Cal QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele in Top 10 of On3 Heisman Poll

Cal true freshman Sagapolutele finds his name on On3's Heisman Trophy list
Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele
Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

This may be a bit premature, but On3 ranked Cal freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele No. 10 on its list of Heisman Trophy favorites.

Seven On3 reporters did the voting:  Andy Staples, Ari Wasserman, Chris Low, Brett McMurphy, Pete Nakos, JD PicKell and Charles Power.  And here is On3’s list of the top 10 Heisman candidates at this point, with the number of voting points in parentheses.

---1. Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer (66 points)

---2. Florida State quarterback Tommy Castellanos (52)

---3. Miami quarterback Carson Beck (45)

---4. Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed (41)

---5. Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia (40)

---6. Utah quarterback Devon Dampier (38)

---7. Oregon quarterback Dante Moore (25)

---8. Miami defensive lineman Reuben Bain (15)

---9. Ohio State safety Caleb Downs (11)

---10. Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (10)

Here is On3’s comment on Sagapolutele:

WEEKEND STATS: 24-of-38 for 279 yards, 3 TD

Cal has quietly worked its way out to a 3-0 start, with a couple decent wins over Oregon State and Minnesota.. Sagapolutele has been a huge part of that with his ability to play efficient football on offense.

He has turned it over only once via interception, while tossing six touchdown passes so far this season. His completion percentage is perfectly respectable, and he’s similar to Pavia in terms of what he does for the team from a charismatic standpoint.

Betting sites are not nearly as supportive of Sagapolutele’s Heisman standing. He is not even on the board at most betting sites, and two that do – ESPN BET Sportsbook and FanDuel – rate his Heisman chances at 150-to-1 and 80-to-1, respectively. That’s far behind former Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza, now at Indiana, whose odds range from 25-to-1 to 35-to-1.

The betting favorite at most sites is John Mateer, just as he is on the On3 rankings. Carson Beck has the second-shortest odds.

Sagapolutele was named the ACC rookie of the week for the second time this season after he threw for a career-high 279 yards and three touchdowns in the Bears’ 27-14 victory over Minnesota to lift the Bears to a 3-0 record. Cal plays a road game against San Diego State on Saturday night before beginning ACC play in a road game against Boston College on September 27.

College Football HQ on SI does not have Sagapolutele among the 10 players it mentions in its Heisman Trophy rankings this week.

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Three things we learned from Cal's 27-14 win over Minnesota

Bears' muted reaction to victory a good sign

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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.