Cal Football Game Summary: Bears Upset Virginia Tech

Cal upset Virginia Tech 25-20 before a crowd of 40,171 on Saturday afternoon in Berkeley..

Cal scored the winning touchdown with 18 seconds left, then prevented a Virginia Tech touchdown on the final play of the game when Virginia Tech quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer threw an incompletion after the Hokies were on the 7-yard line.

Cal played the game without quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. Jackson Brousseau was the Bears’ starting quarterback. Cal safety Kingston Lopa and Bears running back Adam Mohammed were also unavailable Saturday.

The game summary:

CAL 25, VIRGINIA TECH 20

RECORDS: CAL (3-3, 2-1 ACC), VIRGINIA TECH (4-2, 1-2 ACC)

Player of the Game

Cal quarterback Jackson Brousseau. Brousseau, starting in place of Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, was 29-for-43 for 321 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions, and he led the game-winning drive in the final minute.

Turning Point

With Cal trailing 20-19 after Virginia Tech scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:15 left, Cal drove 75 yards and scored the winning touchdown on Ashten Emory's 3-yard run with 18 seconds remaining.

KEY PLAY 1: An interception by Cal’s Quimari Shemwell was negated by a pass interference against Daniel Harris with 3:35 remaining in the first quarter.

KEY PLAY 2: A 55-yard field-goal attempt by Virginia Tech kicker John Love was wide left, keeping the game scoreless with 2:11 left in the first quarter.

KEY PLAY 3: On a third-and-16 play from the Virginia Tech 27-yard line, Hokies quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer completed a 32-yard pass to Ayden Greene, giving Virginia Tech a first down and putting the ball at the Cal 41-yard line with 13:18 left in the second quarter. That led to a touchdown as noted in KEY PLAY 4.

KEY PLAY 4: On that same possession, Grunkemeyer completed a 30-yard touchdown pass to Ayden Greene, giving Virginia Tech a 7-0 lead with 12:41 to go in the second quarter.

Ayden Greene is IN 💪

📺 @accnetwork x @HokiesFB pic.twitter.com/fuKpwiGPRp
— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) October 10, 2026

KEY PLAY 5 AND 6: Starting from the Cal 15-yard, Cal’s Jackson Brousseau completed a 42-yard pass to Chase Hendricks, putting the ball at the Virginia Tech 43-yard line. That was followed on the next play by a 23-yard Brousseau completion to Jordan King, putting the ball at the Virginia Tech 20-yard line with 7:30 remaining in the second quarter. It led to Cal’s first score.

KEY PLAY 7: On that same drive, Cal’s Ashten Emory scored a touchdown on a 5-yard run, tying the score at 7-7 with 5:54 to go in the second quarter.

Ashten Emory levels the score in Berkeley 😤

📺 @accnetwork x @CalFootball pic.twitter.com/Mib6BHUNBh
— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) October 10, 2026

KEY PLAY 8: Virginia Tech running back Marcellous Hawkins Jr. scored a touchdown on a 3-yard run to give the Hokies a 14-7 lead with 2:21 remaining in the second quarter. That 89-yard scoring drive was aided by two 15-yard facemask penalties against Cal.

KEY PLAYS 9 AND 10: Cal’s Jackson Brousseau completed passes of 21 yards to Jordan King and 22 yards to Ian Strong to set up Towns McGough’s 35-yard field goal on the final play of the first half to reduce Virginia Tech’s lead to 14-10.

KEY PLAY 11: On a fourth-and-7 play from the Cal 34-yard line, Cal attempted a fake punt and blocking back Dorian Thomas took the snap and ran 29 yards to the Virginia Tech 37-yard line with 4:48 left in the third quarter. It led to Towns McGough's 22-yard field goal, which reduced the Virginia Tech lead to 14-13 with 28 seconds left in the third quarter.

KEY PLAYS 12, 13 AND 14: On a third-and-4 play from the Virginia Tech 31-yard line, Virginia Tech quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer was sacked by AJ Tuitele. But Tuitele was called for rushing the passer and targeting, putting him out of the game and giving the Hokies a first down at the46-yard line. That was followed by a 29-yard Grunkemeyer completion to Davion Brown. But Hokies kicker John Brown missed a 39-yard field goal, to keep Virginia Tech's lead at 14-13.

KEY PLAY 15: Cal's Jackson Brousseau completed a 3-yard touchdown pass to Carson Perry-Smith with 4:06 left in the fourth quarter to give Cal a 19-14 lead after a failed two-point conversion attempt.

KEY PLAY 16: Virginia Tech's Ethan Grunkemeyer completed a 27-yard pass to Jeffrey Overton Jr., putting the ball at the Cal 25-yard line. It led to Ethan Grunkemeyer's 1-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown that gave the Hokies a 20-19 lead with 1:15 left after a failed two-point conversion try.

KEY PLAY 17: Cal's Jackson Brousea completed a 31-yard pass to Ian Strong, putting the ball at the 3-yard line. On the next play. Cal's Ashten Emory ran took a direct snap and scored a touchdown on a 3-yard run to give Cal a 25-20 lead with 18 seconds left.

KEY PLAY 18: On the final play of the game from the Cal 7-yard line, Virginia Tech quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer threw an incompletion in the end zone.

STAT OF THE GAME: Cal had 403 yards of total offense and Virginia Tech had 401.

STAT OF THE GAME II: Cal had 13 rushing yards on 12 attempts in the first half, an average of 1.1 yards per carry. Cal finished with 82 rushing yards, with 29 of them coming on Dorian Thomas' run on a fake punt.

INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE GAME: Cal quarterback Jackson Brousseau completed 10 of his first 12 passes and ended the first half 15-for-21 for 186 yards and no interceptions.

QUARTERBACK STATISTICS: Cal’s Jackson Brousseau was 29-for-43 for 321 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions; Virginia Tech’s Ethan Grunkemeyer was 21-for-31 for 288 yards,one touchdown and no interceptions.

CAL PLAYER AVAILABILITY: Quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, safety Kingston Lopa, running back Adam Mohammed, running back Carter Vargas, offensive lineman Ben Howard and defensive lineman Nate Burrell did not play.

What It Means

This is by far Cal’s best win of the season, and the Bears did it without starting quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, starting running back Adam Mohammed and starting safety Kingston Lopa. It’s hard to overstate how important this victory is to Cal’s season and for first-year Bears head coach Tosh Lupoi. The Bears were 10-point underdogs in this game, the first time this season their opponent was more than a 3.5-point favorite. The win improves Cal’s chances of finishing with a winning record for the second straight season and boosts the team’s momentum and confidence heading into next week’s home game against Wake Forest. This was Cal’s first win at home against an FBS opponent, and the Bears did it with key players out with injuries.

Cal’s Bowl Barometer

With this upset win, Cal’s chances to land a bowl berth improved to nearly 50%. The Bears’ hopes of reaching the postseason had taken a major hit with losses in their previous two games, but winning a game it was not expected to win enhanced the Bears chances of getting the six wins needed to be bowl-eligible for the fourth straight year. Cal still needs to win three of its remaining six games, and there are no guaranteed wins the rest of the way, but Saturday’s performance suggested Cal is capable of winning at least three more.

Cal’s ACC Title Barometer

Cal’s title chances increased to about 15%. Beating a team that looked like an ACC title contender makes Cal look like a team that could be a factor in the ACC race. Miami remains the ACC favorite, but Cal does not face the Hurricanes, giving the Bears a better shot at reaching the ACC title game. Nonetheless, Cal remains a longshot to reach the conference championship game since it might need to win all six of its remaining games to get there. It’s hard to imagine Cal doing that.

Cal’s Next Game

Cal (3-3, 2-1 ACC) vs. Wake Forest (5-1, 3-1 ACC)

Site: California Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, California

Date: Saturday, October 17

Starting time: 7:30 p.m.

TV: ESPN or ESPN2. The station will be determined after Saturday’s action is completed.

Most recent Wake Forest result: Wake Forest defeated North Carolina State 38-14 Saturday afternoon. Demon Deacons quarterback Gio Lopez passed for 303 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

· If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

Follow us on California Golden Bears on SI on X: https://x.com/jakecurtis53

Find California Golden Bears on SI on Facebook by going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport

Add us as a preferred source on Google