California has spent most of the last 15 years on the edges of major college football, with the Golden Bears struggling on the field and not drawing much interest off it.
That’s why the upcoming home game against No. 8 Miami is such an important chance for a program hoping to boost its profile in its first year in the ACC.
The Bears (3-1, 0-1 ACC) aim for their second victory over a Top-10 team since 2004 as they face the Hurricanes (5-0, 1-0) on a day that will mark 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 excitement of ‘GameDay’ being here and Miami being a top-10 team in the nation.”
The Bears will face a challenging matchup against quarterback Cam Ward, the Heisman Trophy favorite according to BetMGM Sportsbook, and one of several Hurricanes who have played at Cal before transferring to Coral Gables. Ward leads the nation in touchdown passes (18) and is second in passing yards (1,782), just 33 behind Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart.
Ward has thrown for at least 300 yards and three touchdowns in all five games for Miami 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.”
