Assessing Cal Freshman QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele After 6 Games

What should we make of Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele’s first six games of his Cal career? More significantly what do Justin Wilcox and Sagapolutele make of the first six games played by the Bears’ true freshman quarterback?

After Cal got off to a 3-0 start, Sagapolutele’s was getting national publicity for his talent as a true freshman. Some sites even mentioned him a Heisman Trophy candidate, and there was widespread speculation about whether Cal could prevent this budding star from entering the transfer portal after one season.

Afterall, he had completed 67% of his passes with six touchdowns and just one interception in those three games, and Cal had been an underdog in two of those victories.

But Cal has lost two of its past three games, and the buzz about the phenomenal freshman quarterback at Cal has quieted down. In those three games he completed 57.3% of his passes, with two touchdowns and six interceptions, reminding us he is a true freshman playing the most important and most difficult position in football.

“Not good enough,” is the way Sagapolutele assessed his play through six games. “We have two losses, and those are losses I could have played better on. And that’s on me.”

The general feeling is that Sagapolutele is supremely talented but needs to do a few things better, such as taking what the defense gives him, checking down for shorter gains when that’s all that’s available, or even throwing the ball away rather than trying to make a big play every time.

“I think he’s done things phenomenally well,” Wilcox said Tuesday. “The accuracy he’s shown; the ability to make some really impressive throws.

“There’s things he can do better certainly – taking what’s there, playing each play on its own merit, and knowing there’s a time – he’s got such great confidence in his arm, he’s so competitive and he wants to make every play – just once in a while he’s got to cut it loose and get rid of the ball.

“He’s gonna get that. He’s a very smart guy. He’s very coachable. He’s gonna get it. And when he does he’s gonna play at a very, very, very high level.”

Sagapolutele said the sprained ankle he sustained against Duke is not an issue, but he acknowledged that he needs to do a better job of avoiding turnovers and not being obsessed with trying to make a big play every time.

“Yeah, for sure,” he said. “I’ve got to -- as a young player, it’s no excuse – I’ve just got to throw the ball away when it’s not there, and when it’s there, got to hit it, and just go through my reads.”

As far as any particular adjustments he needs to make, Sagapolutele said he needs to stay in the pocket a little longer waiting for something to open up.

“And taking the hits; it’s part of the game,” he said, “and being as calm as I can for the team.”

When the season began, Sagapolutele probably didn’t know what he didn’t know about playing quarterback in a Power 4 conference. Now he’s beginning to recognize what he didn’t know.

“There’s so much I can learn, so much more to grow, especially with my body, especially with my film study,” he said. “There’s so much more of my game that I can improve on.”

Can had a bye this past weekend before Friday night’s home game against North Carolina, and there are subtle indications that Sagapolutele has dwelled on his recent performance. He has had to make an effort to reset his mental approach.

“Definitely had to dig deeper into my faith,” said Sagapolutele.

Wilcox noted that there are several reasons Sagapolutele’s statistics have not been as good in recent games, one of which is that the competition has been better.

And there is the one factor that was hidden when he got off to such a great start.

“He’s a true freshman quarterback,” Wilcox said. “We all want – none of us, coaches and fans, we’re not the most patient group, and neither is he, neither are the players, but there is some learning going on . . . and that’s not an excuse, but it’s an explanation of why some of these things have shown up in communication and some of these plays we know we can make, we just got to execute on game day like we do in practice.”

Sagapolutele soon might have an opportunity to return to his early-season form. Cal’s next two opponents – North Carolina and Virginia Tech – rank 107th and 125th, respectively, among 134 FBS teams in passer rating defense.

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