Cal opened ACC play with a win that came down to turnovers, a timely pick-six and a defense that kept finding answers.
The Bears beat Syracuse 21-18 on Saturday afternoon in Syracuse, New York, improving to 1-1 overall and 1-0 in the ACC. Cal also started league play with a road victory for the second year in a row, and did it after shaking off a loss to UCLA in the opener.
Kingston Lopa was the difference. The Cal safety grabbed three interceptions, giving him four on the season, and each one mattered.
His first pick stopped a Syracuse drive and set up a Cal touchdown. His second went 24 yards for a score and put the Bears ahead 21-18 in the fourth quarter.
His third came with 54 seconds left and sealed it.
Cal was trailing 18-14 with five minutes left when Lopa jumped a Steve Angeli pass at the Syracuse 24-yard line and took it back for the touchdown that flipped the game. That play gave the Bears a 21-18 lead with 4:51 remaining.
Syracuse had the better of the early momentum. On the second offensive play, Tylik Hill ripped off a 55-yard run to the Cal 8-yard line, but the Orange settled for a 25-yard Tripp Woody field goal and a 3-0 lead.
Later in the first quarter, Syracuse surprised Cal with a fake punt - Jimmy Gregg hit David Omopariola on a jump pass for 12 yards and a first down. That drive eventually ended with Woody’s 33-yard field goal after an interference call on Cal’s Jae’on Young, pushing the lead to 6-0.
Cal had a chance to answer before halftime, but Towns McGown missed a 46-yard field-goal attempt. Syracuse then stretched the lead with the game’s biggest first-half strike: Angeli hit Daunte Bacheyie for 38 yards to the Cal 23, then found him again for a 23-yard touchdown that made it 12-0. The Orange missed the two-point try, and Cal finally got moving from there.
Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele connected with Ian Strong for 43 yards to set up the Bears, and after a pass interference call against Syracuse, he threw a 14-yard touchdown to Chase Hendricks. That cut the margin to 12-7 with 7:15 left in the second quarter.
Cal’s defense turned the game again in the third quarter. Lopa intercepted Angeli at the Cal 18 and returned it 53 yards to the Syracuse 29, setting up a 2-yard touchdown pass from Sagapolutele to Jordan King. That gave Cal a 14-12 lead with 7:15 left in the third.
Syracuse answered with a 75-yard drive, highlighted by Angeli’s 19-yard pass to Darien Williams to the Cal 2. Ju'Juan Johnson finished it with a 2-yard touchdown run, putting the Orange back in front 18-14 with 1:38 left in the third. The two-point conversion failed.
The fourth quarter brought a stretch of missed chances and wiped-out plays. A Cal interception was erased by a roughing-the-passer penalty on Solomon Williams.
Later, Cal recovered a Syracuse fumble at the Cal 18, but that too came off the board because Cal had 12 men on the field. Woody then missed a 31-yard field goal for Syracuse, bouncing it off the left upright to keep it 18-14.
Cal had one more scare when Jordan King dropped a Sagapolutele pass on third-and-20 from the Syracuse 41, forcing a punt. But the Bears’ defense closed the door from there.
After Lopa’s touchdown return gave Cal the lead, Syracuse missed again - Woody pushed a 46-yard attempt wide right with 1:35 left. Then Lopa ended it with his third interception.
Cal finished with just 67 rushing yards and still won. The Bears were penalized nine times for 87 yards, while Syracuse was flagged 15 times for 134 yards. Syracuse also turned it over three times, and Cal had none.
Sagapolutele went 21-for-34 for 182 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, ending his streak of 14 straight games with at least 200 passing yards. Angeli completed 24 of 39 passes for 306 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.
The result left Cal in a far better spot after the UCLA loss. Now the Bears return home to face Wagner next Saturday, and then host Clemson on Friday night, September 25.
Cal is also now positioned much differently in the postseason picture, with its bowl chances improved to 60% as it needs five wins in its final 10 games to become bowl-eligible for the fourth straight year. Cal’s title chances stand at about 25%.
Picked to finish 12th in the ACC preseason media poll, the Bears got the conference slate started with a road win and, at least for one afternoon, looked like a team capable of hanging around the ACC race.
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