Cal’s injury report leaves Virginia Tech with a few places to keep its eyes trained Saturday, and the biggest one sits right at the center of the offense: quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele.
The sophomore is in concussion protocol and has been listed as questionable on both reports this week. Coach Tosh Lupoi called him “day-to-day” on Tuesday, and if he’s able to go, Tech will be dealing with the passer James Franklin described Monday as “as impressive of a prospect as there is.” Sagapolutele’s resume is already loud: 3,454 passing yards and 18 touchdowns as a true freshman, plus a 24-of-39, 286-yard outing in Blacksburg last October despite Kemari Copeland getting to him three times.
This season, though, the numbers tell a more uneven story. Sagapolutele has 1,180 yards, eight touchdowns and five interceptions while completing 65.2% of his throws. Against UCLA, Syracuse and Clemson, he’s 61-of-104 for 572 yards with four touchdowns and four picks.
If he can’t play, Cal would turn to Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele’s backup, redshirt junior Devin Brousseau, and that would not dramatically change the way Virginia Tech approaches the game. Brousseau started eight games at Colorado State last season and threw for 1,354 yards and nine touchdowns.
He also stepped in at UNLV after Sagapolutele was hurt late in the first half, finishing 19-of-32 for 200 yards and two scores while helping erase a 24-7 deficit with 18 straight points that briefly put Cal ahead 25-24. The Bears still lost 39-31, but Brousseau has been careful with the ball this year, throwing no interceptions in 48 attempts.
Another key name to watch is receiver Trond Strong, the one reliable passing-game piece who is not on the report. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound senior transferred in after catching 52 passes for 762 yards and five touchdowns in 10 games at Rutgers last season. He leads Cal with 299 receiving yards on 23 catches, averaging 13.0 yards per grab.
Chase Hendricks has been the volume target, with 32 receptions but just 8.3 yards per catch. His role has been mostly underneath, though he did connect with Brousseau for a 10-yard touchdown with 28 seconds left at UNLV.
He has also been quiet lately, posting 48, 44 and 49 receiving yards over his last three games. Even so, this is the area of Virginia Tech’s defense that has looked vulnerable at times.
Maryland’s Malik Washington threw for 359 yards and three touchdowns against the Hokies on Sept. 19, and Tech has just one interception in five games.
The other major uncertainty is in the backfield, where Adam Mohammed is also questionable. The 6-foot, 220-pound Washington transfer has 336 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 73 carries, plus 17 catches for 168 yards and another score, all in four games.
In that stretch, he accounted for 83% of Cal’s rushing yards and one-third of the team’s total offense. But he hurt his left knee against Clemson and sat out at UNLV, where the Bears managed only 69 rushing yards on 24 carries and leaned on 59 pass attempts.
Redshirt sophomore Ashten Emory led the way with 48 rushing yards, and the next-highest total came from freshman wide receiver Tyree Sams.
Carter Vargas, who had not appeared on Wednesday’s report, is now out and has not played since the opener against UCLA. That leaves Cal with Mohammed if he can go, or Emory and a committee if he can’t.
Virginia Tech brings plenty of pressure up front, leading the FBS with 51 tackles for loss and ranking fourth with 18 sacks. The Hokies allow 87.4 rushing yards per game. Cal has allowed 31 tackles for loss and 10 sacks.
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