Miami is living the season.
A week after Virginia Tech's Hail Mary upset ended No. 8 Miami's undefeated season, the Hurricanes received another favorable call from the referees and helped end a rally against Cal Tech. .
With the Golden Bears leading 38-32 and running out the clock, quarterback Fernando Mendoza attempted to scramble for a first down on third-and-12.
Mendoza tied it with a helmet-to-helmet hit by Miami's Wesley Viseinte. There were no calls on the play, but officials requested a review of the target as Mendoza was being checked out by Cal's medical staff.
“Miami has been in situations where they've had to replay for weeks in a row that it makes you wonder if the officials are making the right decisions,” ESPN analyst Brock Osweiler said on the broadcast. “I don't see how that wouldn't be targeting by the definition in the rulebook…By definition, it's 100 percent targeting.”
Cal punted, and Miami's star QB Cam Ward immediately led the Hurricanes on a six-play, 92-yard drive, giving Miami a 39-38 victory after trailing 35-10 in the third quarter. .
“Totally cheating. Shameless. Horrible.” Reddit CFB account posted on Xalong with a clown emoji.
“Cal was completely ruined on what was supposed to be the best day in program history. The ACC Jurisdiction Center will quietly sweep this under the rug until Miami needs help again next week.” .”
Ward led four straight touchdown drives to end the game and ruin what looked like the most memorable day in years for the Golden Bears (3-2, 0-2). ). He hosted ESPN's “College Game Day” for the first time and participated in the final tournament. Their second victory over a top-10 team in the past 21 seasons is on the horizon.
Instead, Ward made sure a rare capacity crowd at Memorial Stadium went home dissatisfied.
Ward had 277 yards of offense in the fourth quarter, the most by a player in the last seven years, and finished with 2,380 passing yards and 20 TD passes in his first season after transferring from Washington State. reached the top in the United States.
“You can't put yourself in a situation like this to come back,” Ward said. “We had to do that two games in a row. We have to lock in. … It was nice to win. I'm not going to complain. An ugly win is better than a good loss.”
Ward threw an 18-yard TD pass to Isiah Horton with 10:28 left to make the lead 38-25, then scrambled in from 24 yards out to make it a six-point lead with 4:04 left.
Ward finished 33-of-53 for 437 yards with two touchdown passes and a TD run, overcoming a pick-six that put Miami in a hole in the third quarter.
Mendoza made some big plays against the team he grew up rooting for in Miami, but it wasn't enough.
Mendoza threw a 57-yard TD pass to Jack Endries, a 51-yard TD pass to Tron Grisell and a 5-yard run to Jadon Ott in the first quarter to give Cal a 14-7 lead.
Ott scored again midway through the second quarter with a 66-yard catch and run on a fourth-and-one, and in the third, Mendoza threw a 59-yard pass to Jaivian Thomas, setting up Chandler Rodgers' 9-yard TD run.
But Cal punted on its first two drives of the fourth quarter, which ended with an interception by Mendoza with seconds left.
“Football is a humiliating game,” University of California coach Justin Wilcox said. “Obviously we had every chance to win that game. We didn't do it, so each individual has to own it.”
— with AP
