard line. Utah turned it into a touchdown on Bryson Barnes 4-yard run into the end zone. That gave Utah a 24-7 lead with 9:11 left in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY 8: Cal's Fernando Mendoza completed a 24-yard touchdown pass to Taj Davis, reducing Utah's lead to 24-14 with 4:21 left in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY 9: On a fourth-and-7 play from the Cal 34-yard line Utah's Bryson Barnes was stopped after a gain of 3 yards by Cal's Kaleb Elarms-Orr, turning the ball over on downs to Cal with 12:54 left in the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY 10: Cal's Fernando Mendoza left the game with an injury after taking a hard hit with 11:14 left in the game. He is replaced by Ben Finley, but Mendoza returned four plays later.

KEY PLAY 11: Cal's Mateen Bhaghani missed a 30-yard field goal attempt, keeping Utah's lead at 24-14 with 7:49 left in the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY 12: Utah's Sione Vaki ran 72 yards for a touchdown that gave Utah a 31-14 lead with 6:51 remaining the in the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY 13: Ben Finley replaced Fernando Mendoza to start Cal's next possession.

STAT OF THE GAME: Cal entered the game averaged 216.8 rushing yards per game, but ran for just 66 yards against the Utes, while Utah had 317 rushing yards.

STAT OF THE GAME II: Utah recorded five sacks; Cal had none.

STAT OF THE GAME III: Cal committed two turnovers, both of which were turned into Utah touchdowns. Utah committed no turnovers.

INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE GAME: Utah had two players rush for more than 90 yards apiece. Ja'Quinden Jackson ran for 94 yards, and Sione Vaki, who also played safety on defense Saturday, rushed for 158 yards.

INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE GAME II: Jaydn Ott, who started the day as the Pac-12's leading rusher at 111.6 yards per game, had just four carries for 20 yards, although he did have a 48-yard touchdown reception.

QUARTERBACK STATISTICS: Cal's Fernando Mendoza was 10-for-17 for 149 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Cal's Ben Finley was 5-for-14 for 39 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. Utah's Bryson Barnes was 15-for-21 for 128 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. He also rushed for 50 yards.

WHAT IT MEANS: Cal's chance finishing with a winning record took a hit as Utah scored a season-high 34 points. Bears redshirt freshman quarterback Fernando Mendoza played decently, but it was not enough as the Bears' defense again failed to hold down an opponent and could not stop the run.

CAL'S BOWL BAROMETER: Cal's chances of landing a bowl berth slipped to about 20%. The Bears must win at least three of their final five games, and four of their final five foes are ranked.

NEXT GAME: Cal (3-4, 1-3 Pac-12) vs. No. 10 USC (6-0, 4-0 Pac-12 before Saturday) at California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley on Saturday, October 28. Kickoff time: To be announced Monday. TV: To be announced Monday. Cal has a bye this coming week, then in two weeks the Bears host 10^th-ranked USC, which played No. 21 Notre Dame on Saturday.

This article first appeared on Cal Bears on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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