Cal Walk-On Carson Perry-Smith Finds His Moment(s) in the Sun

Jackson Brousseau never saw Carson Perry-Smith catch his 3-yard touchdown pass with 4:06 left in the fourth quarter of Cal’s 25-20 victory over Virginia Tech.

He heard it.

Under pressure from defensive end Aycen Stevens, Brousseau released the ball and waited for the reaction.

“I didn’t see it at all, to be honest with you,” Brousseau said. “They brought good pressure. It man coverage so I put out there and let Carson go get it. I heard the crowd go crazy, so that was a cool moment.”

Perry-Smith has had more than one cool moment in recent weeks.

The redshirt sophomore walk-on from Granite Bay in Placer County came to Cal hoping to find a spot at wide receiver. He redshirted in 2024 and saw action in seven games on special teams last year.

But this season, especially when the offense staggered and the Bears struggled to stay healthy at running back, Perry-Smith’s role was expanded and elevated.

Coach Tosh Lupoi gave him some practice reps at running back last spring, just to help make him a more versatile player.

Last week at UNLV, after Pat McCann took over play-calling duties in the second half and the Bears began searching for anything or anyone that could jump-start the offense, Perry-Smith became an answer.

He caught a 53-yard touchdown pass out of the backfield while also playing on special teams, where he contributed a pair of tackles.

Against the Hokies, Perry-Smith had two rushes for 10 yards and two catches for 12 yards with a touchdown for the second straight week.

“He’s an absolute dog,” Lupoi said after the Bears squared their record at 3-3 and improved to 2-1 in ACC games. “Well before he got his number called, (he was) buried down there on the depth (chart). Now we’ve got him staring on special teams. And he’s a major contributor to the offense.

“It’s really cool to see him taking full advantage of his number getting called.”

While Brousseau never saw his third-down pass find its target, Perry-Smith knew exactly what to do.

Lined up in the backfield alongside Brousseau, Perry-Smith wiggled through the line into the end zone, chased by safety Tyson Flowers.

“That was an amazing throw by Jackson. He put it exactly where only I could catch it.” Perry-Smith said. “So I kind of ran this stutter rail from the backfield. I broke free from my guy and I saw it up there and I just had to get vertical and go up and make a play.”

Asked if he knew he could make the catch, he acknowledged, “Honestly, it was happening so fast my body kind of just reacted.”

Perry-Smith is enjoying his emergence this season, but he said it’s only been possible because of the path he’s taken and the way he embraced each step of the way.

“This process has been a long journey for me,” he said. “The people who are surrounding me and the coaches who believe in me have really put me in this position.

“I started on special teams that kind of helped me improve my role. Understanding the importance of those little jobs on special teams helped gain confidence with the coaches to be able to make those type of plays on offense.”

Bears part of a five-way tie for third place in the ACC

Cal improved to 3-3 overall and at 2-1 in the ACC finds itself sharing third place. The Bears are tied with Clemson, Pitt, SMU and Virginia, trailing conference-leader Miami at 3-0 and Wake Forest at 3-1.

The Demon Deacons, who visit Berkeley next Saturday night, are one of the ACC’s hottest teams. Their 38-14 win at NC State this week was their most decisive road win against the Wolfpack since 1943, and came a week after their 57-3 bludgeoning of Stanford, their biggest win vs. any opponent since 1941.

Follow Jeff Faraudo on Twitter, Facebook and Bluesky

Add us as a preferred source on Google