Bears Squander 4th Quarter Lead, Fall to NC State, 24-23

BERKELEY - The torture continues for frustrated Cal fans waiting for their first ACC victory as the Bears squandered a 12-point fourth-quarter lead in falling to NC State, 24-23. The Bears fell to 3-4/0-4 in the loss and the Wolfpack moved to 4-4/1-3 with their first conference victory.

Much as was the case throughout their 4-game losing streak, the offensive line was continually unable to give QB Fernando Mendoza time to throw in crunch time, keeping the Bears off the board in the fourth quarter and allowing the Wolfpack to rally. The loss brings the streak of futility to four straight games lost by a total of 9 total points. But no matter how close they’ve come to winning all four close games, the result remains the same - futility when the game’s on the line. And for the second straight game, when they had a chance to take the lead in the final minutes, a more than makeable kick sailed wide right to seal their fate.

“We’ve got to find ways, to win, obviously,” Wilcox said after the game. “Everyone knows that. I’ve got to do a better job coaching the team so we can get another point or two points. And that’s how we talk to the team, how we practice, what schemes we’re running, which players are being played, meetings, walkthroughs -all of it. We’ve got to do a better job.

“I thought the defense was playing well. I wouldn’t have thought we’d give up those two late (plays). They hit a couple gadgets, then they had a couple 50/50 balls and a third down and I believe another one where they just jumped up and caught it and then we missed the edge blitzer and made a mistake so we’ve got to do a better job coaching them.”

The Bears received the kickoff to open the game and went right to work, hitting paydirt on just their fourth play from scrimmage as running back Jaivian Thomas burst through a wide hole up the middle and raced 49 yards for a touchdown just a minute into the game. 

After stopping the Wolfpack on their next possession and forcing a punt, the Bears had an opportunity to extend their lead, driving 45 yards to the NC State 36. Facing 3rd-and-8, the Bears were playing it as 4-down territory, running Byron Cardwell up the middle for 3, leaving them with 4th-and-5. As they have on so many occasions this season, QB Fernando Mendoza hit WR Josiah Martin well short of the sticks on the fourth down pass where he was stopped cold, turning the ball over on downs.

The Wolfpack took advantage, driving 56 yards in 12 plays before settling for a 27-yard Caden Noonkester field goal to narrow the lead to 7-3 to wrap up the first quarter.

After trading possessions, the Bears took over at their 35 and on their first play from scrimmage, Thomas picked up 12 yards running off tackle before being stripped, with the Wolfpack recovering the fumble on the Cal 47, with cornerback Isaiah Crowell returning it 13 yards to the Cal 34. The Wolfpack made the Bears pay for the mistake, driving to the Cal 1 before running back KC Concepcion took the direct snap and danced up the middle for the score to go up, 10-7 with 3:20 left in the half.

Returner Nohl Williams took the ensuing kickoff at the goal line, returning it 40 yards. The Bears drove to the NC State 18 before their drive stalled. After frosh kicker Derek Morris - subbing for struggling Ryan Coe for placekicking duties hit the 36-yard field goal, the kick was wiped off the board on the Bears’ third false start penalty of the game, forcing a 41-yard re-kick that the frosh hit with ease to tie the game at 10 with 1:16 left in the half.

After forcing a 3-and-out in under 20 seconds, the Bears took over at midfield after a favorable bounce on the punt.

With Mendoza (30-for-42, 282 yards) hitting receiver Trond Grizzell and Cardwell on successive 13 and 22-yard completions, the Bears settled for a 26-yard field goal from Morris with 7 seconds remaining in the half to go into the locker room up 13-10 in a tight battle.

The Wolfpack dominated the time of possession in the half, holding the ball nearly 20 of the first 30 minutes of the half, despite trailing by 3 at the break.

The slugfest continued into the second half as the closest either team got to the end zone for much of the quarter was a Cal drive that ended on the NC State 5 on a pass to Endries at the line of scrimmage that was stuffed for no gain. The play continued an inexplicable run of the Bears seldom if ever throwing the ball to the end zone when in scoring position. The Bears settled for a field goal, with Morris hitting his third FG of the game to extend the lead to 16-10 with 9:10 left in the quarter.

It looked like the Bears would take the 6-point lead into the fourth quarter but caught a break on a Lachlan Wilson punt, with linebacker Liam Johnson stripping NC State returner Jaylen Coit at the Wolfpack 16. Three plays later, Thomas powered up the middle for a 7-yard TD run, extending the Bears’ lead to 23-10 at the end of the quarter.

The Wolfpack battled back, driving 75 yards in 7 yards keyed by 29 and 28-yard receptions before QB CJ Bailey hit tight end Dacari Collins for a 4th-and-1 TD over cornerback Marcus Harris to pull within 23-17 with 11:33 left in the game. Two separate players -OLBs David Reese and Serigne Tounkara nearly had Bailey for a sack on the prior play, which likely would’ve forced the Wolfpack to settle for a field goal but Morris was able to keep the play alive and hit Collins for an 11-yard gain to set up the TD.

After a pair of sacks -the first given up by the Bears all game - derailed the Bears’ next drive at midfield, NC State retook the lead, going 80 yards in 6 plays for the scoring drive. Facing 3rd-and-7 at the Cal 41, Morris hit running back Hollywood Smothers on a quick pass with the shifty Smothers juking two pair defenders on the way to the end zone as the Wolfpack went up 24-23 with 6:32 remaining.

After the touchback, the Bears went on the move, driving to the NC State 16 on an 11-yard reception by Endries. On the following play, Thomas took a 6-yard loss. Though there was a clear facemask on Thomas on the tackle, the Bears were whistled for holding, pushing them back to the 26 and forcing a 1st-and-20 from the 26.

The Bears were able to claw their way back to the NC State after a pair of completions but were forced to settle for a 27-yard field goal attempt with 1:37 remaining. Though the distance was short and the kick set up on the left hashmark, Morris somehow managed to miss wide right on the kick, leaving the Bears down one with a minute and a half remaining.

The defense held, forcing an NC State punt, giving the Bears one last chance with 1:09 left from the Cal 34. Mendoza was promptly sacked on the next play and had little time to pass on the next three plays, falling short of the first down and seeing their chances go down the drain for the fourth straight week. To add insult to injury, starting right tackle TJ Session went down with an injury on the final play from scrimmage, though the extent of his injury is not yet known.

The Bears were just 2-for-14 on third down and 2-for-4 on fourth as the opposition continues to thwart the Cal offense in critical situations. Endries again led the receiving game with 8 catches for 101 yards and Thomas led the Bears on the ground with 9 carries for 78 yards and 2 TDs. On defense, middle linebacker Teddye Buchanan had a solid game, leading all tacklers with 15 for the game. He also had 2 QB pressures and a pass defended in the loss.

“Frustrating to lose that way,” Buchanan said after the game. “The feeling right now is it hurts but we’re going to come back and regroup. And despite how things went today, I know that this team and myself, we’re going to come back and give it everything.”

“I agree with what Teddye said,” Mendoza said. “We’ve got to regroup, come back and punch harder because right now, especially in our offense, punches aren’t hard enough and I take accountability for that.”

The Bears had a season-high 6 sacks in the game but continued third down futility to the tune of 8-for-17 third down conversions for NC State made the sacks all for naught in the Bears’ loss.

The Bears will next take a break from conference play, facing old conference foe Oregon State next week at 1 pm at Memorial.