Cal’s kicker troubles — and rough entry to ACC — continue in another nail-biting loss to NC State

BERKELEY — Cal thought it had solved its kicker problem.

And the Bears were on the doorstep of their first Atlantic Coast Conference victory.

Neither happened Saturday afternoon in front of 35,303 fans at Memorial Stadium in a 24-23 loss to North Carolina State, the Bears’ fourth straight defeat in their new conference.

Cal (3-4, 0-4 ACC), which began the season with three straight victories, has lost four in a row by a combined margin of nine points.

After NC State (4-4, 1-3) scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to erase a 23-10 deficit, it was shades of Miami a few weeks ago, when the Hurricanes rallied from a 35-10 hole to win 39-38.

Starting at the 25 after the kickoff, the Bears moved quickly into scoring position as Fernando Mendoza completed five passes for 56 yards.

Faced with a third-and-14 at the 20, Mendoza hit tight end Jack Endries for a 10-yard gain to the 10.

That brought on freshman placekicker Derek Morris, who replaced senior transfer Ryan Coe this week after erratic performances through six games.

Morris, who had made field goals from 41, 26 and 24 yards, pushed his 28-yard try wide to the right with 1:34 to play and NC State retained the lead.

Cal appeared to have control of the game after Jaivian Thomas bolted 7 yards for his second touchdown of the game, pushing the margin to 23-10 with 24 seconds left in the third quarter.

Earlier in the quarter, Morris kicked his third field goal of the game, a 24-yarder.

But the Wolfpack, quiet in the third quarter, drove 75 yards on eight plays, including completions from freshman quarterback CJ Bailey of 29 yards to Justin Joly and 28 yards to Dacari Collins for a first down at the 1. Bailey went right back to Collins in the right corner of the end zone for the TD that made it 23-17 with 11:33 to play.

Mendoza hadn’t been sacked all day but NC State took him down twice on the next series, forcing a punt. The Wolfpack then went 80 yards in seven plays with Bailey passing to Hollywood Smothers for a 41-yard touchdown, aided by a missed tackle by Cal cornerback Nohl Williams.

The PAT put NC State in front 24-23 with 6:32 to play.

The Bears led 13-10 at halftime after getting field goals of 41 and 26 yards from Morris in the final 1:12 of the period.

Morris made his 41-yarder to cap an eight-play, 37-yard drive that was set up by Williams’ 40-yard kickoff return.

Mendoza completed three passes for 28 yards and Cal had a first down at the NC State 21 but stalled and settled for a game-tying field goal with 1:12 left.

The Bears then stifled the Wolfpack offense and used three timeouts and preserve the clock. A Cal bounce on the NC State punt set up the Bears at their own 48-yard line and Mendoza passed 22 yards to running back Byron Cardwell to the NC State 17.

Three plays later, Morris returned to the field and easily converted a 26-yard attempt for the halftime lead.

Cal scored first on a 49-yard dash up the middle for a 7-0 lead just 73 seconds into the game.

The Wolfpack, playing a game on the West Coast for the first time since 1960, pulled with 7-3 on a 27-yard field goal by Kanoah Vinesett with 23 second left in the first period.

Vinesett was short on a 53-yard try midway through the quarter, but Thomas fumbled on the next Cal play, setting up the Wolfpack at the Bears’ 34-yard line. KC Concepcion gave them the lead after a 2-yard burst up the middle on a direct snap with 3:20 left in the half.