California has spent most of the last 15 seasons on the edges of major college football, with the Golden Bears struggling to find success on the field and not drawing much attention off of it.
This makes the upcoming home game against No. 8 Miami such a significant chance for a program eager to improve its reputation in its first year in the ACC.
The Bears (3-1, 0-1 ACC) will aim for their second win against a Top-10 team since 2004 when they host the Hurricanes (5-0, 1-0) on a day that will feature the first-ever visit from ESPN’s popular “College GameDay” to Cal’s campus.
“This is an amazing opportunity,” said Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who grew up in Miami and attended Hurricanes’ games. “Opportunities like this don’t come often, especially with all the bells and whistles of ‘GameDay’ coming and Miami being a top-10 team in the nation.”
The Bears will face a tough challenge on Saturday as they contend with quarterback Cam Ward, the Heisman Trophy favorite according to BetMGM Sportsbook. He is one of several Hurricanes who have played against Cal before transferring to Coral Gables. Ward leads the nation in touchdown passes (18) and ranks second in passing yards (1,782 — just 33 yards behind Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart).
Ward has thrown for at least 300 yards and three touchdowns in all five of Miami’s games so far.
“He quickly understood that when you come to Miami, it’s us against everybody,” said Miami coach Mario Cristobal. “Everybody wants you to lose when you’re at Miami because we won a lot of games back in the day and we were very arrogant about it. Everybody wants your (butt) to lose and he understands that.”
