Cal Offense Was Outstanding -- And Then It Wasn't

With 7:09 remaining in the second quarter of Saturday night’s game at Cal, something weird happened: Cal’s offense suddenly, dramatically and inexplicably changed from unstoppable to nonexistent.

The Bears’ offense in general and freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele in particular began the game against Duke with their most impressive stretch of offensive football this season. Then, in the blink of eye, they began their most disappointing stretch of offensive football this season.

The defense did nothing to help, giving up 45 points and 443 yards.

“Terrible defense, starting with me,” Cal head coach Justin Wilcox of Duke’s 24-point, 211-yard second quarter that turned the game around. “Early in the game we started with a three-and-out, after that we played terrible defense – eye control, communication, not playing the ball in the air, didn’t rush very well, didn’t tackle well.

“Wildly inconsistent. Wildly inconsistent.”

But the all-the-sudden offensive turnaround from great to “What the heck happened?” was the most puzzling aspect of Cal’s 45-21 loss to the Blue Devils. And you can pinpoint to the exact second the moment when things changed.

Cal scored touchdowns on each of its first three possessions, going 75 yards in 11 plays, 55 yards in five plays and 80 yards in 11 plays to take 14-point leads twice.

Cal started its fourth possession with a 29-yard run by Kendrick Raphael, and there was every reason to believe the Bears’ offensive onslaught would continue when Sagapolutele launched a deep pass on the second play of that drive, a first-down heave from the Duke 46-yard line with 7:13 to go in the second quarter.

Afterall, Sagapolutele had been nearly perfect when he let the ball fly.

“It looked like their quarterback would never miss,” Duke coach Manny Diaz said afterward.

Sagapolutele’s long, arcing pass was headed toward Cal slotback Jacob De Jesus, who was tightly covered by Chandler Rivers as De Jesus maneuvered for position to try to snatch the pass at around the Duke 15-yard line. Another red zone opportunity seemed possible.

But as the ball came down, Duke safety Andrew Pellicciotta cut in front and intercepted the pass at the 15-yard line with 7:09 left in the second quarter.

BALL HAWK!!! pic.twitter.com/gUyZ7aAMGM
— Duke Football (@DukeFOOTBALL) October 5, 2025

By the time Pellicciotta finished his return 6:59 was left in the first half. However, it was when Pellicciotta high-pointed the Sagapolutele pass with 7:09 to go, that everything changed dramatically.

Before that moment, Cal had gained 239 yards, had scored 21 points and had scored on each of its three previous possessions.

After that point, Cal managed just 47 yards of offense, scored no points and never crossed midfield on its remaining eight possessions.

Before that moment, Sagapolutele had been 13-for-16 for 168 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions and no sacks.

After that moment, Sagapolutele was 7-for-15 for 77 yards with no touchdowns, three interceptions and six sacks.

“We knew that if we could hold them from running the football,” said Diaz, “the quarterback is immensely talented, but sooner or later he’d make mistakes, and that’s what proved to be true.”

The only possible explanation for the Bears’ offensive decline came late in the previous Cal drive when Sagapolutele came up limping after being hit on the sidelines. But he stayed in the game and offered no excuses.

“My ankle’s good, everything’s good,” he said afterward. “Just got to fight through it and play better.”

“He was able to keep playing,” Wilcox said. “There was nothing from the trainers. I mean, we got to protect the quarterback. Four-man rush, sometimes five, sometimes three. We got to protect the quarterback.”

Each of Cal’s first three possessions went for at least 55 yards and a touchdown. Four of Cal’s final eight possessions went for zero or negative yardage, and none produced a point.

Cal committed four turnovers; Duke had none.

Bottom line: Cal is 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the ACC heading into a bye week before it plays a Friday night game on October 17 against a North Carolina team that is having its own problems.

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