BERKELEY, Calif. — Cam Ward threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Arroyo with 26 seconds left and No. 8 Miami roared back from a 25-point deficit in the second half to beat California 39-38 on Saturday night.
Ward led four straight touchdown drives to end the game and spoil what looked like the most monumental day in years for the Golden Bears (3-2, 0-2 ACC), who hosted ESPN’s “College GameDay” for the first time and were on the verge of their second win over a top 10 team in the past 21 seasons.
Instead, Ward made sure the rare sellout crowd at Memorial Stadium went home unhappy after overcoming a 35-10 deficit in the third quarter. That gave the Hurricanes (6-0, 2-0) a second straight dramatic victory after needing a replay review to hold off Virginia Tech last week.
Cal head coach Justin Wilcox, when asked afterward about his team’s mood in the locker room, said, “It’s as bad as you can imagine.”
“Football is a humbling game,” Wilcox said. “We had every opportunity to win that game, obviously. We didn’t get it done. So, every individual has to own it. I think this is a pivotal moment for the team. I hope that all coaches, players, administrators, everybody involved will be proud of how they responded in a month or two months or six months or even a year. In this moment right now.”
Ward threw an 18-yard TD pass to Isaiah Horton with 10:28 left to cut it to 38-25 and then scrambled in from 24 yards out to make it a six-point game with 4:04 to play.
The Hurricanes forced a punt after being spared a potential targeting call on instant replay and Ward then hit Xavier Restrepo on a 77-yard pass on the first play on the ensuing drive to get Miami into the red zone.
A personal foul backed up the Hurricanes, but Ward converted a third-and-20 on a short pass to Joshisa Trader that went for 22 yards down to the 3. Two plays later, Ward found Arroyo on a jump pass that gave Miami the lead.
Ward finished 33-for-53 for 437 yards with two touchdown passes and a TD run, overcoming a pick-6 that helped put Miami in the big hole in the third quarter.
Fernando Mendoza delivered several big plays against the team he grew up cheering for as a kid in Miami but it wasn’t enough.
Mendoza threw a 57-yard TD pass to Jack Endries in the first quarter and had a 51-yarder to Trond Grizzell that set up Jaydn Ott‘s 5-yard run that gave Cal a 14-7 lead.
Ott scored again on 66-yard catch and run on a fourth-and-1 midway through the second quarter and Mendoza threw a 59-yard pass to Jaivian Thomas in the third quarter that set up Chandler Rogers‘ 9-yard TD run.
But Cal punted on its first two drives of the fourth quarter before Mendoza threw an interception in the closing seconds to end it.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.