Cal Sports Report

Cal Football Game Summary: Bears Lose to San Diego State

Cal was a two-touchdown favorite but suffered its first shutout loss since 2019 in a decisive loss to San Diego State in the Bears' final nonconference game
Jake Curtis|
Cal head coach Justin Wilcox
Cal head coach Justin Wilcox | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

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California Golden Bears

Cal lost to San Diego State 34-0 in a shocking result on Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego.

The Bears (3-1) were favored by two touchdowns in this game, but they were beaten decisively to suffer their first loss in their final nonconference game. San Diego State (2-1) had lost to Washington State 36-13 in its previous game on September 6.

Cal was shut out for the first time since October 26, 2019, when No. 12 Utah beat Cal 35-0. Third-string Cal freshman quarterback Spencer Brasch made his first college start in that game six years ago, with Cal's top two quarterbacks sidelined with injuries.

Bears freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele stuggled for the first time this season. He threw two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown, and had no touchdown passes. Sagapolutele was sacked three times and was pressured on a number of other pass attempts.

Four big plays doomed Cal:

---1. Cal was stopped on a fourth-down play from the San Diego State 2-yard line early in the game.

---2. San Diego State's Jayden Denegal completed an 80-yard pass that led to the Aztecs' first touchdown.

---3. San Diego State's Dwayne McDougle returned a Cal fumble 35 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.

---4. San Diego State's Chris Johnson returned an interception 97 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.

 The summary:

SAN DIEGO STATE 34, CAL 0

RECORDS: CAL (3-1, 0-0 ACC), SAN DIEGO STATE (2-1, 0-0 Mountain West)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: San Diego State quarterback Jayden Denegal. He passed for only 189 yards. but he completed 15-of-18 passes for one touchdown and no interceptions for a passer rating of 189.9.

TURNING POINT PART I: After Cal drove 95 yards on its first possession of the game, Bears quarterback Jaron Keawe Sagapolotele threw an incompletion on a four-and-goal play from the 2-yard line, giving the Bears no points for the 19-play drive.

TURNING POINT PART II: Late in the first quarter, after San Diego State had done virtually nothing on offense to that point, San Diego State quarterback Jayden Denegal threw an 80-yard completion to Jordan Napier on a first-and-20 play from the 10-yard line. It led to a touchdown and a 7-0 San Diego State lead early in the second quarter and changed the complexion of the game.

CAL PLAYER AVAILABILITY: Cal kicker Abram Murray was not available for the game. He was 3-for-3 on field goal attempts this season and was being used for the Bears long field goals. All of Cal's place-kicking against San Diego State was done by Chase Meyer, who was 3-for-3 this season before missing a 44-yard attempt in the second quarter. Cal starting safety Isaiah Crosby left the game in the third quarter with an apparent leg injury.

KEY PLAY 1: On a fourth-and-goal play from the San Diego State 2-yard line, Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele threw an incomplete pass intended for Landon Morris in the back of the end zone. It halted a 19-play, 75-yard drive that ended with 2:54 left in the first quarter.

KEY PLAY 2: On a first-and-20 play from the San Diego State 10-yard line, Aztecs quarterback Jayden Denegal completed an 80-yard pass to Jordan Napier, putting the ball at the Cal 10-yard line with 12:15 left in the second quarter. Two plays later, Denegal completed a 6-yard touchdown pass to Napier, giving San Diego State a 7-0 lead with 11:42 remaining in the second quarter.

KEY PLAY 3: San Diego State’s Gabe Plascencia kicked a 34-yard field goal to give the Aztecs a 10-0 lead with 6:20 to go in the second quarter. It was Plascencia’s 15th straight made field goal.  The score was set up by Eric Butler’s 22-yard punt return to the Cal 41-yard line.

KEY PLAY 4: Cal’s Chase Meyer missed a 44-yard field goal attempt with 2:30 left in the first half, keeping San Diego State’s lead at 10-0. The missed kick came two plays after Cal had been penalized twice for illegal procedure penalties, costing the Bears 10 yards. It was Cal's first missed field goal of the season.

KEY PLAY 5: San Diego State kicker Gabe Plascencia kicked a 41-yard field goal on the final play of the first half to give the Aztecs a 13-0 lead at intermission. It was Plascencia’s 16th straight made field goal.

KEY PLAY 6: Cal running back Kendrick Raphael fumbled at the Cal 35-yard line, and the ball was picked up by San Diego State's Dwayne McDougle, who ran 35 yards for a touchdown that gave the Aztecs a 20-0 lead with 11:03 remaining in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY 7: .On a first-down play from the San Diego State 20-yard line, Sagapolutele threw a pass that was intercepted by the Aztecs Chris Johnson at the 3-yard line and returned 97 yards for a touchdown that put San Diego State ahead 27-0 with 5:59 left in the third quarter.

STAT OF THE GAME: Cal had 65 yards rushing and averaged 2.1 yards per carry, and many of those yards came in the fourth quarter when the outcome had been decided.

STAT OF THE GAME II: Cal committed three turnovers, two of which were returned for touchdowns, and the Bears forced San Diego State into no turnovers.

STAT OF THE GAME III: Cal is 5-0 alltime against San Diego State in games played in Berkeley, including last year's 31-10 Cal victory, but the Bears are 0-5 against San Diego State alltime in games played in San Diego.

INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE GAME:  After completing seven of his first eight passes (and the one incompletion was a drop), Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele then went 10-for-30 with two interceptions and no touchdowns the rest of the way.

QUARTERBACK STATISTICS: Cal’s Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was 17-for-38 for 208 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions for a passer rating of 80.2; Devin Brown was 1-for-3 for 16 yards. San Diego State’s Jayden Denegal was 15-for-18 for 189 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions and a 189.9 passer rating.

WHAT IT MEANS: Cal’s early-season momentum came to a screeching halt as the Bears lost decisively in a game in which they were two-touchdown favorites. The notion that Cal will finish with a winning overall record for the first time since 2019 took a hit but is still within reach. The most difficult portion of Cal’s schedule lies ahead as Cal begins ACC play next Saturday at Boston College. Finishing nonconference play with a 3-1 record is not bad, but the Bears missed an opportunity to be 4-0 by losing to a team they were expected to handle.

CAL'S BOWL BAROMETER: Cal’s chance of getting a bowl berth dropped to about 55%. The Bears were expected to get their fourth win in this game, and this loss could shake them a bit going forward. Still, Cal needs just three wins in its final eight games to earn a bowl berth for the third year in a row. Coming into this weekend, ESPN’s College Football Power Index calculated Cal had a 96.3% chance of getting the six wins needed to be bowl-eligible. That percentage will go down after Saturday’s loss.

CAL'S ACC TITLE BAROMETER: Cal’s chance of winning the ACC title stands at about 5%, and its chance of getting to the ACC championship game is about 10%. Cal begins ACC play next Saturday at Boston College, but losing to San Diego State, a game in which Cal was favored by two-touchdowns, suggests the Bears might have trouble in conference play. The only reason Cal has any shot at reaching the ACC championship game is its favorable conference schedule. The Bears do not face four ACC title contenders -- Miami, Clemson, Georgia Tech and Florida State -- this season. Heading into this weekend, the ESPN College Football Power Index determined Cal had an 0.9% chance of winning the conference title. That discouraging number of less than 1% will be even lower after this loss.

NEXT GAME: Cal (3-1) vs. Boston College (1-2, 0-1 ACC) at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, on Saturday, September 27. Kickoff: 12:30 p.m. Pacific time. TV: ACC Network. Boston College had a bye this week after losing to Stanford 30-20 on the road in its ACC opener on September 13.

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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.

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