BERKELEY - The first few minutes of Tosh Lupoi’s Cal debut offered exactly the kind of scene that can sell a season. A packed house, a glowing sky, and a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown march finished by quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele made the Bears look like a team ready to turn the page.
That’s where the promise peaked.
By the end of Saturday night, Cal had been dragged into a 45-24 season-opening loss to UCLA that stripped away the shine and left the Bears with a blunt message: the hype is real only when it’s backed up at the line of scrimmage, in the run game, and by a quarterback who protects the ball.
Sagapolutele’s talent was obvious throughout. So was the damage when things went wrong. He finished with four turnovers - two fumbles and two interceptions - and each one helped swing a game that was there to be won before UCLA slammed the door.
The Bruins didn’t need anything fancy. Coach Bob Chesney, fresh off a playoff run at James Madison last season, kept pressing the left side of Cal’s offensive line and waited for the breakdowns to come.
They came often. And when they did, UCLA turned them into quick strikes, scoring on one-play drives of 31 and 53 yards after Cal giveaways.
Cal’s defense didn’t help itself, either. The Bears repeatedly failed to set the edge and missed too many tackles in space, which gave UCLA easy openings whenever the Bruins had a chance to pounce.
The play that summed it up came just before halftime. Cal had made the game interesting with a brilliant five-play, 87-yard touchdown drive from Sagapolutele that cut the deficit to four with 13 seconds left in the half.
But UCLA needed only one snap to answer. Cal lost track of the seam, the Bruins ripped off a 43-yard completion, and suddenly UCLA had three easy points and a 24-17 lead.
Even when Cal found a stretch that looked like a momentum swing, it didn’t last. The Bears controlled much of the third quarter, pinned UCLA deep, and had the game tilting in their favor.
Then Sagapolutele passed up a wide-open checkdown, forced a 35-yard throw into double coverage, and watched the ball end up in Bruin hands. One play later, UCLA scored again.
The next Cal possession ended with another Sagapolutele interception, and UCLA followed that with an eight-play, four-minute drive that closed the book.
It would be easy to pin the whole thing on the quarterback, but that would miss the bigger picture. He can’t block five rushers, and he certainly can’t do it when UCLA keeps getting pressure home late.
He can’t repair a defense that was getting moved too easily on the ground. And he can’t make tackles for a secondary that looked lost too often.
There were still pieces for Cal to build around. Washington transfer running back Adam Mohammed was effective, and the Bears could move the ball on the ground. But they never found a clean rhythm between the run and pass games, and first-time playcaller Jordan Somerville never got the offense into a groove.
That’s what makes the loss sting. Cal came into the season with intrigue, with a quarterback who can make any throw he wants, with transfer talent that would have drawn envy west of Texas, and with the kind of window that looks open in the ACC after Miami. The program also has a fuller war chest than ever and a schedule that appears manageable.
But all of that only matters if the Bears can do the hard stuff.
That was the old frustration under Justin Wilcox - too many dull, grinding 20-13 games that wore people out. Now Cal has the opposite problem. On Saturday, the Bears looked like a highlight machine that still hasn’t proven it can handle the unglamorous work that wins football games.
Lupoi was hired to bring juice, recruiting power, relevance, and urgency. Saturday showed how far there still is to go. If he can’t fix the line of scrimmage, this season may keep going the way the opener did: sideways.
In Other News...
Cal Showed Just Enough On Offense To Make This Loss Tougher
California had enough offensive flashes in its 45-24 loss to UCLA on Sept. 5 at California Memorial Stadium to make the result sting a little more. Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele moved the ball through the air with 271 yards and two touchdowns, while the Bears also found a steady spark from Adam Mohammed, who made his Cal debut look like something to build on as the running game and passing game both showed signs of life.
What made it tougher for Cal was the way the rest of the afternoon unfolded around those positives. Nate Burrell got back into the sack column for the first time since 2024, and Kingston Lopa picked off his first career interception, but the defense still spent too much of the day chasing UCLA. When a team loses by three touchdowns and still has enough individual bright spots to wonder what might have been, it usually means there is plenty to sift through before the next week arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Let Tosh Lupois Debut Slip Away When It Mattered Most
Tosh Lupois Cal coaching debut came with plenty of anticipation, but UCLA controlled the night and left Memorial Stadium with a 45-24 win. Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele threw for 271 yards and two touchdowns, giving the Bears moments of offense to hang onto, while UCLA kept answering with the kind of plays that put the game out of reach.
TaShawn James helped tilt the momentum with two interceptions, and Wayne Knights touchdown runs kept Cal chasing from behind. Sagapoluteles two turnovers were especially costly after he entered the game riding a program-record run without an interception, a streak that underscored how abruptly the Bears chance to make Lupois debut matter slipped away. [Read more 🡒]
Cals Opener Turned Into A Collapse Fans Wont Soon Forget
Californias season opener had the kind of early energy that can make September feel full of promise, with lead changes and enough momentum swings to suggest a tight finish at California Memorial Stadium. Instead, the Golden Bears watched UCLA pull away for a 45-24 win in a game that never stopped tilting back and forth until the Bruins finally found the separation they needed.
For Cal, the frustration went beyond just another loss in a rivalry-adjacent Pac-12 matchup. Head coach Tosh Lupoi pointed to the competitive nature of the game and the need to keep improving, but the Bears also had to absorb the sight of running back Carter Vargas leaving in the first half, a setback that only added to an already unsettled night. [Read more 🡒]