Cal’s night started with a jolt and ended with the same familiar problem: no offense when it mattered.
The Bears grabbed an early edge Friday in their first Friday night lights game of the season, thanks to a forced fumble by sophomore defensive back Aiden Manutai that turned into a 35-yard return by redshirt sophomore Kamar Mothudi. For a moment, it looked like Cal might have a real chance to settle in and make Clemson chase.
Instead, the game tilted the other way as mistakes piled up for the Bears on both sides of the ball, and Clemson pulled away for a 24-10 win.
Cal’s defense gave it a chance to stay in front early. In the first quarter, with Clemson threatening just seconds before the break, Jericho Johnson came through with a sack that helped the Bears carry their lead into the second quarter.
But the pressure didn’t hold. Clemson cut it to 7-3 in the second quarter, and from there Cal began to unravel.
A pooch punt from the Tigers should have been manageable, but Cal jumped offside and handed Clemson a fresh set of downs. The Tigers made it count, with sophomore running back Gideon Davidson finishing the sequence with a 1-yard touchdown run and 5:37 left in the half.
Cal still had a shot to tie it before halftime, but that would have required redshirt sophomore kicker Chase Meyers to connect from 51 yards, four yards beyond his career long. He missed, and the Bears went to the locker room down 10-7.
Meyers got another chance soon after and delivered from 30 yards to even the score.
That was as close as Cal would get.
Late in the third quarter, Clemson wide receiver Bryant Wesco Jr. flipped the game with a 65-yard punt return that put the Tigers ahead 17-10. Cal did get one opening in the fourth when Clemson kicker Nolan Hauser missed from 48 yards for the first time this season. A promising drive followed, and the Bears seemed poised to make it a one-score game again.
Then the momentum vanished. With 5:54 remaining, sophomore quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was sacked, and Cal was forced to punt.
Clemson slammed the door after that. Davidson broke free up the middle for a 75-yard touchdown, pushing the Tigers to a 24-10 lead with three minutes left and sending much of the student section toward the exits.
The Bears’ offense never found its footing. This was their first home game without an offensive touchdown since Washington came to town in 2018.
Sagapolutele finished with 119 passing yards, the lowest total of his career. His previous low was 182 yards against Syracuse earlier this year. In 2025, the Hawaiian quarterback had not gone below 200 passing yards in a game, but now that has happened in half of his sophomore outings.
Afterward, head coach Tosh Lupoi said he believes the Bears can sort it out.
“I’m going to work my butt off to find those solutions,” Lupoi said. “As far as the offense, it’s finding what we can do best. That’s a good defense we just played against, and we got to take advantage of those moments and put our players in the best possible position.”
Cal doesn’t get much time to figure it out. The next two games bring UNLV and Virginia Tech, both teams the Bears have already lost to before.
The message from Lupoi was clear: effort alone won’t fix this.
“All this hard work we do guarantees one opportunity: It’s the opportunity to compete,” Lupoi said. “It’s not going to guarantee success, so to go get our success we have to go execute at a higher level.”
In Other News...
Cals Offense Looks Broken And One Bears Decision Feels Inevitable
Cals 24-10 home loss to Clemson left the Bears with more than just another setback on the schedule. The offense again looked stuck, the line still has not taken the kind of step forward the staff needed, and sophomore quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele is being asked to navigate a mess around him while the special teams issues only add to the drag on the whole operation.
That kind of stagnation usually forces a staff to start reconsidering who is steering the unit, and Cal is getting close to that point. Jordan Somervilles role has come under scrutiny, not because the Bears lack time to be patient, but because the offense keeps showing the same problems with little sign of a breakthrough, which is why the conversation around a possible change in how the plays are being called is starting to feel harder to avoid. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Gets A Fascinating Homecoming Test Against Unbeaten Virginia Tech
Cals Homecoming weekend will bring an early spotlight to Berkeley, with the ACC setting the Bears Oct. 10 meeting with Virginia Tech for a midday start and national television coverage still to be finalized between ESPN2 and the ACC Network. The timing matters for a Cal team that has looked sharper in day games than under the lights, and it adds a little extra edge to a matchup that already carries plenty of novelty on campus.
Virginia Tech arrives unbeaten under new coach James Franklin, giving the Bears another measuring-stick opportunity in a season that has already had its share of swings. The Hokies also will be making their first trip ever to Berkeley, which gives the game a fresh feel beyond the standings and the calendar, and makes Cals Homecoming stage look even more intriguing. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Faces A Familiar Crossroads After Another Uneven Start
After another uneven opening month, the Bears find themselves at a familiar sort of crossroads, with plenty of season still ahead and not much margin for error. Cal has eight games left, and the path from here turns quickly from one last non-conference test into a long run of ACC play, which means the room to settle in, stack wins and change the narrative is still there if the team can find it.
The history, though, is not especially encouraging for Cal teams that have stumbled early, even if there are a few standout exceptions tied to some of the programs best quarterback eras. This groups ability to make something of the season may rest in part on sophomore Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele continuing to grow into the job, but the larger issue is broader than one player. Cal needs to improve across the board, and soon, if this year is going to end anywhere near where the Bears want it to. [Read more 🡒]