BERKELEY — Cal has a bye week to digest the first half of its football season and unravel how things went so badly sideways Saturday night against Duke.
The Bears are 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the ACC, but their prospects certainly appeared brighter than that when they stormed to a 21-7 lead barely 2 minutes into the second quarter.
Then the Blue Devils frustrated a season-best crowd of 42,240 at Memorial Stadium, scoring the final 38 points of the game in a 45-21 verdict. Duke put up 24 of those points in the second quarter to eradicate what was briefly a 14-point deficit.
“We’ve got to grow up, that’s the overriding theme. We’re immature,” coach Justin Wilcox said after the Bears squandered a chance to go 5-1 for the first time in 10 seasons. “We have glimpses where we can play good football but it’s too much of a roller-coaster. Can’t play that way and win.”
Both the offense and the defense took turns on that deflating amusement ride.
The offense assembled touchdown drives of 75, 55 and 80 yards on its first three times with the ball. Those totaled 210 yards, at an average of 7.8 yards per play.
The rest of the night, Cal managed just 76 yards on 2.2 yards per snap. And that wasn’t all: The Bears allowed six sacks and committed four turnovers.
California Golden Bears running back Kendrick Raphael (1) is gang tackled by the Duke Blue Devils in the second half of their game at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. The Duke Blue Devils defeated the California Golden Bears 45-21. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
“The first three drives of the game the offense played well,” Wilcox said. “Then we went backwards — penalties, sacks, turned the ball over four times.”
Things seemed to turn abruptly after freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele got up limping from a failed scramble two plays before Kendrick Raphael’s 4-yard touchdown run made it 21-7 early in the second quarter.
“I’m OK. My ankle’s good, everything’s good,” Sagapolutele said afterward. “Just got to play through it and play better.”
“He was able to keep playing. There was nothing from the trainers,” Wilcox said.
Perhaps, but Sagapolutele was 13 for 16 for 168 yards, with no sacks or turnovers to that point. He was 7 for 15 for 77 yards with three interceptions after those first three drives. The defensive pressure changed everything.
“We’ve got to protect the quarterback,” Wilcox said.
Sagapolutele declined to be critical of the men in front of him. “The O-line . . . they were doing the best they could,” he said, blaming himself for not always keeping his eyes downfield when pressure came.
His three interceptions, which give him seven on the season, included one that skipped off the hands of his intended receiver.
Cal’s defense was as much the culprit, allowing Duke 200 yards while it put up 24 points in the second quarter. The Bears forced Duke to go three-and-out three times in the third quarter before the Blue Devils added a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to ice the win.
Wilcox offered a terse assessment: “Terrible defense — eye control, communication, not playing the ball in the air, not rushing very well, didn’t tackle well.”
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Linebacker Cade Uluave conceded the Bears struggle with consistency.
“There’s times we’re doing what we need to do . . . and then there’s times we’re not,” he said. “That’s a killer.”
UP NEXT: Cal’s next two games feature opponents with losing records so far. Let’s take a look:
— The Bears are back home a week from Friday against Bill Belichick and North Carolina (2-3, 0-1), which was pounded 38-10 by Clemson on Saturday. The Tar Heels also have a bye this week.
— A week later, on Friday, Oct. 24, Cal treks to Virginia Tech (2-4, 1-1), which lost 30-23 at home to Wake Forest. The Hokies play at Georgia Tech next Saturday then enjoy their own bye the week before facing Cal.
Duke Blue Devils cornerback Chandler Rivers (0) fails to intercept a pass intended for California Golden Bears wide receiver Jaiven Plummer (84) in the first half of their game at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
