Cal Football’s Hawaii Bowl Collapse a Final Reminder: It’s Time for a New Era in Berkeley
The final chapter of Cal’s 2025 season played out under the lights of the Hawaii Bowl, and it couldn’t have offered a clearer message: the Bears need a reset. Not a tweak.
Not a patch. A full-scale reboot.
On Christmas Eve, Cal coughed up a 21-0 lead in stunning fashion, unraveling in a way that felt all too familiar to anyone who’s followed the program over the last decade. Penalties piled up, execution faltered, and the in-game decisions left more questions than answers. By the time the clock hit zero, the Bears had not only lost the game but also lost their composure, with a postgame brawl capping off a night that will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
This wasn’t just one bad game-it was a microcosm of the issues that have plagued the program in recent years. The kind of loss where everything that could go wrong, did.
Cal has now surrendered a three-score run in six of its seven losses this season. That’s not a coincidence.
That’s a pattern. And it’s a pattern that new head coach Tosh Lupoi will be tasked with breaking.
While Justin Wilcox officially exited the program earlier this year, the Hawaii Bowl felt like the final echo of his tenure. The discipline issues, the inability to close games, the lack of adjustments when momentum shifts-those were hallmarks of the Wilcox era. And they were all on full display in Honolulu.
The Big Game loss to Stanford was a gut punch. This one was a reality check.
The Bears didn’t just lose-they unraveled. And that postgame melee?
It wasn’t just embarrassing, it was emblematic of a team that’s lost its way.
Now, the focus turns to 2026. Lupoi will be stepping into a program that needs more than just a new voice-it needs a new identity.
There are a few bright spots on the roster, a handful of players who can be foundational pieces. Some assistants may stick around.
But make no mistake: this is a full rebuild.
The good news? The reset button is there to be pushed.
Cal has a chance to redefine itself. But if the Hawaii Bowl was any indication, the road back to relevance is going to take more than just hope.
It’s going to take discipline, vision, and a whole lot of change.
The Wilcox era is over. The question now is how quickly Lupoi and his staff can turn the page-and how many of these current pieces will be part of that next chapter.