Cal Football Game Preview: Bears Play Texas Southern in Home Opener

Cal plays its home opener on Saturday afternoon against Texas Southern.

The focus will be on Cal true freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele to see whether he can duplicate his outstanding performance in his college debut last week in a 34-15 road victory over Oregon State.

Sagapolutele even got seven votes in this week's On3 Heisman Trophy poll. That placed Sagapolutele 12th in this Heisman poll ranking, ahead of Penn State quarterback Drew Allar and Oregon quarterback Dante Moore among others.

The preview:

CAL (1-0. 0-0 ACC) vs. TEXAS SOUTHERN (0-1, 0-1 SWAC)

SITE: California Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, California

WHEN: Saturday, 3 p.m.

TV: ACC Network Extra/ESPN+ -- Chris Sylvester (Play-by-Play), Ahman Green (Analyst)

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

BETTING LINE: Cal is favored by 45.5 points. Over/Under is 52.5 points

WEATHER FORECAST: The temperature in Berkeley on Saturday afternoon will rise to about 74 degrees under partly cloudy skies. There may be a little mist during the game and the temperature will drop a few degrees by the end of the game. There is only a 7% chance of rain.

CAL-TEXAS SOUTHERN HISTORY: Cal has never played Texas Southern in a football game.

CAL PLAYER AVAILABILITY: Defensive lineman Nate Burrell is out for the season with an undisclosed injury. Cal did not release an official injury report for this game, but it will be required to do so prior to ACC games. Texas Southern linebacker Jacob Williams suffered a minor injury last week but is expected to be fine to play this week.

CAL STORYLINES:

---Cal true freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele proved last week he could handle making his college debut on the road, completing 20-of-30 pass for 234 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in the 34-15 victory over Oregon State. Now the question is whether he can handle the huge amount the national acclaim he received for his performance (Pro Football Focus national quarterback of the week, ACC rookie of the week, On3 national true freshman of the week, Shaun Alexander national freshman of the week) as well as the heightened expectations that come with it.

---Cal has never lost to an FCS/I-AA team since the I-AA designation was invented in the 1978 season. The Division I-AA category was renamed FCS in 2006.

---Cal wants to be a strong running team under offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin, but the Bears running backs averaged just 3.7 yards per carry in their opener. Three Cal running backs – Brandon High Jr., Kendrick Raphael and LJ Johnson Jr. – got about the equal number of carries last week.

---The Golden Bears hope to start the season 2-0 for the second year in a row. The best start in Justin Wilcox’s eight years as Cal’s head coach was in 2019, when the Bears won their first four games and finished with an 8-5 record, which was the last time they finished with a winning record.

---Cal did not allow a sack last week, after allowing at least three sacks in each of its last five games last season. Three of the five starters on the Bears’ offensive line transferred to Cal in this past offseason. They are hoping to prevent a sack for the second straight week. Last year, Cal allowed 50 sacks, tied for the most in the country.

---The Golden Bears are plus-two in turnover margin after one game. They did not commit any turnovers against Oregon State, while forcing two turnovers (a fumble and an interception). Last season, Cal finished plus-11 in turnover margin, which ranked 11th in the country.

---Last season, Cal struggled in the red zone, scoring touchdowns on 24-of-47 (51.1%) of their times the Bears got inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. Last week, Cal scored touchdowns on three of their four red zone opportunities. The Bears added a field goal on the fourth red zone trip.

TEXAS SOUTHERN STORYLINES:

---Texas Southern, an FCS school located in Houston that plays in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, lost its season opener to Prairie View AM 22-21 last week in the annual Labor Day Classic. Prairie View won it on a 17-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the game.

---Texas Southern’s band, known as the Ocean of Soul, is famous and will be on hand to perform during Saturday’s game. In 2004, the band was part of the halftime show at Super Bowl XXXVIII, and last Christmas the Ocean of Soul performed with Beonce at halftime of Baltimore Ravens game against the Houston Texas. The performance was nominated for an Emmy Award.

---Texas Southern has not finished with a winning record since 2000, when the Tigers went 8-3. The Tigers played one FBS team last year, losing to Rice 69-7 as part of a 5-6 season for the Tigers.

---Texas Southern has never beaten an FBS school in football.

---Texas Southern’s most famous football alumnus is Michael Strahan.

---Defensive lineman Damarcus Thomas is probably Texas Southern’s best defensive player. He played only six games last year, but had 22 tackles, including two sacks, one quarterback hurry and one safety. He had one tackle and one quarterback hurry in last week’s game.

---Wide receiver Trenton Leary is considered the Tigers’ best offensive player, but he had just two receptions for 4 yards in last week’s opener against Prairie View A&M. He had 41 catches for 417 yards and three touchdowns in 11 games last year.

---Texas Southern is counting heavily on quarterback KJ Cooper, who was 11-for-16 for 132 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions last week. He played in just two games last season before suffering a season-ending knee injury. He completed 19-of-29 passes for 180 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions in 2024.

---Texas Southern radio voice Lary Hale answers five questions about the Tigers---

CAL PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (freshman’s first college home game); LB Cade Uluave (2.5 tackles for loss last week); WR Jacob De Jesus (73 yards in punt returns last week); CB Hezekiah Masses (1 interception last week, 1 interception last year at Florida International); WR Trond Grizzell (5 receptions, 83 yards, 1 TD last week, 27 catches last year).

TEXAS SOUTHERN PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB KJ Cooper (11-for-16 passing last week), WR Trenton Leary (second-team preseason all-SWAC); RB Athean Renfro (66 rushing yards last week, 323 yards last season); DL Demarcus Thomas (second-team preseason all-SWAC); S Joel Williams (Grambling transfer had two interceptions last year and one this year).

CAL 2024 STATISTICS: Click here

CAL NOTES, DEPTH CHART: Click here

TEXAS SOUTHERN STATISTICS: Click here

JAKE'S PICK: Cal 42, Texas Southern 17

JEFF'S PICK: Cal 35, Texas Southern 10

TSU RADIO ANALYST LARY HALE'S PICK: Cal 14, Texas Southern 10

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