Cal didn’t need long to put Wagner away, and by the time the Bears were done, the scoreboard at Memorial Stadium told the story in full. In a game they were expected to dominate as 58.5-point favorites, Cal rolled to a 49-7 win and never really gave the Seahawks a foothold.
Wagner had a rough afternoon on both sides of the ball. Quarterback Benjamin Newman finished 15-for-31 for 86 yards with one touchdown and one interception, while the offense managed just 3.4 yards per play.
Defensively, the Seahawks had no answer for Cal’s pace or physicality, allowing 626 total yards and 8.8 yards per play. That makes for a brutal return trip to Staten Island after Wagner has now been outscored 136-10 over its last two games.
The Bears still had some issues mixed in with the blowout. Their offensive line let too much heat get to sophomore quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele early, giving up a quarterback hit and four tackles for loss. Even beyond those numbers, Sagapolutele was forced to flee the pocket almost immediately at times, which is not the look Cal wants against a defense that was clearly overmatched.
There were also enough sloppy moments to keep the focus from drifting too far toward the final score. QuaRon Adams muffed two punts, including one that put Wagner in the red zone.
Cal was flagged eight times for 80 yards, and backup kicker Chase Meyer missed a field goal. Those are the kind of mistakes that need cleaning up before ACC play tightens the margin for error.
If there was one player who fully took over the day, it was running back Adam Mohammed. The Washington transfer piled up 169 scrimmage yards and three total touchdowns on just 15 first-half touches.
He led the Bears in explosive plays, and through three games he now has 285 rushing yards, 138 receiving yards and four total touchdowns. Before the season, he was placed on the Doak Walker Award watch list, and he looks every bit like a back who could keep climbing.
Sagapolutele also made the most of the matchup. After coming off a career-low in passing yards, he responded with a career-high 358 passing yards and three touchdowns before halftime.
Cal’s offense had 448 total yards in the first half alone, which was more than it managed in either of its first two games against UCLA and Syracuse. The opponent mattered, sure, but it was still a noticeable step forward for an offense that entered the day ranked third-to-last in yards per play among Power Four teams.
On defense, Kingston Lopa kept adding to his growing profile. The redshirt sophomore safety nearly scored on an interception return in the third quarter, then finished with five tackles, one tackle for loss and a pass breakup. He now has five interceptions in three games and continues to make noise nationally.
Cal’s front still has room to improve, though. Against an FCS offensive line, the Bears’ defensive line logged just two quarterback hits and finished without a sack or a tackle for loss. That’s not the kind of production Tosh Lupoi expects from his unit, especially with Clemson coming up fast.
Now the Bears turn around quickly for a Friday night matchup with the Tigers at Memorial Stadium. Cal is 2-1 overall and 1-0 in ACC play, and Clemson arrives at 2-1 with both teams looking to stay unbeaten in conference competition.
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 Showed Off A Dangerous New Edge In Blowout Win
Cal left little doubt in its blowout win over Wagner, leaning on a physical edge and an offense that kept finding answers all game. Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele helped direct the attack, Adam Mohammed found the end zone multiple times, and the Bears kept stacking scoring drives while Wagner had trouble sustaining anything of its own.
The big-play element also showed up in a hurry, with Cal stretching the field and turning one explosive moment into a wider avalanche. Wagner did manage to score once, but most of the afternoon belonged to a Bears team that looked faster, stronger, and much harder to handle than the opposition, a promising sign for a group trying to prove it can bring more than just efficiency on offense. [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 🡒]