Cal heads to Dallas this week with plenty to sort out and little margin for comfort. The Bears, 3-4 overall and 2-2 in the ACC, are coming off a 41-7 home loss to Wake Forest and left Memorial Stadium without a clear answer at quarterback.
Their next stop is a tough one: No. 24 SMU, the first of three straight road games over four weekends.
The Mustangs present a steep challenge. SMU improved to 5-1 and 3-1 in the ACC with a 23-13 win over Virginia on Saturday, extending its winning streak to three games after a 41-31 loss to Louisville. DraftKings listed Cal as an 18.5-point underdog.
SMU has been a force in conference play since arriving in the ACC in 2024, going 17-3. The Mustangs have been even more imposing at home against league opponents, winning all 10 of those games.
Rhett Lashlee has built a consistently winning program in his fifth season. Since the start of 2023, he is 36-11. In SMU’s first ACC season, Lashlee guided the Mustangs to an unbeaten regular-season conference title and a trip to the College Football Playoff.
This year’s team has stayed in the national rankings every week, the program’s longest AP Top-25 run in 41 years.
At the center of it all is quarterback Kevin Jennings, who owns SMU career records for passing yards at 9,543, touchdowns responsible for at 83, pass completions at 965 and total offense at 10,197. He is also the ACC’s active leader in passing yards. Against Cal in two games, Jennings has completed 66.7 percent of his passes for 475 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
The Mustangs can beat teams in the air. They have thrown for at least 400 yards in three games this season. Cal, by comparison, has done that only once since the start of the 2023 season - a 492-yard day against FCS-level Wagner this fall.
SMU also brings a dangerous ground game, and one familiar face will be in the mix. Kendrick Raphael, who transferred from Cal, rushed for 124 yards against Virginia and ranks third in the ACC at 90.3 yards per game. A year after piling up 943 rushing yards for the Bears, Raphael broke loose for a career-high 197 yards and three touchdowns three weeks ago against Louisville.
The Mustangs’ defense has been relentless up front. Their 142 sacks since the start of the 2023 season lead all of FBS.
Ten different players have recorded sacks this season, with eighth-year defensive end Marques White pacing the group with 4.5. White has 22 career sacks when his stops at Dartmouth, McNeese State and UMass are included.
That pressure has helped SMU control games on third down. The Mustangs lead the ACC by allowing opponents to convert just 26.5 percent of the time, while Cal sits 13th in the league at 42.4 percent allowed.
SMU also made a kicking change for the Virginia game after going just 3-for-6 on field goals through its first five contests. Brendan Baird, a four-year member of the SMU soccer team, answered by making all three of his attempts, including a 45-yarder, for the first field goals of his career.
In Other News...
Cal Recruiting Just Took Another Hit Fans Can't Ignore
Californias recruiting momentum took another jolt when four-star tight end Rahzario Edwards changed course after originally pledging to the Bears in late May. Edwards had been one of the more notable gets in Cals class, so his decision to flip to Mississippi is the kind of setback that stings because it lands before the season even gets going and underscores how fragile these commitments can be.
The unease around the class does not stop there. Four-star quarterback Dane Weber, another Cal commit, also made a trip to UCLA, though he brushed it off as just a visit for now. Even without an immediate change, it is the sort of development that keeps a staff on edge, especially when one highly regarded recruit has already moved on and another is still taking a harder look around the conference. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Fans Are Running Out Of Patience With This Season
The frustration around this season only got louder after a rough home date with a ranked opponent, with the Golden Bears sitting at 3-4 and still searching for anything that feels stable on offense. Tight end Mason Mini made it clear the locker room felt the disappointment from the latest setback, and coach Tosh Lupoi pointed to the second-half effort as a small positive in a game that otherwise left a lot to sort through.
What stands out now is how little certainty Cal has heading into the next matchup with SMU. Lupoi said the quarterback picture is still being evaluated, leaving the Bears in the awkward spot of trying to reset after another uneven outing while also deciding who gives them the best chance to get back on track. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Faces Another Brutal Road Test At The Worst Possible Time
Cal is heading into a stretch that already feels unforgiving, and the timing does not help. After a loss to Wake Forest dropped the Golden Bears to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in ACC play, they now face a pair of road games that will both kick off at 9 a.m. Pacific time, starting Saturday at SMU on The CW.
The compressed turnaround and early start times add another layer to a trip that already demands plenty from a team still trying to steady itself in conference play. Cals next visit, set for Oct. 31 at North Carolina State on the ACC Network, comes with the same early-window challenge, making this a tricky road stretch for a team looking to regroup after last weekends setback. [Read more 🡒]