Cal Awaits Word on Cade Uluave's Injury Status

Without its best player, Cal couldn’t beat the nation’s No. 15 team.

After a 31-21 loss to Virginia at , it remains to be seen if linebacker Cade Uluave will be healthy when the Bears (5-3, 2-3 ACC) visit No. 16 Louisville (7-1, 4-1) next Saturday.

Uluave, who had 19 tackles a week ago and entered Saturday as the ACC leader in tackles, apparently injured his right hand or wrist on the Bears’ first defensive series and did not return.

Coach Justin Wilcox provided no immediate update on Uluave’s condition and said he is day to day at this point.

Sophomore Aaron Hampton replaced Uluave in his first significant playing time at Cal and responded with 15 tackles.

“He did an admirable job He’s a very tough kid, he competes really hard,” Wilcox said of Hampton. “He got here a year ago and walked on from Alaska.

“I thought Aaron went in there and competed really hard, did some good things and there’s some things he still needs to get better at.”

Even so, as Wilcox said, “There’s not a player on our team who’s going to step in and be Cade.”

Uluave entered the week leading the ACC in tackles. Now his status going forward is in question.

“He’s one of the leaders on the team, really impactful, really vocal. It’s a big loss,” Hampton said.

“As far as my playing, I just fell on my training and tried to do my best,” he said before being asked what the experience taught him. “I can hang with these dudes. This is my first game that I’ve gotten multiple reps and I just proved to myself that I belong here and I can play here.”

Third-down woes

Wilcox said one statistic summed up the difference between the teams on Saturday.

“There were a bunch of third downs on defense where we had the opportunity to get off the field and couldn’t quite do that," he said. “That was a big story in the game — third downs.”

And it wasn’t just the Bears' inability to stop the Cavaliers in those situations. Cal could not consistently keep the chains moving when its offense faced its own third-down opportunities.

Virginia converted 10 of 19 third-down chances, including six of their first seven early in the game when they jumped out to a 10-0 lead. Later, the Cavs had gains of 25 and 26 yards on third-and-short plays.

Cal was just 3 for 12 on third downs, often prematurely ending possessions.

Trickery pays off

The day after Halloween, the Bears used some trickery to provide fans at Memorial Stadium with a treat.

Running back Kendrick Raphael scored three touchdowns for the Bears, two on the ground and one as the recipient of a 42-yard pass by tight end Mason Mini, of all people.

The play got Cal within 17-14 with 6:08 left and began with Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele throwing a lateral pass to Mini in the left flat. Mini, a sophomore transfer from Idaho, immediately fired a deep pass to wide-open Raphael, who ran into the end zone to complete the 42-yard scoring play, no doubt the Bears' most entertaining play of the season.

“That was probably the most nervous I’ve been for a play in my life,” wide receiver Jordan King said. “We’ve repped it once or twice since camp. He threw a dime.”

Raphael now has six touchdowns in the past two games and 11 for the season, second-most in the ACC.

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