Cal wasted little time putting Wagner in a hole and never really let the Seahawks breathe in a 49-7 win on Saturday.
The Bears opened with a steady march that featured Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele going 4-for-4 through the air and Adam Mohammed finishing the drive with a 28-yard touchdown run. Wagner showed some fight, but the visitors kept getting stalled out when they needed a fresh set of downs, even after being handed decent field position.
Cal’s next possession wasn’t smooth either, but the Bears still pushed through enough traffic to set up Mohammed for his second touchdown of the afternoon. Then the offense finally snapped into something explosive: Kyion Grayes turned a short passing concept into an 80-yard touchdown, with Ian Strong throwing a key block to spring him. Cal followed that with a two-point conversion, as tight end Mason Mini hauled it in to make it 29-0 with more than three minutes left in the first quarter.
Wagner answered with its best drive of the day to start the second quarter. Benjamin Newman helped move the Seahawks down the field with a gutsy QB run, and after reaching the Cal 10, he hit Malik Redd for a touchdown to cut it to 29-7.
Cal kept coming right back, though. McGough drilled a 36-yard field goal, and then Sagapolutele found Cooper Perry in the end zone to stretch the lead to 39-7.
The Bears nearly added even more before halftime, but a penalty wiped out a scoop-and-score chance. Wagner then missed a 45-yard field goal attempt to close the half.
At the break, Sagapolutele had completed 24 of 29 passes for 358 yards, and he would finish with 413. Mohammed had also piled up 91 yards on 19 carries.
The second half followed the same script: Wagner struggled to generate offense, and Cal kept leaning on its physical edge. Ashten Emory opened the half with a rushing touchdown, and then Kingston Lopa grabbed his fifth interception in three games, setting Cal up at the Wagner two. Jackson Brousseau came in at quarterback after that, but the Bears couldn’t cash in, as an Anthony League touchdown was wiped out by a facemask penalty.
Cal’s special teams issues kept showing up, too. A muffed punt return gave Wagner the ball at the Bears’ 17, but the Seahawks came away empty after a blocked field goal attempt. Cal then used a 6-minute, 16-second drive to set up a Chase Meyers field goal that made it 49-7, and Wagner didn’t score again before the final whistle.
In Other News...
Cal Has A Chance To Fix One Concern Before Clemson Looms
After opening ACC play with a win at Syracuse, Cal comes home this week to face Wagner with a chance to tighten a few things up before Clemson appears on the schedule. The Bears have been boosted by sophomore safety Kingston Lopa, whose ball production has stood out early, and by running back Adam Mohammed, who has emerged as one of the leagues more productive rushers.
Wagner, an FCS program from Staten Island, arrives after a heavy loss to James Madison and has not beaten a Power 4 opponent. Redshirt freshman quarterback Benjamin Newman leads the Seahawks offense, but for Cal the bigger question is whether this game can serve as a clean tune-up while the Bears continue sorting out the pieces around their next stretch of conference play. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Pulled Off A Syracuse Win That Makes No Sense
Cals win at Syracuse was the kind of result that leaves the box score looking upside down. Syracuse outplayed the Bears in most of the familiar categories, but Cal kept finding a way to stay alive because the defense kept swinging the game back in its direction. Kingston Lopa was at the center of it, turning in one of the best defensive showings Cal has had in recent memory and changing the feel of the afternoon with every takeaway.
The odd part is how little the broader performance seemed to matter once the turnovers started piling up. By the usual in-game metrics, this was a victory that barely made sense, one of those results the models would not have liked for Cal without the hidden value created on defense. Lopas impact was so large that it moved the Bears from being outplayed to being the team with the better path to the finish, which is why the game will be remembered less for how it looked and more for how it ended. [Read more 🡒]
Cals Offense Just Sent Clemson A Message Before A Bigger Test
A tune-up like this can only say so much, but Cal still did exactly what a good team is supposed to do against an overmatched opponent. In a 49-7 win over Wagner, Adam Mohammed gave the Bears an early jolt, Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele kept the offense humming through the air and the defense never let the game drift anywhere uncomfortable. The result was the kind of complete afternoon that lets a staff spend less time correcting mistakes and more time feeling out what this offense can become.
Kingston Lopa also kept his breakout stretch rolling on the back end, finishing with five tackles, a pass breakup and his fifth interception of the season as Cal held Wagner to seven points. The bigger question now is whether the Bears can carry that rhythm into a far tougher stage, with Clemson next on the schedule and far less margin for the kind of early burst that turned this one into a runaway. [Read more 🡒]