Depleted Bears Fall to #24 UNLV in LA Bowl, 24-13

SOFI STADIUM - After a turbulent regular season followed by even more unsettled days since their regular season finale loss to SMU and the controversial departure of QB Fernando Mendoza, the news didn’t get any better for Cal fans as a depleted Bears’ squad fell to 11-3 UNLV, 24-13 in front of 24,420 fans at SoFi Stadium in the LA Bowl in Inglewood.

Head coach Justin Wilcox was asked after the game about his thoughts about the transition to the ACC and about his thoughts on the team’s character and leadership this season.

"You know, these guys are living through the most dynamic environment in college football history, and there's a lot of empathy for all that they're going through," Wilcox said after the game. "I certainly don't feel sorry for them, because we all get to take part in the greatest game ever created - college football. And I'm bullish on college football.

“You know, the current system we're in probably needs some work. But man, I could go down the list of the guys who put in so much time and effort. And you know, you don't always get the results you want. And I've always appreciated their work ethic and what they bring to meetings and practice. And there's no better examples than the two guys sitting right here."

Despite being shorthanded at QB and several other positions, a series of critical plays doomed the Bears to defeat in what was a winnable game against a solid UNLV team.

“The game came down to the fake punt they got a score off of,” Wilcox noted. “We had the ball on the 2-yard line. We couldn't quite get it in the end zone. We unfortunately had a turnover that turned into a touchdown, the missed field goal. So there's some plays in there. The special teams had a few punt returns, I think they got that ended up, I believe, resulting in a field goal. They had a long punt return. So the defense was on a short field a couple times and gave up some points, and the offense, when we got down there low we didn't quite put in the end zone. But obviously, the fake punt was a was a tough one. So, yeah, really unfortunate that we couldn't quite get that done.”

The Bears got on the board first. After both teams traded 3-and-outs to start the game, the Bears took over at their 23 and got a huge run from running back Jaydn Ott on the first play of the drive as the junior running back burst off tackle for a big 48-yard run to the UNLV 29 to put the Bears in scoring position. Runs by Harris and Ott and an incompletion from Harris only netted the Bears four more yards as they settled for a 43-yard field goal from kicker Derek Morris with 7:43 left in the game to draw first blood.

The Rebels didn’t take long to strike back as QB Malik-Hajj Williams hit a wide-open Kayden McGee in broken coverage for a 49-yard TD strike to go up 7-3 after the Caden Chittendon PAT with 5:04 left in the quarter.

The Bears looked like they’d retake the lead quickly as returner Kadarius Calloway returned the kickoff 79 yards to the UNLV 21 but a holding call on redshirt frosh tight end Ben Marshall took the ball all the way back to the Cal 11 to start the drive.

Undaunted, QB CJ Harris (13-for-20, 109 yards) took the Bears on an 8-play, 89-yard drive to retake the lead with a 22-yard grab from tight end Jack Endries followed by a well-executed 29-yard jet sweep by frosh receiver Josiah Martin putting the Bears up 10-7 after the Morris PAT with :27 left in the quarter.

On the ensuing drive, it looked like the Bears would hold UNLV to a 3-and-out but Rebel punter Marshall Nichols shoveled a pass to receiver Jacob DeJesus, catching the Bears’ coverage off guard as he raced for 52 yards to the Cal 9. On the next play, Williams hit DeJesus with a dump pass the speedy receiver took to the house for an easy TD to put UNLV back in the lead at 14-10 after the PAT two minutes into the second quarter.

The Bears had a prime opportunity to retake the lead late in the quarter as tight end Jack Endries pulled in a catch down the sideline and stretched for the goal line, seemingly crossing the plane but he was ruled out short of the goal line after replays were seemingly inconclusive with bad angles. The Bears had to settle for a Ryan Coe field goal after failing to punch it in, heading into the locker room down, 14-13.

Both teams played to a standstill through most of the third quarter till misfortune struck the Bears.

With frosh QB EJ Caminong in for his first playing time of the season after an injury sent starter Harris to the locker room, the rookie’s inexperience showed as the frosh QB overthrew his target in the backfield for a backwards pass on a late third quarter possession that was recovered on a highly-questionable call by UNLV safety Jett Elad as the ball went out of bounds.

The Rebels immediately took advantage of their good fortune as running back Kylin James erupted for a 23-yard rush up the middle for an easy score on the next play to go up 21-13 with 2:11 left in the quarter. 

With Caminong struggling with a series of overthrows and deflected passes, the Bears were not able to mount any kind of rally to respond. A late UNLV field goal iced the game, giving the Rebels their winning margin with the final score of 24-13.

The game saw a large amount of reps from young players, many of whom had barely seen the field if at all this season. Wilcox noted that much of it was due to some players’ preferred snap limitations, particularly those with NFL aspirations after this season. Wilcox also noted that it was an opportunity to evaluate the younger players on the team and their future with the program.

Safety Craig Woodson played his last game as a Bear after six season wearing the Blue and Gold. The senior had three tackles and a quarterback hurry in his collegiate finale. 

Woodson reflected on the experience after the game.

"It was all worth it, honestly," Woodson said. "Glory to God, first of all, just allowed me to play this game at a high level, and just giving me the opportunities that he's blessing me with, just to be on the field and all the things off the field. I'm just grateful for it. I'm happy that I stayed this extra year coming to Cal because honestly, everybody's got options nowadays, but I think this is a special place, and the relationships that I've built here, I wouldn't trade it for nothing.

“So I'm grateful for my teammates, the way that we fought today, even though we didn't come out with the victory, we gonna fight to the end every time. So just proud of these guys. And you know, the people who will be here next year, man, they just gotta keep going. They gotta use this as fuel to just go into next season with a chip on their shoulder."