Cal opened its season with flashes of pace and promise, then watched the game slip away in a fourth-quarter collapse against UCLA.
For stretches, the Bears looked like they were borrowing from Brennan Marion’s Go-Go offensive idea. Cal ran 87 plays and pushed the tempo against the Bruins, with offensive coordinator Jordan Somerville mixing in a run-first start to drives before taking a shot downfield. If it connected, the Bears hurried to the line and kept the pressure on with no-huddle football.
That approach helped produce Cal’s first touchdown. After a 19-yard completion to Cooper Perry, the offense lined up quickly with trips left. Wide receiver Chase Hendricks then caught a screen and turned it into a 9-yard touchdown.
Big plays were the story through the air. Sixty-eight percent of Cal’s passing yards came on gains of 15 yards or more, and the Bears hit those chunk plays seven times.
Still, the offense was only part of the story. After that opening scoring drive, Cal’s night started to resemble last season in all the wrong ways.
The Bears struggled to stop the run, couldn’t generate pressure, had trouble running the ball and couldn’t string drives together. The defense tried to create pressure without bringing extra rushers, rotating heavily in an effort to make it work.
Then came the halftime shift. Whatever Tosh Lupoi said in those 20 minutes seemed to spark his group, at least for a while. Before Cal’s fourth-quarter unraveling, UCLA had managed just 16 total yards in the second half.
The Bears, though, kept handing momentum back.
AJ Tuitele was ejected to open the third quarter on a targeting call, a major hit to Cal’s defense. Then the fourth quarter turned into a disaster.
On a fourth-and-3, a miscommunication led to a fumbled snap and a turnover on downs. On the next Cal drive, Sagapolutete threw an interception after the ball hit off Ian Strong’s hands, and UCLA cashed in with a touchdown on the very next play.
Another interception on a miscommunication followed, and the damage snowballed.
What had been a 24-24 game suddenly became 38-24 in the span of two drives.
UCLA’s Wayne Knight was the game’s standout. After rushing for 1,373 yards on a 6.6 average at James Madison last year, he picked up right where he left off in a Bruin uniform. Knight averaged 8.9 yards per carry and finished with 157 total yards and three touchdowns.
Cal’s Adam Mohammed earned the honorable mention despite the loss. The Washington transfer showed why he was so highly regarded out of the portal, carrying 28 times for 120 yards and a touchdown while also leading the team with seven catches for 46 yards.
The numbers tell the rest of the story. Cal held the ball for 34:49 to UCLA’s 25:11, but the Bruins hit on the bigger plays and made fewer costly mistakes.
Cal’s rebuilt defense gave up 277 rushing yards at 8.7 yards per carry, with 67% of those rushing yards coming on just eight big runs of 10 yards or more. UCLA also started 6 of its 14 drives in Cal territory, while the Bears began every drive in their own half.
Cal is now 0-1 and heads to the East Coast next week to face Syracuse in its ACC opener. The Bears leave with the sting of a painful loss, but conference play offers an immediate chance to respond.
In Other News...
Cal Will See Familiar Faces In A UCLA Reunion That Could Sting
Saturdays matchup brings an extra layer of familiarity for Cal, with several former Bears now lining up for UCLA. Among them are place-kicker Mateen Bhaghani and running back Jaivian Thomas, two players who have already made clear they are looking forward to seeing their old team again. UCLA also has a staff crossover in the mix, with linebackers coach Vic Sooto having served as Cals outside linebackers coach last season.
For Cal, that kind of reunion can cut both ways. It means the Bears are facing people who know their program well, and it adds a little more edge to a game that already carries plenty of Pac-12 baggage. Some of those familiar faces are expected to be part of the action, which only makes the matchup more personal for a Cal team trying to avoid letting old ties turn into new problems. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Opens A New Era With One Rivalry Test Fans Will Feel
Memorial Stadium will get an immediate pulse check when Cal and UCLA open the season in Berkeley, with both teams starting fresh at 0-0 and plenty of new faces on both sidelines. It is the kind of September matchup that tells you a lot about where a program stands, especially when one side is under a new head coach and the other is trying to make a clean first impression in its own building.
For Cal, the spotlight is even brighter because Tosh Lupoi is back as the first Golden Bears alum to coach the program since 1986, and he gets to introduce that era in a game fans know well. The Bears also bring back quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele after a strong freshman season, which gives this opener a little extra intrigue against a UCLA team with its own fresh start and revamped roster. [Read more 🡒]