BERKELEY >> Cal coach Justin Wilcox called it “a pivotal moment for the team.” Quarterback Fernando Mendoza said the Bears face a fork in the road.

What’s next for Cal will be critical after basking in college football’s national spotlight at both ends of Saturday before a fourth-quarter collapse in a 39-38 loss to No. 8 Miami.

“What’s the mood?” Wilcox repeated during his midnight news conference. “As bad as you can imagine.”

If so, it was appropriate. More than 3,000 wildly enthusiastic Cal fans jammed Memorial Glade in the heart of the campus before dawn Saturday morning to wow the ESPN ‘College GameDay’ crew.

Then 52,428 filled Memorial Stadium — Cal’s first sellout against anyone other than Stanford since 2013 against Ohio State when the Strawberry Canyon facility had a capacity of 62,647.

And for much of the night, Cal answered the call in its first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference home game. The Bears (3-2, 0-2 ACC) led 35-10 midway through the third quarter and 38-18 less than a minute into the final period.

The program’s first victory over a top-10 opponent since 2017 was in reach.

Then the roof caved in. Quarterback Cam Ward threw two touchdowns and ran for in the fourth quarter as the Hurricanes (6-0, 2-0) scored 21 straight points. His 5-yard TD pass to tight end Elijah Arroyo and the ensuing extra point with 26 seconds left crushed the Bears and their fans.

Here are takeaways:

What’s next? >> The Bears will make their third East Coast trip of the season to face Pitt on Saturday afternoon. Led by redshirt freshman quarterback Eli Holstein, a transfer from Alabama, the Panthers improved to 5-0 for the first time since 1991 and will likely move into the AP Top 25 after a 34-24 win at North Carolina.

“Everybody’s got to make the decision to respond,” Wilcox said. “And it’s not going to happen right now, tonight. It might not happen in the morning. But by the time we all come in Monday, that’s what we have to do.”

The non-targeting call >>The Bears led 38-32 with 1:50 left when Miami linebacker Wesley Bissainthe drilled Mendoza as he tried to scramble for yards on a third-and-17 play from the Cal 42.

While Mendoza remained on the turf for a few moments, ESPN commentator Brock Osweiler said “by definition that is 100 percent targeting.” The video replay showed that Bissainthe led with his helmet, hitting Mendoza around his neck or head.

But officials deemed it legal after a video review, forcing Cal to punt. Lachlan Wilson’s 46-yard kick pinned the Canes back at their 8-yard line. But Ward found a wide-open Xavier Restrepo for a 77-yard completion to the Cal 15, and the die was cast.

Wilcox declined to comment on the non-call. “I’m not going to talk about that,” he said. “You can write whatever you want.”

Mendoza said afterward he was feeling fine.

Nearly a Miami dream >> Mendoza, who had four completions of more than 50 yards and totaled 285 passing yards and two TDs, grew up a half-mile from the Miami campus. The nature of the loss to his hometown team was numbing.

Asked how his childhood self would have felt about the chance he got Saturday night, Mendoza said, “If you would have told me we’d won, I’d probably cut off a leg for that.”