Cal's 5-foot-7 Jacob De Jesus - Big Enough to Chase 100 Catches

How special is the number 100?

In the NBA, it was Wilt Chamberlain’s still-hard-to-believe point total for a single game, a record unbroken nearly 64 years later.

The 100-meter dash determines the world’s fast man, 100 percent reflects perfection, 100 degrees is a scorching day.

For a college football receiver, 100 catches in a season is rare air. Only two FBS players have reached that plateau so far this season, but Cal senior Jacob De Jesus is just one reception shy of joining them.

“It kind of snuck up on me. Honestly, I had no idea,” De Jesus said this week as the Bears prepared to depart Friday before their Dec. 24 matchup vs. Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl. “Coach (Justin) Wilcox one day asked me, `Hey, Jacob, how many catches did you have last year?’ I was like, `Coach, I honestly don’t know. I’m not really a big stats guy.’ “

A year after he had the modest total of 36 receptions for UNLV, De Jesus has more than that — 42 — over just the past three games. Those are big stats.

With his first catch at the Hawaii Bowl, he will tie Dameane Douglas’ 27-year-old program record of 100 catches.

“I always believe in myself and believe I can do good things,” he said. “But if you see where my production was last year, it wasn’t close to anything like this. It’s really just a blessing that God has put in front of me and I’m very blessed for my teammates and coaches who helped me get to this point.”

Jacob De Jesus moments after his game-winning touchdown catch at Louisville | Photo by Al Sermeno

De Jesus, who grew up 70 miles east of Berkeley in the Central Valley town of Manteca, said the trust his coaches have shown in making him such a central piece of the offense has helped his confidence soar.

An equally big piece of the equation, he said, is quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, whose 3,117 passing yards are the most nationally by any freshman playing on an FBS team.

“I think Jaron is a generational talent. I know sometimes that word gets thrown around loosely, but I truly believe that,” De Jesus said. “He’s such a phenomenal player and confident kid with a special ability.”

Sagapolutele already has committed to staying at Cal next season, and De Jesus — who is graduating — envisions a blindingly bright future for the 19-year-old left-hander.

“I’ve played with plenty of good quarterbacks,” he said, citing USC’s Jayden Maiava, who transferred from UNLV, and Hajj-Malik Williams, the Rebels’ quarterback of a year ago. “But this guy is different. He’s doing really big things at such a young age.

“He’s going to be one of the greatest to ever walk through here, definitely going to be a top pick in the NFL in a couple years.”

De Jesus, who likely hasn’t found his way onto many NFL draft boards yet, is hoping to receive an invitation in a couple weeks to the NFL combine, scheduled for Feb. 23 to March 2 at Indianapolis, where pro scouts analyze and dissect top prospects.

Despite 195 career receptions in his three seasons at Cal and UNLV, De Jesus is overlooked primarily because of his size. At 5-foot-7, he will become the shortest of 13 FBS players at California schools to secure 100 receptions in a season.

“I’m always going to underestimated because of my size,” he conceded.

Sagapolutele said De Jesus’ tenacity separates him from the crowd.

“He’s not the biggest but he’s going to fight for every ball and lay his body on the line. He wants the ball, first of all. You want a receiver that’s gonna want the ball,” Sagapolutele said. “He makes my job easier. I have such a reliable guy. I have a guy who’s going to make big plays and I know he’s going to put us in good situations.”

Among the 42 catches De Jesus made against Louisville, Stanford and SMU, 14 of them went for first downs or touchdowns.

“I feel like I’ve gotten better as the season progressed. We just started clicking more as a team, and me and Jaron, we’ve just been flowing, getting to a better state.”

As much as the Hawaii Bowl can help De Jesus achieve some impressive personal milestones, he said there is one goal for Wednesday night.

“We’re going over there to win a football game,” he said. “We’ve been going hard. We’re doing everything we can to win this game.”

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