Cal’s first ACC road trip arrives fast, and it comes with a lot more than a long flight.
The Bears head to Syracuse on Saturday for the conference’s lone matchup this week between ACC teams, and a win would push Cal into an early share of the top spot in the standings. Miami, SMU and Virginia are already sitting there after winning last week. Cal, meanwhile, is making the trek from California to New York for a game that covers 2,430 miles, easily the longest road trip of the week for any conference team.
Coach Tosh Lupoi said in the video above that Cal plans to travel on Thursday and otherwise keep its routine as normal as possible.
The Bears are coming off a 45-24 loss to UCLA last Saturday night and will be playing their ACC opener on the road. Cal is 3-4 in ACC road games outside California over the past two seasons, and the program has not won in New York since a 51-6 win over Army in 1973.
Around the conference, No. 7 Miami opens the day against Florida A&M at 5 p.m. on ACC Network.
The Rattlers are 1-1 and were beaten 56-9 by Miami two years ago. The Hurricanes will again have sophomore wide receiver Malachi Toney in the spotlight after he caught 12 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns in Miami’s 45-6 win at Stanford.
No. 24 Louisville stays at No. 24 after its 41-38 road loss to No. 9 Ole Miss, while Virginia comes in at No. 25 after opening with a 34-8 win over NC State in which the Wolfpack managed only 168 total yards.
Boston College returns home after a rough week that included a 34-15 loss at Cincinnati and then a 37-21 home defeat to UMass, a team that had lost 16 straight games and had not beaten an FBS opponent since 2023. Rutgers visits as a 3-point favorite.
Wake Forest, meanwhile, travels to Purdue after Gio Lopez threw for 350 yards and three touchdowns in the Demon Deacons’ 38-16 win over Akron. Purdue can match last season’s 2-0 start with a victory; after that, it went on to lose its final 10 games.
Pitt’s Mason Heintschel threw seven touchdown passes in a 59-14 win over Miami-Ohio, while UCF rolled Bethune-Cookman 73-6 behind seven rushing touchdowns from six different players.
At noon, Cal and Syracuse meet in the ACC Network window, and the Bears will be trying to shake off the loss to UCLA while ending a stretch that has been unfriendly on the road outside the West Coast.
Elsewhere, UC Davis visits No. 17 SMU after opening 2-0 but taking a 70-10 loss to Washington last year in its only game against a Power Four opponent.
No. 18 Tennessee heads to Georgia Tech, where Alberto Mendoza passed for 237 yards in his Yellow Jackets debut, but Colorado scored the go-ahead touchdown with 42 seconds left and then blocked a field goal to win 14-13.
Georgia Southern visits Clemson after the Tigers were overwhelmed 51-10 at LSU. Clemson managed just one first down in the first half while falling behind 31-3, and Georgia Southern enters with only one win ever over a current ACC team - a 19-16 upset of Miami in 1931.
Other games on the schedule include Villanova at Louisville, Norfolk State at Virginia, East Tennessee State at North Carolina and Old Dominion at Virginia Tech. The Hokies are heavy favorites in that matchup of 1-0 teams after beating VMI 73-3.
In Other News...
Cal Gets Some Injury Relief Before A Syracuse Test That Still Matters
Cals first injury report ahead of Saturdays ACC opener against Syracuse offered a little relief for a team that took some bumps in last weeks loss to UCLA. Running back Carter Vargas is doubtful after being helped off the field against the Bruins, and backup offensive lineman Kahlee Tafai is also unlikely to play, but the Bears avoided a longer list of absences as they start their conference schedule at home.
Outside linebacker Justin Beadles is among the players listed questionable, and backup tight end Rico Walker is in the same category, but Cal did not have to add center Bastian Swinney, tight end Dorian Thomas or defensive backs Marquis Groves-Killebrew and Jasiah Wagoner to the report. Syracuse, meanwhile, has six players out and several more limited, though the Orange still brought freshman wide receiver Calvin Russell III into the mix as questionable, leaving both teams with just enough uncertainty to make the opener worth watching. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Faces A Bigger Syracuse Test Than Last Years Team
Syracuse did what good teams are supposed to do to an FCS opponent, rolling New Hampshire in a 66-3 rout that offered a sharper snapshot of where this program stands now than the one Cal saw a year ago. Javon Edmonds, who covers the Orange for the Syracuse Post-Standard, pointed to a group that looks more complete on both sides of the ball, with quarterback Steve Angeli settling back in after injury, linebacker Keyshawn Johnson making his presence felt and defensive back Demetres Samuel Jr. showing the kind of versatility that can tilt a game plan.
The bigger question, of course, is how much of that translates once the schedule tightens and Syracuse gets a real measuring stick. Edmonds framed the coming stretch that way, with the games ahead likely to tell much more about the Oranges progress than a blowout ever could, and for Cal that makes the matchup more than just another early-season date. It is the kind of test that should reveal whether this Syracuse team is simply improved or genuinely ready to make noise. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Faces An Early Test That Could Shift Everything Around Tosh Lupoi
Cal enters an early-season checkpoint against Syracuse with more than just one result hanging in the balance. A loss would not bury the Bears, but it would shape the way the first few weeks of the 2026 season are talked about, especially around a team still trying to build momentum and keep people engaged. The matchup matters because it is one of those games that can quickly color how a program is viewed, even before the schedule really settles in.
Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele is part of the larger conversation too, because the Bears know every wobble gets magnified when a young roster is trying to find its footing. A win would immediately change the mood, give Cal an encouraging start in ACC play and keep the focus on the field instead of the noise around the program. A stumble, on the other hand, would leave plenty of room for the questions that tend to follow a team when the margins start to feel bigger than the record. [Read more 🡒]