Complete Preview of Cal's Football Game Against No. 21 SMU

Cal will play 21st-ranked SMU in Berkeley on Saturday in the Bears’ final regular-season game of 2025.

The preview for Saturday’s game:

CAL (6-5, 3-4 ACC) vs. SMU (8-3, 6-1 ACC)

SITE: California Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, California

WHEN: Saturday, 5 p.m.

TV: ESPN2 -- Lowell Galindo (Play-by-Play), Aaron Murray (Analyst), Lauren Sisler (Sideline Reporter)

RADIO: KSFO (810 AM) -- Justin Allegri (Play-By-Play), Mike Pawlawski (Analyst), Ben Ross (Sideline Reporter)

BETTING LINE: SMU is favored by 13.5 points as of Saturday morning. (The point spread increased 3.5 points since the firing of Justin Wilcox.) Over/Under is 53.5 points.

WEATHER FORECAST: Saturday afternoon will be partly cloudy in Berkeley with a slight chance of rain. The temperature at kickoff will be about 55 degrees, dropping to about 48 degrees by the time the game ends. There is a 15% chance of rain Saturday afternoon, but no chance of rain Saturday night.

CAL-SMU HISTORY: SMU has a 2-0 alltime record against Cal, and that includes the Mustangs’ 38-6 victory over Cal last year in Dallas. Their only previous meeting in Berkeley took place in 1957, when SMU beat the Bears 13-7.

CAL PLAYER AVAILABILITY: Starting wide receiver Jordan King (22 catches) and starting tight end Mason Mini (35 catches) have been rule out for Saturday’s game, and tight ends Landon Morris and Jeffrey Johnson are questionable. Wide receiver Mark Hamper and backup running back LJ Johnson Jr. are both unavailable.

SMU PLAYER AVAILABILITY: Starting wide receiver Yamir Knight is listed as probable. He is tied for second on the team in receptions with 43, and tied for the team lead in touchdown catches with five. SMU’s top receiver, Jordan Hudson, was taken off the injury list on Friday, so he will be available.

CAL STORYLINES:

---Saturday will be the first time Cal will play a game without Justin Wilcox as its head coach since November 26, 2016, when Cal beat UCLA 36-10 in Sonny Dykes’ final game as the Golden Bears’ head coach.

---Nick Rolovich, who has been an offensive analyst for Cal this season, will be Cal’s interim head coach against SMU and for the Bears’ bowl game. He would like to become Cal’s permanent head coach, and these two games will provide the evidence for his case.

---With an upset win against SMU, Cal would clinch its first winning season since 2019. It would also give the Bears a 4-4 ACC record, which would be the first time since 2009 that the Bears end up with a conference winning percentage of .500 or better. If the Bears lose this game, it will be their 16th consecutive season with a losing conference record, the longest such streak among FBS teams.

---Cal wide receiver Jacob De Jesus is approaching a Cal record. He leads the ACC in receptions with 87, which ranks third in the country. He has made 30 catches over the past two games and he needs 13 receptions in the last two games, including a bowl game, to match the Cal single-season record for receptions of 100 set by Dameane Douglas in 1998. De Jesus needs 11 catches to tie Keenan Allen’s second-place total of 98 receptions achieved in 2011.

---Cal is coming off its disappointing 31-10 loss to archrival Stanford in the Big Game. Cal committed a season-high 13 penalties in that game and committed three turnovers (all fumbles) that led directly to Stanford’s first 21 points. Head coach Justin Wilcox was fired the next day.

---To say Cal’s running game has been disappointing would be an understatement. The Bears ranks dead last among the 134 FBS teams in both rushing yards per game (72.4) and yards per rushing attempt (2.49). Cal had 12 rushing yards last week against Stanford and 8 rushing yards in its November 1 loss to Virginia.

---Cal freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele is a focal point in every Cal game. He ranks fourth in the ACC in passing yardage but is only 13th in the conference in passer rating. He has thrown only two interceptions over the past five games, with both coming against Virginia.

---Cal’s quarterback was sacked five times against Stanford and 15 times over the past four games. The Bears have allowed 31 sacks this season, and only four of the 17 ACC teams have allowed more. This is a major problem because SMU leads the ACC in sacks with 34.

---Cal inside linebacker Cade Uluave is third in the ACC in tackles per game at 8.4, but he had a season-low three tackles last week against Stanford. His 10.5 tackles for loss rank sixth in the conference, but he had none against Stanford.

---Cal cornerback Hezekiah Masses is tied for second in the country in interceptions with five and he leads the nation in passes defended with 17 (5 interceptions, 12 pass breakups).

SMU STORYLINES:

---For SMU it’s simple. If the Mustangs beat Cal, they will advance to the ACC championship game for the second straight year. If SMU loses to Cal, it could still reach the conference title game but it would take favorable results in several other games Saturday for the Mustangs to get there in that case. SMU is ranked 25th in this week's AP poll and 21st in this week's College Football Playoff rankings.

---SMU has a shot at reaching the 12-team College Football Playoff for the second year in a row, and winning its last two games, including the conference championship game, would almost certainly put the Mustangs into the playoff for the national championship. The five highest-ranked conference champions earn automatic berths to the CFP, and no team from a Group of Five conference is ranked ahead of SMU in this week’s CFP rankings. Two Group of Five conference champs would have to finish ahead of an ACC-champion SMU squad for the Mustangs to miss out, and that seems virtually impossible.

---SMU has a 27-4 record in its last 31 regular-season games.

---SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings has thrown for more than 300 yards in each of his past three games. He is second in the ACC in passing yards, just 6.3 yards per game behind leader Darian Mensah of Duke. Jennings is second in the conference in touchdown passes with 24, two behind Mensah.

---The Mustangs lead the nation in turnovers gained with 27, and they lead the ACC interceptions with 17. SMU has a turnover margin of plus-12, which leads the ACC. Last week, Cal was minus-3 in turnovers, all of which led to Stanford points.

---SMU played its best all-around game of the season last week in a 38-6 victory over Louisville. It was the first time the Mustangs did not allow a touchdown in a game since its 38-6 victory over Cal in last year’s final regular-season game.

---The Mustangs have won six of their past seven games, the only loss in that span was a one-point defeat to Wake Forest when Wake Forest kicker Connor Calvert booted a 50-yard field goal on the final play of the game. SMU won its past two games, both against ACC opponents, by a combined margin of 64 points.

---SMU wide receiver Jordan Hudson had eight receptions for 96 yards last week against Louisville and his 76.8 receiving yards per game rank fourth in the ACC.

---Mustangs safety Ahmaad Moses has five interceptions, which is tied with Cal’s Hezekiah Masses and six other players for the second-most in the country.

---Five questions answered by an SMU beat writer about the Mustangs football team---

CAL PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (no interceptions four of the past five games); LB Cade Uluave (only 3 tackles last week against Stanford); WR/PR Jacob De Jesus (ACC-best 87 catches); CB Hezekiah Masses (5 interceptions); RB Kendrick Raphael (12 touchdowns); DT Aidan Keanaaina (underrated interior lineman).

SMU PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB Kevin Jennings (24 TD passes, 9 interceptions); S Ahmaad Moses (5 interceptions, 81 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss); DE Isaiah Smith (17.0 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, 3 QB hurries); DE Cameron Robertson (9.0 tackles for loss, 3 pass breakups, 2 forced fumbles in 8 games played); RB TJ Harden (703 rushing yards); WR Jordan Hudson (50 receptions, 6 TDs);

CAL STATISTICS: Click here

CAL GAME NOTES, DEPTH CHART: Click here

SMU STATISTICS: Click here

STANFORD GAME NOTES: Click here

JAKE'S PICK: SMU 35, Cal 14

JEFF'S PICK: SMU 30, Cal 21

DEAN RALSKY PICK (On the Pony Express): SMU 31, Cal 23

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