Cal's Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele: `We're Going to Win This'

Cal wide receiver Jacob De Jesus already had caught 15 passes by the time the Bears lined up for the final play in overtime against No. 15 Louisville.

So freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was more than a little surprised that even after a timeout to think things though with the Bears facing a fourth down on the 3-yard line that the Cardinals returned to the field and lined up in man coverage.

“I was like, `We’re going to win this.’ I had full faith in Jacob that he was going to shake the DB and catch the ball and score,” Sagapolutele said. “It was so surreal. When he caught it, he scored, and I was like, `Did we just win?’ ”

And yes, he caught it, giving the Bears (6-4, 3-3 ACC) a 29-26 victory on the road against a team favored by nearly three touchdowns.

Trailing 26-23, coach Justin Wilcox said he never considered settling for a game-tying field goal try, even after the Louisville timeout. “Nope . . . we were going,” he said.

The decision was no doubt made easier by the fact that the young man with the ball in his hands was playing so well that ESPN analyst Brock Osweiler said Sagapolutele reminded him of Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino.

“You’d think maybe there’s some nerves there. That’s not him. That’s not how he operates,” Wilcox said. “He’s a very confident guy. None of what he did surprises me, but I think we can all see just how talented he is. Not just the physical tools but the poise to go out there and do what he always does — put the ball right on people.”

Sagapolutele delivered the best yet in a string of impressive performances by the 19-year old from Hawaii. Playing in front of 51,381 fans at Louisville’s L&N Stadium and a national TV audience, Sagapoutele completed 30 of 47 passes for a career-high 323 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

He leads all freshmen quarterbacks playing FBS-level football with 2,518 yards. Only Jared Goff had a better statistical freshman season than Sagapolutele, and the current guy already has five more victories than the Bears managed a decade ago.

Sagapolutele was giddy with joy in the immediate aftermath, telling the sideline reporter, “That was our moment, that was our time to shine.”

While Cal is now a win at Stanford shy of securing its first winning season since 2019, Louisville (7-2, 4-2) was denied a chance to jump into a five-way tie for first place in the nutty ACC.

Having now earned bowl eligibiity for the third straight season, the Bears have a bye next week before facing Stanford (3-7, 2-5), which lost 20-15 at North Carolina on Saturday. Cal closes the regular season on Nov. 29 at home vs. SMU (7-3, 5-1), which beat Boston College 45-13 to stay part of a four-way logjam atop the conference, alongside Georgia Tech, Virginia and Pittsburgh.

Sagapoultele was the centerpiece of the Bears’ best offensive performance in ACC play. They totaled 427 yards against a Louisville defense that entered the day allowing just 280 per game, best in the ACC.

Cal reworked its struggling offensive line, with Nick Morrow at left tackle, Jordan Spasojevic-Moko at left guard, Bastian Swinney at center, Tyson Ruffins at right guard and Braden Miller at right tackle. Center snaps were on target and both pass protection and run blocking were improved, even if the line committed five false starts in a loud stadium atmosphere.

They helped running back Kendrick Raphael rush for 83 yards and his 12th touchdown of the season, 11 of them on the ground. Only five Cal players this century have more TDs in a season than Raphael, a list topped by Jahvid Best (2008), Justin Forsett (2007) and J.J. Arrington (2004), each with 15. Raphael also had five catches for 37 yards.

De Jesus wound up with 16 catches (to tie a Cal single-game record) for 158 yards a month after he hauled in 13 receptions for 105 yards and a touchdown against North Carolina. The California Central Valley native, who came to Cal this season as a transfer from UNLV, now has 73 catches on the season, fifth-most by a Golden Bears since 2000.

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