Cal vs. UCLA at Memorial Stadium Restores the Joe Roth Memorial Game

Athletic department officials continue to explore avenues to continue the tradition long term

Joe Roth | Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

The Joe Roth Memorial Game, held every year at Cal from 1977 through 2023, makes its return to Memorial Stadium on Saturday night when the Bears open their season against UCLA.

Whether the late All-America quarterback is celebrated again next season and beyond remains uncertain.

Roth was a dynamic and charismatic star of Cal’s teams in 1975 and ’76, opening his senior season as a favorite to win the Heisman Trophy and regarded as perhaps the nation’s top NFL quarterback prospect.

But a recurrence of melanoma quietly took its toll on Roth through the ’76 season even as he continued to play. He died on Feb. 19, 1977 at the age of 21.

Roth grew up in Southern California and beginning with the 1977 season, Cal honored his memory during games each year against the Bears’ two L.A. area conference rivals, USC and UCLA.

When Cal left the Pac-12 for the ACC and UCLA joined the Big Ten before the 2024-25 academic year, those games disappeared from the Bears’ regular schedule.

Cal and UCLA signed a four-year deal in July, bringing the Bruins to Berkeley this season and again in 2028. The Bears don’t currently have a Los Angeles-area team on their schedule in 2027 or beyond ’28 and officials continue to consider options for hosting the event in the future.

New coach Tosh Lupoi, who played defensive line at Cal from 2000 through ’05, is familiar with Roth’s legacy and said he looks forward to celebrating that on Saturday night.

“Certainly a Cal legend,” Lupoi said. “It’s important to me that the important traditions here and knowledge of the greats like Joe Roth, that our team is educated on those.”

Lupoi said players watched a presentation on Roth’s place at Cal, including “his fighting character, what he embodies as a Cal Bear . . . but more importantly, fighting through that (cancer) battle and doing it with such a humble approach.”

Current Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele said being able to wear throwback uniforms from Roth’s era on Saturday night will be exciting.

“We’re ready to represent this school and represent him and the legacy he built when he was here,” Sagapolutele said.

That legacy still carries weight with Lupoi.

“Ultimately, if we had a majority of the team representing the principles and values of Joe Roth, we’re probably going to one in a position to win a lot of games.”

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