From The Athletic this morning ...18. Cal freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele is singlehandedly turning the After Dark window into must-see TV. The Hawaii native went 24 of 38 for 279 yards, three TDs and no picks in Cal’s 27-14 win over Minnesota. Sagapolutele shares the same hometown (‘Ewa Beach) as fellow lefty Tua Tagovailoa, and I’m not exaggerating when I say his throws remind me of when Tua burst on the scene at Alabama. They’re absolute dimes. He has injected life into Justin Wilcox’s Cal program right as it seemed to be losing steam."
This game was such a big test for Wilcox because Minnesota is a well-coached, Power 4 team that is built to win in the trenches…just talent-laden O and D lines.
This is exactly the type of game the team likely coughs up in previous years, for any number of reasons. But with the additions of RR, Harsin, Rolo, Anae, Cefalo, and of course JKS, things are different.
Yes, they got a game-changing break when one of the best in the nation Koi Perich muffed the punt, but the NCAAFB Gods owed JW & Co one.
That massive FG at the end of 1H was EXACTLY the type of thing that does not happen with previous Wilcox teams. JKS is a game-changer.
To some extent that was also an earned muff punt. I mean clearly he should have stayed away, but the reason he didn’t is we were pinning them deep with punts and were threatening to do so again. The punts were a key unsung hero in this game.
There was another one too - their first drive of the second quarter started at the two. They were able to bring that one out further, but the punting game was absolutely on point.
Sorry, but this is just too rich not to share.."UCLA’s DeShaun Foster is 5-10 after falling 35-10 to New Mexico, which was outgained last week by FCS Idaho State. Lobos HC Jason Eck said, “There’s gonna be a lot of teams we play that are better than UCLA.” 😬 An 0-12 season is in play, and this Big Ten team is already 0-2 in the Mountain West. Big mess."
And just when I thought Furd was going to go 0-12, they end up beating BC by 10 points. The GBs have a very soft ride with those two teams on the schedule. Loving Cal football in 2025...
Don't assume BC will be easy. They almost beat MSU in East Lansing and are leading the nation in passing yards. That said, they gave up 400+ yards to a Furd offense that did very little against Hawaii or BYU.
Next week is a potential trap game although SDSU has been really bad so far. They got blown out by Wazzu who got blown out by North Texas.
I’ve yet to recover from those two trips to Jack Murphy Stadium in the mid-1990s…so, yeah, any trip to San Diego and those cursed grounds (Snapdragon was built upon the Murph’s ruins) has me wary and terrified.
But do not start telling yourself that we “should” be undefeated through to the XYZ game, you only set yourself up for heartbreak if you overlook the next game
What a great game. I think with hindsight the mass transfer exodus from last season was truly a positive for this team, especially on offense. They could never convert in the end zone, which so this season the offense hasn't struggled with. I think a lot of that can be attributed to the upgrade that happened at qb and how much better the o line is performing, but the skill position guys are also showing up when it matters most.
It was hard to realize in the moment, but there is a reason last years team finished 6-7 and lost all those one score games. Nothing but respects to all those players for playing their hearts out, but clearly they played a part in all those close losses. It is only 3 games into this season but this team feels different, as when big plays need to happen they do, instead of the worst possible thing happening in big moments.
The one guy I really do wish stayed, and wonder if he regrets transferring is Endries. Him and Mini together in two TE sets would be tough to stop. Also JKS has been playing significantly better than Nepo Baby Manning.
I don't want to get too far ahead of myself and jinx anything but this is the best I've felt about a the outlook of a Cal season in awhile. Lots of football left to be play but there is a different feeling around the program, where when things used to go bad and the ball would bounce the wrong way or wrong decision would be made is now turning up the other way. So many guys who are easy to root for on this team.
This morning UCLA is being referred to as possibly the worst team in the P5….oops, P4, which is their fault (along with U$C). The schadenfreude is rich with that one….
I counted 6 to 7 seconds in pocket for JKS. The OL is much improved along with Harsin, Rolo, Ron and Anae play calling. Lots of upside with this group. I hope we can stay healthy
1) how does this game go if we’re NOT handed the ball on the doorstep of the end zone (certainly more of a nail biter/rock fight)?
2) Kudos to JW for creating 3 points at the end of the first half out of nothing w less than a minute to play thanks to the timely use (see what I did there? 😝) of his timeouts on the Gopher’s drive. Those were three very important points!!!!
I was in disbelief when we were calling timeouts so aggressively on defense, traditional Wilcox would never have done that.
I was also very worried when we called an offensive play and with eight seconds left and no timeouts, perhaps within field goal range. But we executed it and perhaps needed those couple yards - the kick was very close on distance.
Wilcox didn’t turtle when he usually would and when he did, we executed well (the game killing drive at the end of the game). Very impressed.
Totally agree on that “running one more play”, but Wilcox knows what he has in JKS and when the ball dinked off the upright I was super thankful for those extra yards! I mean, we’re 6 for 6 on FGs, which includes some long ones…..someone pinch me!
I’m giving all the credit to JW, but maybe the difference-maker is Bryan Harsin. Brock Osweiler couldn’t say enough complimentary things about him last night.
On 1) . . . honestly, who knows, but JKS and team showed a knack for coming up with a drive to score points whenever they lost the lead, so that might have happened again. Or maybe the D comes up with a big stop after pinning Minnesota deep. Could have gone all kinds of ways.
The mantra for this team should be "One game at a time!"
I'm now excited, but a still going to temper my enthusiasm. There have been too many starts like this over the years ( see 1978 & 79 with HC Theder and Rich Campbell at QB only to falter and end up at .500)
For now I'll try to do the "One game at a time!" approach and not look too far down the schedule, except to figure out which games I might be able to attend other than the Big Game.
I'm happy about what the staff and team have accomplished so far as it appears they have worked hard and are having success.
As the air begins to cool, the days get shorter, pumpkins begin to make appearances on porches, Halloween decorations are going up and leaves start to turn from green to red, yellow and orange; the real question is whether Cal will experience its typical October slumber and struggles.
Under Wilcox, Cal is 6-18-1 overall in October games. October will be the real test to see if Wilcox and this new staff have turned it around at Cal.
When the gophers started gashing the Bears, the broadcast crew started talking about the Bears being gassed. Later in the fourth when the Bears started to return the favor, there was no mention of any weakness on Minnie’s part. I guess Cal suddenly being unstoppable on the ground didn’t play into the crew’s made up story line.
I was there last night. Play calling and line play is definitely better this year. I'm still not yet convinced this year will be significantly different than the other Wilcox years. After so many years of early season mirages I'll wait and see. SDSU could be a tough matchup. In fact, Cal has never beaten them in San Diego. Every week is a test.
For me, Cal's true measure of success as a program will be can they for the first time since Tedford finish with a winning record in their own conference. It will be interesting to see if this team, the first with Rivera and Lyons, can pull off the feat and return Cal to prominence. If they can, the fans will return and Cal could finally become a hot ticket again. It's such a great stadium and atmosphere. All they need are more Ws to get over the hump.
I’m happy for the win, but 61 yards on the ground is not going to cut it. Hopefully Cal can incorporate a better run scheme before conference play begins.
I'd like to see the offense use the run game more to keep the defense honest and prevent them from keying in on JKS. When Minnesota put pressure on him, his decisions became more erratic, which is understandable for a freshman. A more effective run game would force the defense to respect it, which would open up passing lanes for JKS.
You and me both. But if you read the comments from JKS after the game, it was the game plan to throw the ball given the match ups. So I wouldn’t dwell too much on this but I hear your overall comment that our running should be better, which I agree with. But the good thing is that we have a coaching staff that objectively identifies how we can win based on match ups.
If we could've ran early, we would've. We knew line play was a major strength of Minnesota going in and we did not accomplish anything when we tried until the passing attack opened up the running game.
Maybe, but everyone in the building knew we were running at the end and we still did it effectively. We didn’t really try much earlier, the game plan was obviously to throw it and throw it a lot - the post game interviews confirm this.
From The Athletic this morning ...18. Cal freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele is singlehandedly turning the After Dark window into must-see TV. The Hawaii native went 24 of 38 for 279 yards, three TDs and no picks in Cal’s 27-14 win over Minnesota. Sagapolutele shares the same hometown (‘Ewa Beach) as fellow lefty Tua Tagovailoa, and I’m not exaggerating when I say his throws remind me of when Tua burst on the scene at Alabama. They’re absolute dimes. He has injected life into Justin Wilcox’s Cal program right as it seemed to be losing steam."
Thanks TD!!
This game was such a big test for Wilcox because Minnesota is a well-coached, Power 4 team that is built to win in the trenches…just talent-laden O and D lines.
This is exactly the type of game the team likely coughs up in previous years, for any number of reasons. But with the additions of RR, Harsin, Rolo, Anae, Cefalo, and of course JKS, things are different.
Yes, they got a game-changing break when one of the best in the nation Koi Perich muffed the punt, but the NCAAFB Gods owed JW & Co one.
That massive FG at the end of 1H was EXACTLY the type of thing that does not happen with previous Wilcox teams. JKS is a game-changer.
Buckle up, folks - the Bears are back.
To some extent that was also an earned muff punt. I mean clearly he should have stayed away, but the reason he didn’t is we were pinning them deep with punts and were threatening to do so again. The punts were a key unsung hero in this game.
Special teams? SPECIAL TEAMS! It’s weird thinking about them with feelings of glory and not defeat.
yep we earlier pinned them deep, forced a 3-and-out, then scored on the next drive
There was another one too - their first drive of the second quarter started at the two. They were able to bring that one out further, but the punting game was absolutely on point.
Yeah, it was another dumb move by Perich, fair catching at the two YL.
I was thinking the same
Sorry, but this is just too rich not to share.."UCLA’s DeShaun Foster is 5-10 after falling 35-10 to New Mexico, which was outgained last week by FCS Idaho State. Lobos HC Jason Eck said, “There’s gonna be a lot of teams we play that are better than UCLA.” 😬 An 0-12 season is in play, and this Big Ten team is already 0-2 in the Mountain West. Big mess."
I mean, you just hate to see it….
;-)
;-)
;-)
And just when I thought Furd was going to go 0-12, they end up beating BC by 10 points. The GBs have a very soft ride with those two teams on the schedule. Loving Cal football in 2025...
Don't assume BC will be easy. They almost beat MSU in East Lansing and are leading the nation in passing yards. That said, they gave up 400+ yards to a Furd offense that did very little against Hawaii or BYU.
Next week is a potential trap game although SDSU has been really bad so far. They got blown out by Wazzu who got blown out by North Texas.
I’ve yet to recover from those two trips to Jack Murphy Stadium in the mid-1990s…so, yeah, any trip to San Diego and those cursed grounds (Snapdragon was built upon the Murph’s ruins) has me wary and terrified.
MSU is starting to get tired of Jonathan Smith already. He's had a slow start.
Just hoping their Calimony check doesn't bounce.
Aaaaaand... he's fired.
Bang
My advice to younger Cal fans:
Enjoy this! Be proud! Troll!
But do not start telling yourself that we “should” be undefeated through to the XYZ game, you only set yourself up for heartbreak if you overlook the next game
This is must read. 100% agree
What a great game. I think with hindsight the mass transfer exodus from last season was truly a positive for this team, especially on offense. They could never convert in the end zone, which so this season the offense hasn't struggled with. I think a lot of that can be attributed to the upgrade that happened at qb and how much better the o line is performing, but the skill position guys are also showing up when it matters most.
It was hard to realize in the moment, but there is a reason last years team finished 6-7 and lost all those one score games. Nothing but respects to all those players for playing their hearts out, but clearly they played a part in all those close losses. It is only 3 games into this season but this team feels different, as when big plays need to happen they do, instead of the worst possible thing happening in big moments.
The one guy I really do wish stayed, and wonder if he regrets transferring is Endries. Him and Mini together in two TE sets would be tough to stop. Also JKS has been playing significantly better than Nepo Baby Manning.
I don't want to get too far ahead of myself and jinx anything but this is the best I've felt about a the outlook of a Cal season in awhile. Lots of football left to be play but there is a different feeling around the program, where when things used to go bad and the ball would bounce the wrong way or wrong decision would be made is now turning up the other way. So many guys who are easy to root for on this team.
Endries and Nyzaiah are the guys I miss the most - Jett too.
Nah Jet went to UCLA he's dead to me lol. Could have done anywhere else
This morning UCLA is being referred to as possibly the worst team in the P5….oops, P4, which is their fault (along with U$C). The schadenfreude is rich with that one….
Well, that was fun.
I counted 6 to 7 seconds in pocket for JKS. The OL is much improved along with Harsin, Rolo, Ron and Anae play calling. Lots of upside with this group. I hope we can stay healthy
That felt good, dammit!
Two things I keep thinking about:
1) how does this game go if we’re NOT handed the ball on the doorstep of the end zone (certainly more of a nail biter/rock fight)?
2) Kudos to JW for creating 3 points at the end of the first half out of nothing w less than a minute to play thanks to the timely use (see what I did there? 😝) of his timeouts on the Gopher’s drive. Those were three very important points!!!!
Go Bears!
I was in disbelief when we were calling timeouts so aggressively on defense, traditional Wilcox would never have done that.
I was also very worried when we called an offensive play and with eight seconds left and no timeouts, perhaps within field goal range. But we executed it and perhaps needed those couple yards - the kick was very close on distance.
Wilcox didn’t turtle when he usually would and when he did, we executed well (the game killing drive at the end of the game). Very impressed.
Totally agree on that “running one more play”, but Wilcox knows what he has in JKS and when the ball dinked off the upright I was super thankful for those extra yards! I mean, we’re 6 for 6 on FGs, which includes some long ones…..someone pinch me!
I’m giving all the credit to JW, but maybe the difference-maker is Bryan Harsin. Brock Osweiler couldn’t say enough complimentary things about him last night.
Me too but I feel like you can do this with the ball in JKS’s hands and not just any QB.
Don't forget about the guy in the box!
It was definitely headed towards a less-than-one-TD result, likely coming down to the final drive and possession.
On 1) . . . honestly, who knows, but JKS and team showed a knack for coming up with a drive to score points whenever they lost the lead, so that might have happened again. Or maybe the D comes up with a big stop after pinning Minnesota deep. Could have gone all kinds of ways.
The mantra for this team should be "One game at a time!"
I'm now excited, but a still going to temper my enthusiasm. There have been too many starts like this over the years ( see 1978 & 79 with HC Theder and Rich Campbell at QB only to falter and end up at .500)
For now I'll try to do the "One game at a time!" approach and not look too far down the schedule, except to figure out which games I might be able to attend other than the Big Game.
I'm happy about what the staff and team have accomplished so far as it appears they have worked hard and are having success.
As the air begins to cool, the days get shorter, pumpkins begin to make appearances on porches, Halloween decorations are going up and leaves start to turn from green to red, yellow and orange; the real question is whether Cal will experience its typical October slumber and struggles.
Under Wilcox, Cal is 6-18-1 overall in October games. October will be the real test to see if Wilcox and this new staff have turned it around at Cal.
Yes agree. But that also means that you think we will be 5-0 heading into October?
When the gophers started gashing the Bears, the broadcast crew started talking about the Bears being gassed. Later in the fourth when the Bears started to return the favor, there was no mention of any weakness on Minnie’s part. I guess Cal suddenly being unstoppable on the ground didn’t play into the crew’s made up story line.
JKS is the real deal. Stick around.
I was there last night. Play calling and line play is definitely better this year. I'm still not yet convinced this year will be significantly different than the other Wilcox years. After so many years of early season mirages I'll wait and see. SDSU could be a tough matchup. In fact, Cal has never beaten them in San Diego. Every week is a test.
For me, Cal's true measure of success as a program will be can they for the first time since Tedford finish with a winning record in their own conference. It will be interesting to see if this team, the first with Rivera and Lyons, can pull off the feat and return Cal to prominence. If they can, the fans will return and Cal could finally become a hot ticket again. It's such a great stadium and atmosphere. All they need are more Ws to get over the hump.
Enjoy the afterglow friends. A well earned win!
Was REALLY worried about the trajectory of this one until I wasn't. No turtle this time.
I’m happy for the win, but 61 yards on the ground is not going to cut it. Hopefully Cal can incorporate a better run scheme before conference play begins.
Minnesota is likely the best defense Cal will see all year.
Yes but this clearly seemed to be the plan, and when Cal needed to run at the end they could.
I'd like to see the offense use the run game more to keep the defense honest and prevent them from keying in on JKS. When Minnesota put pressure on him, his decisions became more erratic, which is understandable for a freshman. A more effective run game would force the defense to respect it, which would open up passing lanes for JKS.
You and me both. But if you read the comments from JKS after the game, it was the game plan to throw the ball given the match ups. So I wouldn’t dwell too much on this but I hear your overall comment that our running should be better, which I agree with. But the good thing is that we have a coaching staff that objectively identifies how we can win based on match ups.
If we could've ran early, we would've. We knew line play was a major strength of Minnesota going in and we did not accomplish anything when we tried until the passing attack opened up the running game.
Maybe, but everyone in the building knew we were running at the end and we still did it effectively. We didn’t really try much earlier, the game plan was obviously to throw it and throw it a lot - the post game interviews confirm this.
Harsin's gameplay tracks with my point. It's a different matter to run on a team that's been worn out by, and fears, pass plays.