The ACC has put a night spotlight on Berkeley for Oct. 17.
Cal’s home game against Wake Forest will kick off at 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium, the conference announced Monday. The Bears will be playing under the lights for the third time this season, and the television assignment will land on either ESPN or ESPN2 once this weekend’s games are complete.
It sets up a meeting between a Cal team trying to steady itself and a Wake Forest squad that arrives with real momentum. The Bears are 2-3 overall and 1-1 in ACC play, while the Demon Deacons are 4-1 and 2-1 in the league.
Before Wake Forest gets to Berkeley for the first time, it still has work to do on the road at NC State on Saturday. The Deacons have won two straight, knocking off then-No. 16 Louisville 30-27 in Louisville two weeks ago before blowing past Stanford 57-3 at home last Saturday.
Quarterback Gio Lopez has been at the center of that surge. He has thrown for 1,377 yards with 10 touchdowns and just one interception, and he accounted for five touchdowns in the win over Stanford.
Cal, meanwhile, is coming off a 39-31 loss at UNLV and finished its nonconference slate at 1-2, its first losing record outside conference play since 2021. The Bears have won only one of their three home games this year, a 49-7 rout of FCS opponent Wagner, and have dropped home games to UCLA and Clemson.
The Oct. 17 matchup will be only the second meeting between Cal and Wake Forest. The Bears won the first one, 46-36, in Winston-Salem, N.C., last year.
In that game, Fernando Mendoza passed for 385 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for a score. It was Cal’s first ACC victory in its debut season in the conference.
Cal also heads into this week’s game against Virginia Tech with several injury concerns. Quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele took a head injury late in the first half at UNLV and did not return. Coach Tosh Lupoi said afterward that Sagapolutele did not suffer a concussion, and his status for Saturday remains undetermined.
Safety Kingston Lopa, who continues to lead the nation with five interceptions, also left Saturday’s game on the first defensive snap and did not return. The Bears are also without running backs Adam Mohammed and Carter Vargas because of injuries.
Cal opens a two-game homestand this Saturday against Virginia Tech at 12:30 p.m. The Hokies are 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the ACC.
Here are the other ACC kickoff times announced for Oct. 17:
Charleston Southern at Clemson - 9 a.m. on ACC Network Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech - 12:30 p.m. on ACC Network
Elon at Stanford - 4:30 p.m. on ACCNX, as previously announced Wake Forest at California - 7:30 p.m. on ESPN or ESPN2, with the network designation to be determined after the games of 10/10
In Other News...
Cal Offense Suddenly Has One Big Question Before Virginia Tech
Cals offense looked a lot different in the second half against UNLV, when Tosh Lupoi handed the play-calling duties to Pat McCann and the unit responded with 24 points after halftime. The switch gave Cal a needed spark and, just as important, it introduced a new layer of uncertainty heading into a tougher matchup with Virginia Tech, where the Bears are still searching for the right rhythm and identity on that side of the ball.
Virginia Tech coach James Franklin acknowledged the uncertainty around what Cal might do next, pointing both to the change in who is calling the plays and to the absence of several key players from the Bears roster. For Cal, the question is no longer whether the offense can look more productive than it did early against UNLV. It is whether that second-half burst was a one-game adjustment or the start of something more stable when the Bears take the field again. [Read more 🡒]
Mark Madsen Is Selling Bigger Cal Expectations Despite Major Changes
Mark Madsen is still working his way back after knee surgery, but the Cal coach made time to join ACC media day remotely as the Bears begin shaping a new season around a different-looking roster. Coming off a 22-win campaign, Cal has plenty of reason to talk bigger in year two under Madsen, even with several transfers gone and new recruits arriving to fill out the rotation.
The challenge now is turning that optimism into production, especially with so much of last seasons offense having to be replaced. Madsen has made clear the Bears expect more, and the first chance to see how the pieces fit comes Nov. 2, when Cal opens against Adams State at Haas Pavilion. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Made A Desperate Offensive Change Fans Need To Watch
Cals offense was already searching for answers when the UNLV game hit halftime, and the Bears made a change that spoke volumes about how urgently they wanted a spark. Tosh Lupoi confirmed that playcalling duties moved from offensive coordinator Jordan Somerville to pass game coordinator Pat McCann in the middle of the game, a switch made as the Bears were chasing the scoreboard and trying to steady an attack that had not been meeting expectations.
The timing only added to the sense of pressure around the decision, with Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele exiting after a concussion and athletic director Ron Rivera acknowledging the offense had fallen short of what the program wanted. McCanns adjustment did help Cal briefly wrest control back, even if the finish still went UNLVs way, and it leaves the Bears with an obvious question hanging over the next stretch: whether this was a one-game rescue or the start of something more permanent. [Read more 🡒]