BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — California has spent most of the past 15 seasons on the fringes of big-time college football, with the Golden Bears having little success on the field and failing to generate much interest off of it.
That’s what makes the big stage for Saturday night’s home showdown against No. 8 Miami such a big opportunity for a program looking to elevate its standing in its first year in the ACC.
The Bears (3-1, 0-1 ACC) will seek their second win over a Top-10 team since the start of the 2004 season when they host the Hurricanes (5-0, 1-0) on a day that will begin with the first visit ever 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 attending 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 have a tough task Saturday dealing with quarterback Cam Ward — the Heisman Trophy favorite according to BetMGM Sportsbook and one of a handful of Hurricanes who have played Cal before transferring to Coral Gables. Ward enters the week as the national leader in touchdown passes (18) and No. 2 in passing yards (1,782 — 33 behind Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart).
Ward has thrown for at least 300 yards and three touchdowns in all five Miami games to this point.
“He quickly understood that when you come to Miami, it’s us against everybody,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “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.”
GameDay in Berkeley
This will be the first time the “GameDay” show will be on Cal’s campus, leaving only six schools currently in power conferences who have not hosted the show.
Those schools are Syracuse, Virginia and SMU of the ACC with the Mustangs in their first year in a power conference, and Illinois, Maryland and Rutgers from the Big Ten.
Coach Justin Wilcox acknowledged the value of the program and the excitement from the fans about the increased attention, but said it won’t be a factor for players and coaches.
“We have enough to consider preparing for the game so we spend our time on that,” he said.
Miami in the Golden State
It’s a rare trip for Miami to the state of California. At Cal in 1990, the Hurricanes won 52-24 in their only previous visit to Berkeley, and they beat Nebraska in the Rose Bowl to claim the 2001 national championship. That was Miami’s fifth and most recent national title. Miami also went 2-1 in road games against San Diego State.
The Canes lost 28-3 at USC in 1968, 31-8 at UCLA in 1995 and 24-17 to Cal in the Emerald Bowl at San Francisco to close the 2008 season.
Hello, again
There are a handful of Miami players, all with Pac-12 ties, who have played against Cal before.
Tight end Cam McCormick caught passes against the Bears for Oregon in 2017 and 2022. Safety Meesh Powell went 3-0 against the Bears during his time at Washington, running back Damien Martinez ran for 194 yards on 40 carries against Cal in a pair of wins with Oregon State, offensive lineman Francisco Maugioa played in a pair of wins against Cal when he was at Washington State, and defensive back Isaiah Taylor had a team-high nine tackles for Arizona in a loss to the Bears in 2022.
Ward has faced Cal twice, going 1-1 at Washington State after completing 61 of 99 passes for 697 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions.
Cristobal went 3-1 against the Bears when he coached at Oregon.
Ties that bind
Cal QB Fernando Mendoza — a Miami native who went to the same high school that Cristobal did — has a burrito named for him in Berkeley. It’s a nod to his Cuban-American roots: rice, black beans, carne asada, chimichurri and spicy sour cream.
Proceeds, he told Cal’s student paper earlier this year, go toward raising awareness of multiple sclerosis. Mendoza’s mother was diagnosed with MS about a decade ago, he said.
Mendoza said his parents are making the cross-country trip for the game.
Coming back
The Bears are expecting to get right guard Sioape Vatikani back after he suffered a scary injury two weeks ago at Florida State that hospitalized him.
Vatikani remained on the turf for about 10 minutes following a collision before being placed on a board and carted off the field. He was hospitalized but had no serious injury and is ready to play Saturday. Vatikani started 20 games the previous two seasons but has played only once this season as he missed the first three games with a foot injury.
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AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.
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