Simply put, Cal should have beaten Florida State on Saturday night in Tallahassee, Florida.

According to the scoreboard at Doak Campbell, the Seminoles won the game 14-9, but it’s hard to understand how Cal could have let this game slip away that would have given the Bears great hopes.

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—Cal guard Sioape Vatikani had to be strapped to a stretcher and taken off the field on a cart after suffering an injury in the second half. “He’s being evaluated at a local hospital and has regained movement in his extremities, which is good news, but that’s all I know right now,” Justin Wilcox said after the game.—

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Do the Cal players believe they should have won?

“Yeah,” said Cal linebacker Cade Uluave. “I think we definitely should have done that. Just looking at the stats here, there are a lot of things we did better.”

Let’s take a look at the statistics:

—Cal had 126 more yards total offense, 410 yards to 284 for the Seminoles, and Cal outscored FSU 222-76 in the second half.

—Cal had 23 first downs to 17 for FSU, and the Bears had a 14-5 lead in first downs in the second half.

—Cal averaged 5.5 yards per play, Florida State 4.2 yards. And Cal ran 74 offensive plays, Florida State 68.

—Florida State was penalized 72 yards, Cal 55 yards.

—Cal’s offense reached the red zone five times; Florida State only got there twice.

—Both teams lost the ball once and the possession times were almost equal.

The only statistic that worked in Florida State’s favor was tackles for loss. The Seminoles recorded 12 tackles for loss, including seven sacks, while Cal had just seven tackles for loss, including three sacks.

—Click here for a recap of the Cal-Florida State game—

But the numbers clearly spoke in Cal’s favor.

So what happened?

Three things: The most frustrating were the pre-snap penalties. The most obvious were the two missed field goals of less than 40 yards. The most telling was the inability to finish drives with touchdowns.

Let’s start with the pre-snap penalties that must have caused an outcry among Cal fans.

The Bears committed seven penalties before the snap, and that doesn’t include an illegal motion penalty that was dismissed. That type of penalty slows down any offense, physically and emotionally, and is what obviously annoyed coach Justin Wilcox the most.

“On offense, we have to start the game without getting penalized,” he said. “That’s bad football.”

He noted that Cal had been practicing in a noisy environment for the past week, much to the dismay of people who live near Cal’s Memorial Stadium.

“We practiced it,” Wilcox said. “We used the noise of the crowd. The neighbors hate that.”

Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza attributed this mainly to misunderstandings.

“They have a great crowd, but that shouldn’t affect our games,” he said.

Then there were Ryan Coe’s missed field goals of 36 and 38 yards, the latter of which may have been easily blocked. He did manage a 51-yard throw, but he’s made just 5 of 11 field goals this season, and Wilcox hinted that Cal might consider changing kickers during the off week before the Oct. 5 game against Miami.

“Yeah, we talk about every position and who does what,” said Wilcox, who has expressed full confidence in Coe in the past. “He’s got a lot of talent and was impressive in practice. He shot the 52-yarder like it was nothing, and then we missed the two 38s.”

Ultimately, however, it was Cal’s inability to capitalize on opportunities that ruined the Bears’ chance at a big win.

Cal got to Florida State’s 15-yard line on five different occasions, but those five possessions only yielded six points for the Bears.

Here are the five options:

—Cal reached Florida State’s 12-yard line. That led to a field goal.

—Cal had a first down at Florida State’s 11-yard line. That led to a field goal.

— The Bears had the first down at the Florida State 13-yard line. Cal was unable to accomplish anything on this possession.

—Cal got a first down at the FSU 12-yard line. Cal again got no points.

—Cal reached Florida State’s 12-yard line late in the game, trailing by five points. Again, Cal came away empty-handed, as Mendoza was sacked on fourth down.

It’s hard to put up 410 yards of offense and not score a single touchdown, but Cal did it. The Bears are 3-1 overall and 0-1 in the ACC.

Cal has at least shown that it is capable of beating a team that was predicted to win the ACC championship.

The ever-optimistic Mendoza said this could potentially prove to be a “blessing in disguise” to refocus the Bears ahead of their Oct. 5 game against undefeated, eighth-seeded Miami.

He noted that Cal “could still achieve our goal of an ACC championship.”

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