Cal’s challenge in the ACC final: SMU’s aggressive pass rush

After qualifying for the cup, Cal closes the regular season on Saturday with an away game against the top team in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

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

The Mustangs match Cal as the two defensive leaders in the ACC.

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

One statistic from this game stands out: 9 sacks, the most of the season and just one shy of the all-time single-game record.

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

“Against a guy that’s tough to match up against,” SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said, referring to Colandrea’s running ability. “Probably against me back there, that’s 16 sacks – at least for the older me.”

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

*** In the video at the beginning of this story, Mendoza talks about his attitude during Cal’s 98-yard game-winning drive against Stanford.

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

Partially as a result of the sacks, SMU held Virginia to 173 yards of total offense, less than half of its season average. Virginia was 3-of-15 on third downs, limited to 2.6 yards per snap and forced to seven punts.

Virginia was kept out of the game until it scored a futile touchdown with 1:42 left in the game.

While Cal still leads the ACC in scoring defense with 20.7 points allowed, the Mustangs are right behind with 21.0.

SMU is second (behind Miami and one spot ahead of Cal) in rushing defense (just ahead of Cal). This rushing number is the lowest in the history of SMU’s defense in 43 years.

And now, after adding another nine to their total, the Mustangs are tied with even Cal for 32 sacks on the season, good for fourth in the ACC.

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

Cal is 6-5 overall and 2-5 in the ACC after its 24-21 victory over Stanford, its fourth straight Big Game triumph. The Bears are virtually certain to play in the cup for the second consecutive season.