Cal is headed to Dallas with more questions than answers, and the biggest one still centers on who Tosh Lupoi trusts at quarterback.
After a brutal 41-7 loss to Wake Forest at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night, Lupoi owned the result in his Tuesday press conference.
“A great coach adapts to any adversity that shows. Last Saturday night, we played a really good top-20 team, and I did not have us ready to compete - just plain and simple,” Lupoi said. “I didn’t have us ready to compete at that level like we did 10 days ago (when we) beat a (4-1) Virginia Tech team.”
The accountability was there. The clarity was not, especially after the Bears’ quarterback situation spiraled against the Demon Deacons.
Lupoi started redshirt junior Jackson Brousseau over the medically cleared Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, the former 5-star recruit who had started all 13 games of his freshman season. Brousseau, a Colorado State transfer, stayed in for nearly three quarters and delivered little on offense, finishing with 2.8 yards per passing attempt while Cal went scoreless.
By then, fans were searching for explanations and coming up empty. Lupoi didn’t offer much beyond saying he “made the decision to put (in) the best player (who was) available.”
Then came the turn that only added to the confusion. With Cal down 41 points, Lupoi finally went to Sagapolutele on the Bears’ ninth drive. The sophomore immediately outperformed Brousseau, passed him in yardage and threw Cal’s lone touchdown on a perfectly placed ball to tight end Mason Mini.
Sagapolutele finished 15-for-18 for 110 yards and a touchdown. Brousseau, working with nearly triple the snaps, went 17-for-29 for 81 yards.
And for now, the uncertainty carries over into this week. Asked who will start Saturday at No. 23 SMU, Lupoi stayed vague.
“I’m going to put the individual that I think is (going to) be best for us to go win the game coming up this Saturday,” Lupoi said. “You’ll see who’s out there based on my decision of who’s going to put us in the best position to go win the game.”
That leaves Cal waiting, again, for answers that won’t come until Saturday morning.
SMU, meanwhile, has no mystery under center. Senior Kevin Jennings has been excellent, throwing for 1,834 yards and 16 touchdowns while completing 72.9% of his passes across six games.
The Mustangs also have a familiar face in the backfield. Senior running back Kendrick Raphael, who led Cal in rushing last season, has piled up 542 yards and six touchdowns at 5.5 yards per carry for SMU.
“That’s still our boy. We got love for him,” Cal redshirt junior defensive back Isaiah Crosby said.
“It’s gonna be exciting to get to play against one of our former teammates. He’s a good running back and we’re going to have to cage him.”
SMU’s offense is averaging 32.7 points per game, and its defense has been just as sharp on the back end. The Mustangs are allowing an ACC-best 164.8 passing yards per game and enter the matchup having held opponents under 20 points in each of the last two weeks.
That sets up a difficult assignment for a Cal offense that sits last in Power Four offensive efficiency.
The Bears are 3-4 overall and 2-2 in ACC play, and after the Wake Forest thumping, the demand is simple: respond.
“That page is turned. It’s in the past,” said Cal right tackle Michael Klisiewicz.
“Now, it’s just, ‘Let’s go to SMU and get that win.’ We’re all ready to go.
We’re hungry for sure.”
Whether Lupoi’s next call helps settle the Bears down or adds another twist to the quarterback story will play out at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. Kickoff is set for Saturday, Oct. 24 at 9 a.m. on the CW.
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The bigger concern may be what surrounds the backfield. Four wide receivers and three starting offensive linemen are listed as questionable, including Ian Strong, Bastian Swinney and Jimothy Lewis Jr., which leaves Cals depth in a precarious spot if any of those players cannot go. SMU has its own injury issues, including safety Tyren Polley Jr. and running back Dramekco Green, but the Bears offensive availability is the more immediate storyline as they try to sort out who will be ready to play. [Read more 🡒]
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That kind of chaos matters for Cal because every ACC result can reshape the league pecking order and the Bears own opportunities as they eye the coming slate. The upcoming matchups bring their own twists, from injuries to key players to betting lines that suggest just how tight some of these games are expected to be, and the numbers only add to the sense that nothing in this conference is settling down anytime soon. [Read more 🡒]