It wasn’t exactly a surprise to Cal coach Justin Wilcox when told his 5-2 Golden Bears are underdogs Friday night against 2-5 Virginia Tech. In fact, the topic is just not on his radar.
“I never look at that,” Wilcox said. “It’s not something I ever even know. Nobody tells it to me. It’s just not something that concerns us at all.”
As of mid-week, the Hokies — who fired their coach after an 0-3 start and have lost their past two games — were listed as 4.5-point favorites to win their ACC matchup at Blacksburg, Virginia.
Home-field advantage accounts for some of that spread, but the rest?
Wilcox says the Hokies have good players, good coaches.
“That what we look at — not necessarily the record,” he said. “I’m sure with a couple plays here and there, their record might be totally flipped.”
Actually, no. Only one of Virginia Tech’s five losses was closer than 13 points.
But eliminate a defensive takeaway at the end of Cal’s 28-24 win at Boston College and its 21-18 squeaker over North Carolina last Friday and the Bears could be 3-4, winless in three ACC games and riding a four-game losing streak.
Kendrick Raphael #1 of the California Golden Bears celebrates after scoring a touchdown in the second half against the North Carolina Tar Heels at California Memorial Stadium on Oct. 17, 2025 in Berkeley, California. (Photo by Thien-An Truong/Getty Images)
Asked if they have been lucky, tight end Mason Mini said, “I wouldn’t say lucky. We don’t give up in the fourth quarter.”
A year after the Bears lost four consecutive ACC games by a total of nine points, they have flipped the script late in games.
“That’s a great quality, when you find a way to win when it’s not your best football. The guys have done that,” Wilcox said. “We’re making enough plays to win and we can make more. I’s just finding a way. That’s the No. 1 thing.”
So while the Vegas oddsmakers may not yet be convinced, the Bears have put themselves in position to become bowl eligible for the third straight season with their next victory. They haven’t reached six wins this early on the calendar since 2006.
“It’s not the ultimate goal,” Wilcox said of becoming bowl eligible. “But it’s something we aspire to — winning bowl games and being in the best bowl game possible.”
Mini agreed it’s just a stepping stone.
“Definitely not enough,” he said. “I feel like this conference is wide open, so why not just keep going and try to win every game we have for the rest of the season. We can do it.”
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Only three teams — No. 7 Georgia Tech (4-0), No. 16 Virginia (3-0) and SMU (3-0) — are still unbeaten in ACC games. Cal (2-1) joins Pitt (3-1), Duke (3-1), No. 19 Louisville (2-1) and No. 9 Miami (1-1) as once-beatens in conference play.
The Bears know they will have to ratchet up their performance to prevail in games vs. Virginia, SMU and Louisville over the final month of the season.
Their defense has been solid at times, not what they want on other days. But their offense has produced fewer points than any of the other six teams at the top of the ACC standings.
The run game ranks at the bottom of the conference and that has impacted the pass attack, where freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele’s numbers have dipped in recent weeks.
“There’s some things he’s doing better and it may not show up statistically. I think he’s getting better every week,” Wilcox said. “There’s some things decision-wise he can continue to improve on, which he will. We also have to catch it — I think we had six drops last week. So those numbers probably (would) look different.”
Connect on all six of those and Sagapolutele’s completion percentage in the game soars from 54 percent to 69 percent.
