Can Cal Fix Its Problems on Offense?

Cal’s problem is obvious. The solution isn’t.

As surprising as the effectiveness Cal’s defense has been, the ineffectiveness of the Bears’ offense has been more surprising.

It’s still early, just one-third of the way through the season, so Cal (2-2, 1-1 ACC) still has time to make the adjustments needed to fix its faltering offense.

However, what is fresh in everyone’s mind is Friday’s 24-10 loss to Clemson at home when the Bears’ offense reached a low point. And apparently it has affected the opinion of at least one key skill-position Cal recruit.

---Cal failed to score an offensive touchdown in that game and was outscored by its own defense. It was the first time since 2018 that Cal failed to score an offensive touchdown in a home game. (However, Cal won that 2018 game against Washington 12-10.)

---Cal’s 231 yards of offense were its fewest since 2022, when the Bears gained 156 yards in a 35-10 road loss to Oregon State during a season in which Cal went 4-8.

---Quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele had by far his worst game of his 17-game Cal career. He was 16-for-29 for 119 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions, and he was sacked twice. The 119 yards was a career low, 63 yards fewer than his previous career low after passing for more than 200 yards in every game as a freshman.

---Cal’s longest pass completion in Friday’s game was provided by a tight end, Mason Mini, who completed a 26-yard pass to Ian Strong after taking a long lateral from Sagapolutele.

Obviously Clemson’s defense had a lot to do with Cal’s offensive struggles, but the Tigers had yielded 51 points to LSU in its opener.

"I think it's been since '22 that we haven't given up an offensive touchdown," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said after the game. "That quarterback [Sagapolutele], I got a lot of respect for him. He's a really good football player, and I just thought we disrupted hm, did a good job covering.

"Made him have to hold the ball a little bit and create some pressure. . . . forced him to have to make some throws on the move, and just not let him get in rhythm."

The Performance Affected a Key Recruit

Charles Davis, a four-star wide receiver in the class of 2027 who committed to Cal in April, reportedly is having second thoughts about Cal after witnessing Saturday's offensive performance,

According to On3's Adam Gorney of Rivals/On3, Davis has reopened his recruitment, although he is still a "soft" commit to Cal. Davis was the highest rated prospect in Cal's 2027 recruiting class, and is ranked among the nation's top-15 wide-receiver prospects by 247 Sports and On3.

A Wider View

A look at Cal’s first four games provides a bigger concern for its offense.

---Cal’s scoring average of 26.0 points is deceiving. Take away the 49 points scored against FCS-level Wagner and the 14 points scored by the Bears’ defense, and Cal’s offense is averaging 13.7 points against its three FBS opponents, and just 8.5 points against its two ACC foes.

---The Bears’ offensive production has decreased each week against FBS opponents. Cal had 410 yards of offense against UCLA in the opener, 249 yards against Syracuse and 231 yards against Clemson.

---Cal’s offense has failed to score a single point in the fourth quarter against any of its three FBS foes this season. (Cal scored just three fourth-quarter points against Wagner.)

It’s a surprising lack of production given that Sagapolutele showed so much promise last year under offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin and seems to have better skill-position players around him this season with wide receivers Chase Hendricks and Ian Strong and running back Adam Mohammed and has an offensive line in which four of the five starters on Friday had combined to make 93 college starts entering this season.

And now, heading into next Saturday’s road game against UNLV there are questions about whether Cal’s most productive offensive weapon, Mohammed, will be available. (UNLV is 2-2 after beating Akron 38-10 on Saturday, and the Rebels were 5-1 at home last year.).

Mohammed injured his left knee less than three minutes into the third quarter Friday and did not return. Cal got three points on that possession after Mohammed helped Cal get to the Clemson 35-yard line on his final play, but the Bears did not score after that.

Head coach Tosh Lupoi did not have any definitive information about Mohammed’s prognosis after the game, but added, “I think he’ll be fine.”

Mohammed is Cal’s leading rusher with 336 yards, 281 yards more than anyone else on the team, and he is tied for second on the team in receptions with 17.

He was practically Cal’s entire offense on Friday before getting hurt.

Will Cal’s Offense Get Better?

Offensive coordinator Jordan Somerville is just 30 years old and has never been an offensive coordinator at any level before this season. And he has put in a new system from what Cal ran last year.

Perhaps time will allow him to grow into his role and adjust based on what is and isn't working. Perhaps time will enable Sagapolutele to grow into the new system. Just four games into the season is too soon to draw any sweeping conclusions about Lupoi, Somerville or the Cal offense. But adjustments need to be made.

Sagapolutele does not look like the confident quarterback he was as a freshman. That can change too.

Sagapolutele was not made available to the media after Friday’s game, but he has always seemed like a player with the appropriate mental makeup to play quarterback at an elite Power Four conference level. He has bounced back from disappointing performances before.

And maybe the exorbitant expectations placed on Sagapolutele this season have made his performance through four games seem worse than it has been. Afterall, his passer rating of 135.65 this season is better than his 131.61 passer rating for all of last season.

There is every reason to believe he will get it together at some point this season, although feel-good momentum is not on his side at the moment.

On Friday, he did not complete a pass longer than 17 yards, and many of his completions were essentially long laterals to wide receivers along the line of scrimmage, hoping they could make big plays in space, and they often did.

Cal Defense Delivers

Cal sits at 2-2 and 1-1 in the ACC primarily because of a defense that has kept the Bears in games. The defense was expected to be Cal’s weak link, given the lack of experience of its prominent players on that side of the ball and the return of so few starters from last year’s Cal defense.

The Bears have allowed 23.5 points per game so far, and that includes a 53-yard touchdown run by UCLA and a 75-yard run by Clemson in the final three minutes of those two games in which the outcome had been virtually decided before those plays.

The secondary has been particularly effective. Cal intercepted three passes by Syracuse quarterback Steve Angeli in its first ACC game and the defense was responsible for the victory in game in which the offensive statistics heavily favored the Orange. And the Bears intercepted Clemson quarterback Tait Reynolds once and limited him to 108 passing yards, which should not be enough to win an ACC game.

Safeties Kingston Lopa and Isaiah Crosby tied for the team lead in tackles with 11 each on Friday, and Crosby had a tackle for loss and an interception. Safety Aiden Manutai had the biggest Cal play of the game when he forced a fumble that was returned for Cal’s only touchdown of the game. Lopa leads the team in tackles with 27, and though he did not get an interception on Friday, his five picks still lead the nation.

The Cal defense allowed 17 points against Clemson, which produced the game-changing play on a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown that put the Tigers ahead 17-10 in the fourth quarter.

"The big momentum play of the game was the punt return," Swinney said, noting it was Clemson's first punt return for a touchdown since 2018.

The Cal defense has been better than expected. It’s up to Bears’ offense to improve if Cal hopes to earn a bowl berth for the fourth straight year.

Off the Subject

One thing Swinney said put the Cal campus in a positive light:

"This is really, truly a beautiful place," he said.

Dabo Swinney's postgame press conference:

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