Overview
- Kickoff is 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2 at California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.
- No. 21 SMU enters 8-3 overall and 6-1 in the ACC, while Cal is 6-5 and 3-4 in conference play.
- The Mustangs lead the nation with 27 takeaways, powered by a pressure-heavy front featuring ACC tackles-for-loss leader Isaiah Smith and ball-hawking safety Ahmaad Moses.
- Cal plays its first game under interim head coach Nick Rolovich after the firing of Justin Wilcox following a 31-10 loss to Stanford.
- True freshman Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele has topped 200 passing yards in all 11 starts and sits 117 yards from entering Cal’s single-season top 10, as the Bears try to offset 2.8 sacks allowed per game and an FBS-worst 2.5 yards per rush.