California quarterback Fernando Mendoza threw a season-high 364 yards and two touchdowns
California quarterback Fernando Mendoza threw for a season-high 364 yards and two touchdowns, leading his team to a convincing 44-7 win against the Oregon State Beavers (4-4) Saturday afternoon. The sophomore signal-caller opened the game’s scoring with a nine-yard receiving touchdown after Jaivian Thomas caught his short pass to the right at the Oregon State 12 and threw a lateral back to the quarterback.
“We don’t coach that. Football players need to play football, and from time to time, those things happen,” California head coach Justin Wilcox told reporters in the post-game press conference, referring to his offense’s creative, impromptu play.
California’s offense rolled against Oregon State, scoring on all but one of its possessions. The home team’s air game was particularly effective, despite the Golden Bears’ star running back Jaydn Ott starting the game after dealing with nagging injuries this season. Mendoza avoided sacks and connected with eight receivers, including five who had a perfect completion rate. Ott caught four out of four passes for 58 receiving yards and added 11 rushing yards on 10 attempts carrying the rock.
In contrast, Oregon State’s offense struggled and was nearly shut out. The Beavers were held to only 200 total yards, earning 118 in the second half. Oregon State’s only score came with 5:03 remaining in the game. Beavers second-string quarterback Ben Gulbranson found junior wide receiver Trent Walker in the end zone to cap off a 17-play, 75-yard drive, which took nine minutes and 12 seconds off the clock.
The California Golden Bears, which improved its record to 4-4 (0-4 ACC) this season with its success against Oregon State, had lost four of the five last match-ups against the Beavers.
“There’s some really good football in there,” California head coach Justin Wilcox said after the game, highlighting the team’s success on all three phases of the game. The Golden Bears’ kicker Derek Morris tied a program record with five field goals made in a game, only the third kicker to pull off the feat in school history.
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