Cal’s challenge in ACC Finals: SMU’s aggressive pass rush

Now bowl eligible, Cal concludes the regular season Saturday with a road game against the Atlantic Coast Conference’s top team.

No. 9 SMU (10-1, 7-0) in particular will be a huge test for the Bears’ offense.

The Mustangs are Cal’s equal as the two defensive leaders in the ACC.

SMU clinched a spot in the ACC championship game last weekend with its 33-7 victory over Virginia.

One stat from that game jumps off the page: 9 sacks, a season high and just one shy of the program’s all-time single-game record.

The Mustangs terrorized Virginia quarterback Anthony Colandrea. Eight different SMU players had a hand in bringing down Colandrea in the backfield, including defensive linemen Jared Harrison-Hunte and Isaiah Smith, who each had two sacks.

“Against a guy who’s tough to tackle,” SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said, referring to Colandrea’s running ability. “Probably, like me over there, it’s sixteen bags – at least the older I am.”

This will be a challenge for Cal and its offensive line, which has allowed 40 sacks this season – third-most in the ACC and 128th nationally. Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza threw three touchdown passes against Stanford and was not intercepted, but he was sacked six times.

*** Mendoza talks about his mentality before Cal’s 98-yard, game-winning drive against Stanford in the video at the top of this story.

SMU has allowed quarterback Kevin Jennings to be sacked just 12 times in 11 games.

Partly as a result of the sacks, SMU held Virginia to 173 yards of total offense, less than half their season average. Virginia was 3 for 15 on third downs, limited to 2.6 yards per snap and forced to punt seven times.

Virginia was shut out until scoring a meaningless touchdown with 1:42 to play.

While Cal continues to lead the ACC in scoring defense with 20.7 points allowed, the Mustangs are right behind at 21.0.

SMU is second (behind Miami and one spot ahead of Cal) in yards allowed (332.6) and first at 95.9 yards allowed) in rushing defense (just ahead of Cal). That rushing number is the lowest by an SMU defense in 43 years.

And now, after adding another nine to their total, the Mustangs are tied with Cal at 32 sacks this season, which ranks fourth in the ACC.

SMU has won eight straight games since an 18-15 loss to BYU on Sept. 6. The Mustangs’ 7-0 conference record is the best of any program making the jump from a mid-major league to a power conference since at least 1978, SMU said.

Cal is 6-5 and 2-5 in the ACC after its 24-21 win over Stanford, its fourth straight victory in the Big Game. The Bears are all but certain they will play in a bowl game for the second straight season.