Kingston Lopa Saves the Day for Cal

It’s not often that a defensive player comes up with all the key plays in a game, but that’s what Cal safety Kingston Lopa did in Cal’s 21-18 victory over Syracuse on Saturday in both teams’ ACC opener.

It’s safe to say that Cal would not have won the game – in fact, the Bears might have lost decisively – were it not for Lopa’s performance. Instead the Bears are 1-1, including 1-0 in the ACC.

Lopa intercepted three Steve Angeli passes, and every one of them was pivotal.

His first interception thwarted a Syracuse scoring threat and led to a touchdown that put Cal ahead for the first time.

His second interception was a pick-six that put Cal ahead to stay with less than five minutes left in the game.

His third interception came with 53 seconds left and saved the game for the Bears after the Orange was in position to tie or take the lead.

It was the first time a Cal player had three interceptions in a game since Jaylinn Hawkins had three picks in the 2018 Cheez-It Bowl against TCU.

“That’s my guy,” Cal head coach Tosh Lupoi said of Lopa, who was at Oregon last season when Lupoi was the Ducks’ defensive coordinator. “Love him. He’s like a son to me.”

Lopa also had an interception in the opener against UCLA, and his four interceptions for the season presumably give him the national lead in that category.

But it was the timing of the three picks that made the impact bigger.

“It’s a blessing to be in those kind of positions and coming up with the game-winning pick," Lopa said. " It was just . . . I don’t have any words.”

Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele passed for just 182 yards – the first time in his two seasons at Cal that he failed to surpass 200 yards passing.

Cal had just 249 yards of total offense – the Bears’ lowest total since Sagapolutele became Cal’s quarterback to begin the 2025 season.

Syracuse had 436 yards of offense to Cal's 249, and Syracuse had 27 first downs to 17 for Cal, which managed just 67 rushing yards, averaging 2.6 yards per carry.

Cal still won, thanks to Lopa.

The 6-foot-5 Lopa was not a starter last season at Oregon, finishing with 12 tackles, one sack and no interceptions as a redshirt freshman in 2025. However, he made his time at Cal worthwhile in a single game Saturday.

Let’s run down his three interceptions:

Pick No. 1

Cal trailed 12-7 early I the third quarter, and Syracuse was driving toward another score, getting the ball to the Cal 30-yard line, when Lopa picked off an Angeli pass at the Cal 18-yard line. He then returned the interception 53 yards to the Syracuse 29-yard line, setting up a Cal touchdown that put the Bears ahead 14-12 with 7:15 remaining in the third quarter.

Pick No. 2

Syracuse led 18-14 and faced a third-and-9 situation from its own 11-yard line when Lopa picked off an Angeli pass at the Orange 24-yard line and raced into the end zone to put Cal ahead for good 21-18 with 4:51 remaining in the fourth quarter.

So nice he had to do it twice 😏@LopaKingston takes his second interception of the game all the way to the endzone for a Bears touchdown.

📺 @accnetwork #GoBears pic.twitter.com/MTWLqScMlu
— Cal Football (@CalFootball) September 12, 2026

“I kind of saw [a Syracuse player] open, and I kind of knew, just in practice what we’ve seen. . . . I was just sitting in the hole watching the quarterback’s eyes, I saw one go under and I saw an over coming, and I just jumped it.”

It was the biggest play of the game. Unless you consider Pick No. 3 bigger

Pick No. 3

Syracuse had a first down at the Orange 47-yard line with 58 seconds left, and seemed to be marching toward a field goal to tie the game or a touchdown to win it. But Angeli’s first-down pass was intercepted by Lopa, who made a diving grab while keeping his hands under the ball for the pick at the Cal 44-yard line with 53 seconds to go. Syracuse had no more timeouts so Sagapolutele merely had to kneel down to give Lupoi his first win as a head coach.

Lupoi did not seem surprised by Lopa’s performance.

“It’s an expectation,” Lupoi said. “He is someone that does this consistently in practice. Kingston is a leader on our defense. So it’s no surprise.

“That’s what he consistently does in practice: He consistently attacks the ball.”

The most significant statistic in the game was turnovers. Syracuse had three turnovers and Cal had none. The statistics should had read: Kingston Lopa had three takeaways, and Syracuse had none.

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