Bears Dismantle Oregon State, 44-7

Saturday, October 26

Berkeley, CA

1 PM PT

California

4-3 , 1-3

Oregon State

4-4 , 0-1

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Oregon St.	0	0	0	7	7
California	14	17	10	3	44

Bears Dismantle Oregon State, 44-7 Image

Fernando Mendoza threw for a career-high 364 yards.

Photo by: Andrew Madsen/KLC Fotos

10/26/2024 4:28 PM | Football

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Mendoza Sets Career High With 364 Passing Yards

By: Cal Athletics

BERKELEY – Quarterback Fernando Mendoza threw for a career-high 364 yards and freshman Derek Morris tied a school record with five made field goals, leading the California football team to a 44-7 rout of Oregon State on Saturday afternoon at California Memorial Stadium.

Mendoza threw two touchdown passes while Jaivian Thomas and Jamaal Wiley rushed for scores, as the Golden Bears snapped a four-game losing streak with a thorough victory over their old Pac-12 rivals.

"We just want to be really consistent in our play and have a standard of play that doesn't deviate, regardless of who we play, what the score is, what the weather is like, whether there are fans or no fans," Travers Family Head Football Coach Justin Wilcox said. "This builds confidence, and confidence is a really important part of football."

One of Mendoza's touchdown throws ended up being credited to himself, as he completed a short pass to Thomas, who lateraled the ball back to Mendoza for a 15-yard score. Mendoza also completed a 20-yard touchdown pass to redshirt freshman Nyziah Hunter, his fifth scoring catch of the season.

Cal's defense came close to registering its first shutout since 2005 before the Beavers scored a touchdown with five minutes to play. The Bears held Oregon State to 200 yards of total offense, the lowest total by a Cal opponent since Colorado registered just 104 total yards in 2021.

"It's just all of us buying in," Cal safety Craig Woodson said. "The whole week we told each other to just believe in each other and buy into what we do. The way we dominated today gives us confidence going into our next game."

Morris went 5-for-5 on field goal attempts in just his second career game, including a 46-yarder in the second quarter.

The Bears' halted four-game losing streak came by a total of four points.

"The psychology of sports and how one play can really affect the psychology of a player or a team or an entire football community is amazing," Wilcox said. "We had some frustrating and agonizing losses. I'm really proud of the guys for coming out and playing with confidence and believing in themselves and each other.

"After four tough losses like that, there are people out there that would have crumbled and not been able to bounce back. I'm really, really proud and pleased with our guys for battling back."

Cal will return to action on Nov. 8 at Wake Forest. The game kicks off at 5 p.m. PT and will air on the ACC Network.