Cal Sports Report

Cal Game Summary: Bears Upset No. 21 SMU

Cal blows 17-point, fourth-quarter lead, then score the winning touchdown in the final minute, knocking SMU out of the ACC championship game.
Jake Curtis|
Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele becomes emotional after defeating SMU
Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele becomes emotional after defeating SMU | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

In this story:

California Golden Bears

Cal let a 17-point, fourth-quarter lead slip away, but then scored the game-winning touchdown with 43 seconds left in a 38-35 upset of 21st-ranked SMU before a crowd of 28,956 in Berkeley on Saturday in Cal’s final regular-season game of 2025.

This was Cal’s first game in a nine years without Justin Wilcox, who was fired as Cal’s head coach last Sunday.

The Bears led 31-14 early in the fourth quarter before SMU scored touchdowns on their next three possessions to take the lead. But the Bears rallied to score a touchdown on a 75-yard drive, with Kendrick Raphael scoring a touchdown to give Cal a 38-35 lead with 43 seconds left.

A 52-yard field-goal attempt by SMU's Sam Keltner missed wide left with three seconds left.

The loss knocked SMU out of the ACC championship game, which will be between Duke and Virginia.

The game summary:

CAL 38, NO. 21 SMU 35

RECORDS: CAL (7-5, 4-4 ACC),  SMU (8-4, 6-2 ACC.)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. Sagapolutele threw for 330 .yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. And he led Cal's game-winning 75-yard touchdown drive in the closing moments, going 5-for-5 for 61 yards on that possession.

TURNING POINT: After blowing a 17-point lead, giving SMU a 35-31 lead with 2:22 remaining, Cal marched 75 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 43 seconds left

CAL PLAYER AVAILABILITY: Wide receiver Jordan King, tight end Mason Mini, tight end Landon Morris, tight end Jeffrey Johnson, wide receiver Marker Hamper and running back LJ Johnson Jr. did not play. Cal linebacker Cade Uluave left the game midway through the fourth quarter with an arm injury but returned later in the game.

SMU PLAYER AVAILABILTY: Wide receiver Yamir Knight was listed as probable heading into the game, and he did play.

KEY PLAY 1: Cal’s Chase Meyer kicked a 40-yard field goal to give the Bears a 3-0 lead with 3:23 left in the first quarter. Two plays earlier an apparent 12-yard touchdown pass to Trond Grizzell was negated by a holding penalty called on Cal’s Jordan Spasojevic-Moko.

KEY PLAY 2: SMU’s Chris Johnson Jr. ran 54 yards for a touchdown to give the Mustangs a 7-3 lead with 1:37 left in the first quarter. Two plays earlier, Cal’s Hezekiah Masses was called for pass interference on a third-down incompletion, giving SMU a first down at its 40-yard line.

KEY PLAY 3: Cal’s Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Jaiven Plummer to put Cal ahead 10-7 with 13:33 to go in the second quarter. It was Plummer’s second career reception and his first since the third game of this season.

KEY PLAY 4: Cal safety Aiden Manutai intercepted a Kevin Jennings pass that deflected off the hands an SMU receiver. Manutai returned the interception 17 yards to the SMU 14-yard line with 13:12 left in the second quarter. It led to a Cal touchdown, as noted in KEY PLAY 5.

KEY PLAY 5: Cal’s Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele completed a 7-yard touchdown pass to Jacob De Jesus that gave Cal a 17-7 lead with 10:29 remaining in the first half.

KEY PLAY 6: Cal’s Abram Murray missed a 46-yard field-goal attempt, wide right, with 1:13 left in the first half, keeping the Cal lead at 17-7.

KEY PLAY 7: On a third-and-goal play from the 15-yard line, Cal's Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele completed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Cole Boscia, giving Cal a 24-7 lead with 8:25 to play in the third quarter. It was Boscia's third career reception.

KEY PLAY 8: SMU's Kevin Jennings threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end Matthew Hibner to to complete a 75-yard drive and reduce Cal's lead to 24-14 with 4:52 remaining in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY 9: On the first play of the fourth quarter, Cal's Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to QuaRon Adams to increase Cal's lead to 31-14.

KEY PLAY 10: SMU's Chris mJohnson Jr. ran 35 yards to the Cal 3-yard line, and quarterback Kevin Jennings ran 3 yards for a touchdown on the next play. It reduced Cal's lead to 31-21 with 12:58 left in the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY 11: SMU's Kevin Jennings threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Hudson, reducing Cal's lead to 31-28 with 7:59 left in the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY 12: A 32-yard Kevin Jennings completion to Matthew Hibner and a 26-yard scramble by Jennings set up TJ Harden's 1-yard touchdown run that put SMU ahead 35-31 with 2:22 remaining in the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY 13: Cal's Kendrick Raphael scored a touchdown on a 2-yard run to complete a 75-yard drive and put Cal back min front 38-35 with 43 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY 14: SMU kicker Sam Keltner missed a 52-yard field-goal attempt wide left, with three seconds left.

STAT OF THE GAME: Cal entered the game dead last among the 134 FBS teams in rushing, and the Bears had 122 yards on the ground against SMU

STAT OF THE GAME II: SMU ended up with 477 yards of offense after having just 128 in the first half. Cal rolled up 452 yards. 

INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE GAME: Cal wide receiver Jacob De Jesus had 12 catches for 97 yards, giving him 99 receptions for the season and leaving him one reception shy of the Cal single-season record of 100 catches, set by Dameane Douglas in 1998. De Jesus passed Keenan Allen's mark of 98 receptions in 2011.

INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE GAME II: Cal running back Kendrick Raphael rushed for 111 yards on 33 carries, the third time this season he rushed for more than 100 yards.

INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE GAME III: SMU's Chris Johnson Jr. rushed for 128 yards on 10 carries, and it included a 54-yard touchdown run

QUARTERBACK STATISTICS: Cal’s Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was 31-for-40 for 330 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions; SMU’s Kevin Jennings was 24-for-36 for 250 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

WHAT IT MEANS: The clerical accomplishments are obvious. The Bears clinched their first winning season since 2019 and an eighth win in a bowl game would match 2019 and 2009 for the Bears most wins in a season since 2008. This is also the Bears’ first season since 2009 with a winning percentage of .500 or better in conference play. That ended the Bears ugly streak of 15 consecutive seasons with a losing conference record.

But more important perhaps is that this is Cal’s second victory this season over a team that was ranked at the time the game was played. Louisville was 15th when the Bears beat the Cardinals, and SMU is 25th in the AP poll and 21st in the CFP rankings. And Cal was a heavy underdog in both games – Louisville was favored by 18.5 points and SMU was favored by 13.5 points.

In short Cal’s reputation as a football school improved heading into the postseason.

CAL'S BOWL BAROMETER: The result of Saturday’s game probably did not affect which bowl Cal will play in. The Hawaii Bowl seems like the Bears’ most likely postseason destination, and they might face Hawaii in that game. The Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana, and the Frisco Bowl in Texas are also possibilities for Cal.

INTERIM HEAD COACH NICK ROLOVICH’S GRADE:

This win certainly enhanced Rolovich’s chances to be named Cal’s head coach, but the odds are still against him. A win in a bowl game would further improve his chances of landing the job, although Cal might name a new head coach before the Bears’ bowl game.

Assistant coaches are seldom promoted to the head coaching position on a team in which the head coach is fired. Administrators seldom want to retain staff members of what was considered an unsuccessful season. They want something new and refreshing. Assistant coaches typically become their team’s head coach only when the team is successful -- when the head coach leaves for a more prestigious coaching job or retires after years of success. 

NEXT GAME: Cal (7-5, 4-4 ACC) vs. undetermined bowl-game opponent. Date: To be determined. Site: To be determined. TV: To be determined. Cal’s bowl destination and bowl opponent will be determined soon, no later than December 7, after the field for the College Football Playoff is announced.

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.

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