Cal Football Game Preview: Bears Host UCLA in Opener

Cal is expecting a sellout for the Bears' season-opening game Saturday night against UCLA, and it's Tosh Lupoi’s debut as the Bears’ head coach.

The preview:

CAL (0-0) vs. UCLA (0-0)

SITE: California Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, California

WHEN: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

TV: ESPN – Tom Hart (Play-By-Play), Roddy Jones (Analyst), Quint Kessenich (Sideline Reporter)

RADIO: 810 AM -- Justin Allegri (Play-By-Play), Mike Pawlawski (Analyst), Scott Butler (Sideline Reporter)

SPANISH RADIO – Cal Football YouTube Live Stream – Jesus Zarate (Play-By-Play), Enrique Zarate (Analyst)

BETTING LINE: UCLA is favored by 2.5 points, according to FanDuel, as of Friday. Cal had been favored by 1.5 points four days earlier. Over/under – 53.5 points.

WEATHER FORECAST: There is a 20 percent chance of rain Saturday morning, but skies are expected to be clear Saturday night. The temperature is expected be about 67 degrees when the game starts and will drop to 60 degrees by the time the game ends. Chance of rain increases to 6 percent by the time the game is over.

Cal-UCLA History

Saturday’s game will be the 95th meeting between UCLA and Cal, and the Bruins lead the series 58-35-1. However, Cal won the last time they met, a 33-7 victory in Pasadena in 2023. Cal and UCLA did play each other the past two seasons, but before that they had played each other every year since their first matchup in 1933.

CAL PLAYER AVAILABILITY: Cal has not released an injury report or a depth chart. For ACC games, Cal will be required to issue an injury report.

UCLA PLAYER AVAILABILITY: UCLA did not issue an injury report or a depth chart.

CAL Storylines

---This will be Tosh Lupoi’s first game as a head coach at any level, and it will be Jordan Somerville’s first game as an offensive coordinator at any level, and Michael Hutchings first game as a defensive coordinator at any level. Somerville will be calling the offensive plays from the press box, while quarterback coach Nick Rolovich will be on the Cal sidelines.

---Cal has won its last four season openers. The last time the Bears lost their first game of the season was 2021, when Nevada defeated the Bears 22-17 in Berkeley.

---Lupoi and UCLA head coach Bob Chesney faced off against each other last year in the College Football Playoff, when Lupoi was Oregon’s defensive coordinator and Chesney was James Madison’s head coach. Oregon won that game 51-34 to advance to the quarterfinals.

---Cal was picked to finish 12th in the ACC in the preseason media poll, but this game is a nonconference game. Cal plays its first ACC game next Saturday at Syracuse.

---This will be the 2026 debut of Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who is coming off a standout freshman season and expected to have big season this year as a sophomore.

---Cal added two accomplished wide receivers through the transfer portal in the offseason – Ian Strong, a transfer from Rutgers and Chase Hendricks, a transfer from Ohio. Saturday will be their first game as Cal players.

---Cal desperately needs to have a better run game than it did last season, when it ranked next to last in the country in rushing yards per game (81.7) and was better than only three FBS teams in average yards per rushing attempt (2.8). Washington transfer Adam Mohammed and an experienced offensive line hope 2026 is better in that regard.

---Cal’s defense has been completely remade. There may be just one Cal starter from 2025 on the Bears’ starting 11 on defense against UCLA.

---It’s interesting that the betting favorite has changed over the past few days. Cal was a 1.5-point favorite throughout the offseason and entering this week, but UCLA became a 1.5-point favorite on Thursday, and the Bruins were made a 2.5-point favorite on Friday morning.

---Cal is coming off a 7-6 season in which Justin Wilcox was fired as the Golden Bears’ head coach after the 11th game.

UCLA Storylines

---This will be Bob Chesney’s first game as UCLA’s head coach. He was the head coach at James Madison the past two season, going 9-4 in 2024 and 12-2 in 2025. The Dukes won the Sun Belt title while reaching the College Football Playoff in 2025.

---UCLA is coming off a 3-9 season in which head coach Deshaun Foster was fired after an 0-3 start. Tim Skipper served as head coach the rest of the season. Skipper is now the head coach at Cal Poly-SLO.

---UCLA was picked to finish 13th in the Big Ten in the preseason media poll conducted by Cleveland.com. However, like Cal, it is difficult to predict how well the Bruins will fare this season because they have an entirely new coaching staff and an overhauled roster that includes 43 transfers added this season.

---UCLA added 43 transfers this season, and that includes 11 players from Chesney’s 2025 James Madison squad that reached the College Football Playoff. That includes linebacker Trent Hendrick, the 2025 Sun Belt Conference defensive player of the year, who joined the roster two weeks ago after the court granted him a fifth year of college ball despite participating in an NFL rookie camp this summer. He is expected to play against Cal but is unlikely to start.

---UCLA’s best offensive player may be 5-foot-7 running back Wayne Knight, who rushed for 1,373 yards and caught 40 passes for James Madison last season. UCLA is hoping he can boost a running game after the Bruins produced just eight rushing touchdowns in 2025.

---Five former Cal players are on the UCLA roster: running back Jaivian Thomas, wide receiver Mikey Matthews, defensive lineman Tyson Ford, outside linebacker Ryan McCulloch and kicker Mateen Bhaghani. Matthews, Ford are likely to be starters, Bhaghani is the Bruins’ field-goal kicker, and McCulloch is likely to be starter when he becomes healthy although he is unlikely to play against Cal. Thomas won’t start Saturday night’s game but he is likely to get some carries.

---UCLA averaged just 18.4 points last season, which ranked 126th of 133 FBS teams. However, James Madison averaged 33.3 points, which ranked 26th in the country, and new UCLA coach Bob Chesney is bringing James Madison’s offensive system to UCLA.

---The Bruins finished last in the Big Ten in scoring defense in 2025, yielding 33.4 points per game, and were also last in sacks, with 10. They were 17th of 18 conference teams in rushing defense, allowing 190.4 yards per game on the ground. However, Chesney is bringing in his defensive scheme from James Madison, which ranked fifth in the country in total defense last season, yielding 266.6 yards per game, and ranked 13th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 18.4 points per game.

---Nico Iamaleava is beginning his second season as UCLA quarterback after transferring from Tennessee. He had a relatively disappointing season in 2025 considering the expectations, completing 64.4 percent of his passes but for just 175.3 yards per game, 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He was a dark horse Heisman candidate prior to the 2024 season when he was at Tennessee. He has always been a threat to run.

--- UCLA fired athletic director Martin Jarmond on Monday, six days before the football opener. Jarmond has $6.5 million left on his contract. Tim Harris, who was once the Los Angeles Lakers president of business operations, will serve as UCLA’s athletic director, and will do so on a pro bono basis.

Cal Players to Watch

QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (coming off a great true freshman season).

WR Ian Strong (52 receptions at Rutgers last season)

WR Chase Hendricks (1,037 receiving yards at Ohio in 2025)

TE Mason Mini (35 catches, 4 TDs in 2025)

RB Adam Mohammed (ran for 108 yards against UCLA last season while at Washington)

S Kingston Lopa (big-play potential)

UCLA Players to Watch

QB Nico Iamaleava (pronounced EE-ah-MAH-leh-AH-vah, UCLA’s leading rusher in 2025, and a threat to run at any time)

RB Wayne Knight (first-team all-Sun Belt at James Madison in 2025)

WR Landon Ellis (36 catches, 17.3 yards per reception at James Madison in 2025)

WR Brian Roe (19 catches at South Carolina last season)

DE Sahir West (14 tackles for loss, 7 sacks, 7 QB hurries for James Madison in 2025)

LB Trent Hendrick (2025 Sun Belt defensive player of the year at James Madison, but unclear how much he will play against Cal).

CAL 2025 STATISTICS: Click here

CAL GAME NOTES: Click here

UCLA 2025 STATISTICS: Click here

UCLA GAME NOTES: Click here

JAKE'S PICK: Cal 24, UCLA 21

JEFF'S PICK: Cal 35, UCLA 31

KADE NIX PICK (UCLA Bruins on SI): UCLA 21, Cal 17

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