Cal Football Game Summary: Bears Lose to No. 23 SMU

Cal led 20-17 at halftime but was outscored.42-0 in the second half in a 59-20 loss to 23rd-ranked SMU on Saturday in Dallas. SMU is now 11-0 in conference home games since joining the ACC prior to the 2024 season.

The game summary:

NO. 23 SMU 59, CAL 20

RECORDS: CAL (3-5, 2-3 ACC), SMU (6-1, 4-1 ACC)

Player of the Game

SMU running back Kendrick Raphael. Raphael rushed for 104 .yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries on Saturday. He also caught a 22-yard touchdown pass. Last year, while playing for Cal, Raphael rushed for 111 yards in the Bears' 38-35 upset of SMU.

Turning Point

After Cal went three-and-out to open the second half, SMU scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 61-yard drive on its first possession of the third quarter, turning a 20-17 Cal lead at halftime into a 24-20 SMU lead. Cal began the second half with three consecutive three-and-outs, and SMU scored touchdowns on each of its three possessions after those three-and-outs.

KEY PLAY 1: Cal’s Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele completed a 36-yard pass to Ian Strong, putting the ball at the SMU 19-yard line. Two plays later, Sagapolutele completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Chase Hendricks, completing a 75-yard drive and giving Cal a 7-0 lead with 10:28 left in the first quarter. Sagapolutele was 4-for-4 for 52 yards on that drive.

KEY PLAY 2: SMU kicker Brandan Baird kicked a 29-yard field goal to complete a 53-yard drive that reduced Cal’s lead to 7-3 with 7:14 left in the first quarter. Two 15-yard penalties against Cal aided the Mustangs’ drive.

KEY PLAY 3: On a fourth-and-2 play from the Cal 22-yard line, SMU’s Kevin Jennings completed a 22-yard touchdown pass to Kedrick Raphael to give the Mustangs a 10-7 lead with 2:46 left in the first quarter.  Earlier in that possession SMU converted a first down on a fourth-and-7 play from the Cal 41-yard line when Jennings completed an 11-yard pass to Randy Pittman Jr.

KEY PLAY 4: On a fourth-and-5 play from the SMU 31-yard line, Cal used a fake field-goal play, and holder Dominic Ingrassia ran for 7 yards and a first down at the SMU 24-yard line. That led to a 1-yard touchdown run by Mason Mini, who took a direct snap and scored to give Cal a 14-10 lead with 10:46 remaining in the second quarter.

KEY PLAY 5: Cal kicker Towns McGough made a 41-yard field goal to increase Cal’s lead to 17-10 with 5:12 remaining in the second quarter. A 26-yard Sagapolutele completion to Taimane Purcell put Cal in position.

KEY PLAY 6: SMU’s Kevin Jennings completed a 27-yard pass to Theo Melin Ohrstrom, putting the ball at the Cal 1-yard line. That led to Kendrick Raphael’s 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down to tie the game 17-17 with 1:57 left in the second quarter.

KEY PLAY 7: Sagapolutele completed a 16-yard pass to Ian Strong, putting the ball at the SMU 19-yard line with one second left in the first half.  That led to Towns McGough’s 37-yard field goal on the final play of the first half, giving Cal a 20-17 lead.

KEY PLAY 8: SMU's Christian Rodes scored a touchdown on a 5-yard touchdown run to give the Mustangs a 24-20 lead with 10:11 left in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY 9: Kevin Jennings completed a 21-yard touchdown pass to Derrick McCall to increase SMU's lead to 31-20 to 7:26 left in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY 10: SMU's Christian Rhodes scored a touchdown on a 3-yard run, giving the Mustangs a 38-20 lead with 4:04 remaining in the thid quarter.

KEY PLAY 11: SMU's Kendrick Raphael scored a touchdown on a 1-yard run to give the Mustangs a 45-20 lead with 11:23 left in the fourth quarter.

STAT OF THE GAME I: Cal had 255 yards of total offense in the first half, but had just 15 yards in the third quarter and only 50 yards in the second half. SMU had 186 yards of offense in the first half, but had 145 yards in the third quarter and 306 yards in the second half.

STAT OF THE GAME II: Cal committed.11.penalties for 108 yards.

STAT OF THE GAME III: SMU had 256 rushing yards; Cal had 40.

INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE GAME: Cal QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele completed 19-of-23 passes for 214 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions in the first half. But he had just 22 passing yards in the third quarter and just 51 passing yards in the second half..

QUARTERBACK STATISTICS: Cal’s Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was 27-for-37 for 265 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions; SMU’s Kevin Jennings was 16-for-23 for 223 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, and he also ran for 26 yards.

CAL PLAYER AVAILABILITY: Running back Adam Mohammed, running back Carter Vargas, tight end Dorian Thomas, wide receiver Cooper Perry, wide receiver Jordan King, wide receiver Mark Hamper, center Bastian Swinney, offensive tackle Jimothy Lewis Jr. and defensive lineman Nate Burrell were not available for Saturday’s game.

SMU PLAYER AVAILABILITY: Safety Tyren Polley Jr., running back Dramekco Green, defensive end Ira Singleton IV and safety Ahmaad Moses were not available for Saturday’s game.

What It Means

This outcome was not a surprise because Cal was a heavy underdog, especially on the road against SMU, which is 5-0 at home this season and 11-0 in conference home games since joining the ACC prior to the 2024 season.  However, the fact is Cal has now lost four of its last five games and seems headed for a losing season under first-year head coach Tosh Lupoi. Cal would need to win all four of its remaining games to finish the regular-season with a winning record for the second straight year. Three wins in those four games would give Cal a 6-6 record and chance to win a seventh game in the postseason.  However, Cal is expected to be an underdog in three of its final four games. If Cal fails to win another game the resulting 3-9 record would be the Bears’ worst since they went 1-11 in Sonny Dykes’ first season as Cal’s head coach in 2013. If the Bears win one of their remaining games, their 4-8 record would match the Bears’ 4-8 record in 2022 as the worst Cal seasons since 2013.

Cal’s Bowl Barometer

Cal’s bowl chances dwindled to about 15%. The Bears need to win at least three of their remaining four regular-season games to become bowl-eligible for the fourth straight season, and Cal is likely to be an underdog in three of those games. Cal might be favored in the November 21 Big Game against Stanford, but will be underdogs the next two weeks on the road against North Carolina State and Virginia. The Bears have a chance in their final regular-season game against Pitt in Berkeley now that the Panthers are without quarterback Mason Heintschel is out for the season.

Cal’s ACC Title Barometer

Cal’s chance of reaching the ACC title game dropped to about 0.1%. Although strange things could happen the rest of the way in the ACC, which has only one dominant team (Miami), it seems impossible at this point that a team, like Cal, with three conference losses could finish as one of the top two teams and earn a berth in the conference championship game.

Cal’s Next Game

Cal (3-5, 2-3 ACC) vs. North Carolina State (3-4, 1-3 ACC)

Site: Carter-Finley Stadium, Raleigh, North Carolina

Date: Saturday, October 31

Starting time: 9 a.m. Pacific time (noon North Carolina time)

TV: ACC Network

Most recent North Carolina State result: North Carolina State lost to Stanford 31-28 on Friday night at Stanford. The Cardinal rolled up 477 yards of offense, including 303 yards through the air.

Follow California Golden Bears on SI on X: https://x.com/jakecurtis53