Cal Sports Report

Cal Football Game Summary: Bears Lose to No. 15 Virginia

Cal's record drops to 5-4 as Virginia gets its seventh straight win with a 10-point victory
Jake Curtis|
Cal head coach Justin Wilcox
Cal head coach Justin Wilcox | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

In this story:

California Golden Bears

Cal lost to 15th-ranked Virginia 31-21 before a crowd of 30,893 on Saturday afternoon in Berkeley, California. It gave Virginia its seventh straight win.

The summary:

VIRGINIA 31, CAL 21

RECORDS: CAL (5-4, 2-3 ACC), VIRGINIA (8-1,5-0 ACC )

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Virginia running back J'Mari Taylor. Taylor rushed for 105 yards and two touchdowns and caught four passes for 17 yards.

TURNING POINT:  Virginia took the opening kickoff and marched 75 yards for a touchdown on its first possession of the game. That put Virginia ahead 7-0, and the Cavaliers kept the lead throughout the game.

CAL PLAYER AVAILABILITY: Cal linebacker Cade Uluave, who began the weekend leading the ACC in tackles, left the game early in the first quarter with an unspecified injury and did not return. He did not record any tackles. Starting safety Aiden Manutai as well as running backs Brandon High Jr. and LJ Johnson Jr. did not play Saturday.

KEY PLAY 1: Virginia’s J’Mari Taylor ran 25 yards for a touchdown to complete a 75-yard drive that gave Virginia a 7-0 lead with 11:58 left in the first quarter.

KEY PLAY 2: Virginia’s Will Bettridge kicked a 26-yard field goal to give the Cavaliers a 10-0 lead with 5:21 remaining in the first quarter. However, Virginia failed to score a touchdown on that possession after getting a first down at the Cal 6-yard line following a 38-yard completion from Chandler Morris to Eli Wood.

KEY PLAYS 3 AND 4: Cal’s Kendrick Raphael gained 3 yards on a fourth-and-1 play from the Virginia 22-yard line for a first down, then two plays later Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele completed a 15-yard pass to Jordan King, giving Cal a first down at the 2-yard line. Raphael ran 2 yards for a touchdown on the next play to cut the Virginia lead to 10-7 with 13:00 to go in the second quarter.

KEY PLAY 5: Virginia’s J’Mari Taylor scored a touchdown on a 5-yard run to complete a 75-yard drive that gave the Cavaliers a 17-7 lead with 5:21 remaining in the second quarter.

KEY PLAY 6: Virginia kicker Will Bettridge missed a 48-yard field-goal attempt on the final play of the second quarter, leaving Virginia with a 17-7 lead at halftime.

KEY PLAY 7:  On a fourth-and-6 play from the Cal 19-yard line, Virginia attempted a fake field-goal play, with holder Daniel Sparks carrying the ball for 5 yards. That left Virginia short of a first down and gave Cal the ball a its 14-yard line with 11:26 left in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY 8: On first down from the Virginia 42-yard line, Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele took the snap, then threw a long lateral to tight end Mason Mini near the left sideline. Mini then threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Kendrick Raphael to reduce Virginia's lead to 17-14 with 6:08 left in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY 9: Virginia's Eli Wood took a long lateral from quarterback Chandler Morris and scored a touchdown on a 3-yard run, increasing Virginia's lead to 24-14 with 1:51 remaining in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY 10:  Virginia's Corey Costner intercepted a Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele's pass at the Virginia 12-yard line.

KEY PLAY 11: Virginia punter Daniel Sparks shanked a punt that went just 14 yards, giving Cal the ball at the Virginia 25-yard line with 13:33 left. Sagapolutele completed a 24-yard pass to Mason Mini on the next play, putting the ball at the 1-yard line. On the play after that Kendrick Raphael scored a touchdown on a 1-yard run, reducing Virginia's lead to 24-21 with 12:57 remaining in the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY 12: On a fourth-and-2 play from the Cal 9-yrd line Virginia's Chandler Morris threw an incompletion with 48 seconds left, giving Cal the ball at its 9-yard line.

KEY PLAY 13: Virginia's Kam Robinson intercepted a Sagapoutele pass at the 35-yard line and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown to increase Virginia's lead to 31-21 wih 34 seconds left in the game.

STAT OF THE GAME: Cal finished with 8 rushing yards, an average of 0.3 yards per carry. Adjusted for sack yardage, Cal still had just 37 rushing yards

STAT OF THE GAME II: Virginia had 456 yards of total offense and Cal had a season-low 263 yards of offense.

STAT OF THE GAME III: Virginia converted 10 of 19 third downs into first downs, while Cal was 3-for-12 on third down. That's the main reason Virginia ran 80 offensive plays, while Cal had 57 offensive plays:

STAT OF THE GAME IV: Cal committed two turnovers; Virginia committed none.

INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE GAME: Cal linebacker Aaron Hampton recorded 15 tackles. He replaced Cade Uluave when Uluave got injured in the first quarter.

INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE GAME II: Cal tight end Mason Mini had two catches for 34 yards, one rushing attempt for no yards and one pass attempt for 42 yards and a touchdown

QUARTERBACK STATISTICS: Cal’s Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was 19-for-30 for 213 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions; Virginia’s Chandler Morris was 24-for-36 for 262 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions.

WHAT IT MEANS: The Bears have lost two games in a row and four of their last six games after beginning the season 3-0. This was the Bears’ 14th consecutive loss to a team ranked the AP top-25. Their last win over a ranked team came in 2020. Cal needs to win at least two of its remaining four games (including a possible bowl game) to finish with a winning record for the first time since 2019. Cal must win two of its last three ACC games to finish with a conference winning percentage of .500 or better for the first time since 2009. Cal faces 19th-ranked Louisville on the road next week, Stanford on the road after that and SMU at home in its final regular-season game.

CAL'S BOWL BAROMETER: Cal’s chance for a bowl berth dopped to 50%. Even though Cal needs just one more win to become bowl-eligible for the third straight year, the Bears might be underdogs in all three of their remaining games (Louisville, Stanford and SMU). Heading into this weekend, ESPN’s College Football Power Index gave Cal a 73.7% chance of getting the six wins needed for bowl eligibility, but that will drop after this loss.

CAL’S ACC TITLE BAROMETER: After dropping to 2-3 in the conference, Cal’s chance of winning the conference title is close to 0%, and its chance of reaching the ACC title game is less than 3%. Even if Cal wins its remaining three regular-season games to finish with a 5-3 ACC record, there is little chance that would earn Cal a berth in the ACC championship game. Heading into this weekend’s action, the ESPN College Football Power Index gave Cal a 0% chance of winning the ACC championship.

JUSTIN WILCOX’S HOT SEAT READING: Wilcox’s seat got warmer after the Bears’ fourth loss in the past six games. Losing to the nation’s 15th-ranked team is not a major strike against Wilcox, but going 2-4 since the Bears’ 3-0 start does not paint a pretty picture. How Cal finishes the season will have a major impact on how Wilcox’s job status is viewed, and the Bears might be underdogs in all three remaining games. General manager Ron Rivera will determine whether Wilcox returns for another season, and Rivera said before the season started  that eight or nine wins would constitute a successful season. Wilcox’s contract runs through the 2027 season.

NEXT GAME: Cal (5-4, 2-3 ACC) vs.19th-ranked Louisville (7-1, 4-1 ACC) at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday, November 8. Starting time: 4 p.m. Pacific time. TV: To be determined. Louisville defeated Virginia Tech 28-16 on Saturday.  The television coverage for the Cal-Louisville game will be announced within the next few days.

Recent articles:

Game thread of Cal-Virginia game

Cal beats out Oklahoma, Texas Tech to land commitment from OT Daniel McMorris

Cal Game Preview for Saturday's game against 15th-ranked Virginia

Two running backs, starting safety out for Cal vs. Virginia

Utah prep wide receiver commits to Cal for 2026

Five questions for a Virginia beat writer about the Cavaliers

Can Cal defy ESPN Analytics' bleak outlook?

Cal coach Justin Wilcox says a big part of tackling is a matter of want-to

Published | Modified
Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

Home/Football