Cal walked into Saturday night with its quarterback situation still in motion and walked out of Berkeley in a 41-7 hole after No. 21 Wake Forest buried the Bears early and never let up in front of 33,797 at Memorial Stadium.
Jackson Brousseau got the start again for Cal, even though Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was available. Brousseau made his second straight start after opening last week’s 25-20 win over Virginia Tech. Sagapolutele didn’t enter until the third quarter, when Cal was already trailing 41-0, and he finally helped the Bears avoid the shutout with a touchdown pass in the fourth.
Wake Forest quarterback Gio Lopez controlled the night from the start. He threw for 267 yards and four touchdowns without an interception, and added 51 rushing yards. The damage was front-loaded: 246 passing yards and three touchdown throws came in the first half alone, when the Demon Deacons ripped open a 34-0 lead.
The first blow came on Wake Forest’s opening possession, a 99-yard touchdown drive that set the tone immediately. Lopez finished that series with a 39-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dominick Barry, all 99 yards coming on four completions.
Cal’s next possession only made things worse. The Bears tried to convert fourth-and-1 from their own 34, but Brousseau’s pass to Chase Hendricks fell incomplete, and Wake Forest turned right around and scored again on Lopez’s 29-yard touchdown strike to Jack Foley for a 14-0 edge.
By then, the Bears were already chasing a game they never came close to catching. Lopez connected with Kam Shanks for 34 yards to set up Jamar Searcy’s 1-yard touchdown run, then Ty Clark broke loose for a 31-yard score to make it 27-0 after the conversion failed.
Cal did show a little life late in the half, reaching the Wake Forest 1-yard line with 1:40 left, but the Bears came away empty on four straight plays and kept the score stuck at 27-0. Lopez then hit Barry again, this time for 34 yards and another touchdown with nine seconds left before halftime.
The lead kept growing after the break. Lopez found Barry for a 2-yard touchdown in the third quarter to push the margin to 41-0. Cal’s only score came in the fourth quarter, when Sagapolutele connected with Mason Mini on a 28-yard touchdown pass to make it 41-7.
The numbers told the same story as the score. Wake Forest piled up 394 yards in the first half and averaged 12.3 yards per play. The Demon Deacons had 246 passing yards before halftime; Cal managed 66.
Barry was the night’s standout target, finishing with four catches, three of them touchdowns, for 102 receiving yards. Lopez’s stat line was just as sharp: 16-for-23 passing, four scores, no picks, plus those 51 rushing yards.
Cal had some key absences and injuries throughout the game. Wide receiver Ian Strong was not on the injury report but did not play.
Center Bastian Swinney left in the first quarter and did not return, and running back Ashten Emory exited in the third quarter and also didn’t come back. Running backs Adam Mohammed and Carter Vargas, offensive lineman Jimothy Lewis Jr., and defensive lineman Nate Burrell were out.
Sagapolutele and safety Kingston Lopa were available.
Wake Forest also had a notable player missing, as wide receiver Carlos Hernandez, who leads the nation in receptions with 49, did not play.
The size of the loss landed hard. Cal was booed in the second quarter and again at halftime, and by the fourth quarter only a small crowd remained in the stands. The Bears had been in position to move into a second-place tie with SMU in the ACC with a win, but never came close to that result.
The defeat dropped Cal to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in the ACC, and it also dragged the Bears’ bowl odds down to about 25%. With five games left, they need three wins to reach a bowl for the fourth straight year. Their ACC title hopes are down to about 1%, and with two conference losses already, Cal would need to win out to have any chance at the league championship game - even that might not be enough.
The schedule doesn’t ease up. Cal goes on the road next week to face SMU, which is 4-0 at home and just beat Virginia 23-13 behind Kevin Jennings’ 246 passing yards and two touchdowns, plus 124 rushing yards from former Cal running back Kendrick Raphael. The Bears’ next home game won’t come until the Big Game against Stanford on November 21.
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The unease around the class does not stop there. Four-star quarterback Dane Weber, another Cal commit, also made a trip to UCLA, though he brushed it off as just a visit for now. Even without an immediate change, it is the sort of development that keeps a staff on edge, especially when one highly regarded recruit has already moved on and another is still taking a harder look around the conference. [Read more 🡒]
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A big part of the challenge is navigating SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings, who has already established himself as the focal point of the Mustangs attack and a player who can make a defense pay in a hurry. Cal also has its own questions to sort through at quarterback, which makes this a difficult matchup even before factoring in SMUs recent special-teams change at placekicker. For a Bears team looking for stability, this is the kind of test that can expose every weak spot. [Read more 🡒]
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What stands out now is how little certainty Cal has heading into the next matchup with SMU. Lupoi said the quarterback picture is still being evaluated, leaving the Bears in the awkward spot of trying to reset after another uneven outing while also deciding who gives them the best chance to get back on track. [Read more 🡒]