CFP Semifinal Matchup a Doozy: Tosh Lupoi vs. Fernando Mendoza

It’s Cal football’s future vs. the Bears’ recent past, with national championship implications: Tosh Lupoi vs. Fernando Mendoza.

It’s not that simple, of course, but the College Football Playoff semifinal matchups are set, and the Jan. 9 game in the Peach Bowl at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium will pit No. 1 seed Indiana against No. 5 Oregon.

Boiling it down to its Cal connections, we’ll watch Oregon defensive coordinator Lupoi — the Bears’ new head coach — try to harness the Hoosiers’ Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Mendoza, who spent his first three years in Berkeley.

The greatest Indiana football team in history is 14-0 after its 38-3 dismantling of Alabama at the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. Mendoza pushed his season total to 36 touchdown passes and is completing 72 percent of his attempts.

Earlier in the day, the Ducks moved to 13-1 with their 23-0 whitewash of fourth-seeded and high-scoring Texas Texas at the Orange Bowl.

Mendoza and the Hoosiers prevailed 30-20 when the teams met in Eugene on Oct. 11. Can Lupoi and his Oregon defense help reverse that outcome and advance to the national championship game?

The downside to the Ducks’ success is that Lupoi’s full-time arrival in Berkeley is delayed as long as Oregon continues to play. The CFP title game is Jan. 19 at Miami.

The upside is the prospect of the Bears moving forward with a head coach who can walk into a recruit’s living room and show him a national championship ring.

Oregon’s defense was spectacular against the Red Raiders, who were averaging 42.5 points and 480.3 yards while scoring at least 40 points eight times. Tech managed just 10 first downs and 215 total yards. The Ducks forced four three-and-outs and made three fourth-down stops.

Lupoi was a master motivator, telling his troops that he wanted to see them play more like the Red Raiders, who entered the game leading the nation in takeaways.

“We got to the point where we were showing their defense attacking the ball and I literally said, ‘I’m jealous of these guys,’ ” Lupoi told the Oregonian. “I’m jealous of the way these guys are attacking the ball. I’m not coaching this well enough.”

The Ducks responded by squeezing four turnovers out of the Texas Tech offense, the game’s most telling statistic. That allowed them to flip the script after surrendering 30.3 points in three previous games against ranked opponents.

Lupoi also made certain the Ducks didn’t let up at halftime after allowing James Madison 28 second-half points in Oregon’s 51-34 CFP opening-round win.

“It was evident on the effort and the finish,” Lupoi said. “We came in here at halftime, had a shutout. That was the most satisfying thing, to see the guys finish the fourth quarter. That was part of our five musts, is the finish.”

Lupoi came to Oregon with head coach Dan Lanning for the 2022 season and faced a significant rebuilding job on his side of the ball. That first year, Oregon was 75th nationally in scoring defense. This season, the Ducks have held 10 of 14 opponents to 16 points or fewer.

Their performance in Pasadena earned Lanning’s praise afterward.

“I thought coach Lupoi did a great job of calling the game, and our defensive coaches preparing them,” he said. “Last week a lot of people talked about our defense. They showed up today."

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