What's Next For Cal After Head-Scratching Loss at San Diego State?

What’s next for the Cal football team after a puzzling and disappointing 34-0 setback at the hands of 14-point underdog San Diego State?

Well, it’s not next Saturday’s ACC opener at Boston College. Not yet.

The Bears have serious business before flying nearly 3,100 miles across the country to face the Eagles.

“The most important day of the year is going to be Monday and what everybody looks like walking through that door,” coach Justin Wilcox said.

After three straight double-digit victories to open the season, the Bears (3-1) fell flat at Snapdragon Stadium. The Aztecs (2-1) used a bye week to rinse away a 36-13 loss a Washington State and prepare for Cal.

They outplayed the Bears in every aspect.

Now Cal faces the same situation at Chestnut Hill, Mass. Boston College (1-2) had a bye a week after a surprising 30-20 loss at Stanford.

The Bears have a laundry list of issues to address following their first shutout defeat in six years. Linebacker Cade Uluave said they’ll be ready.

“One thing we always talk about is ownership. You’ve got to own what you do. We’re going to own it,” he said. “We got punched in the mouth — that’s obvious. One thing about our team is we’re resilient.

“We’re going to reflect, get better, hit the reset button and get going again. We’re just got to keep moving forward.”

While his coach is eager to see how players respond when they next convene for practice on Monday, Uluave said the process begins Sunday.

“I think it starts tomorrow when we come in and watch some film, break it down,” he said. “Then we’ve got to find the things we’ve got to get better on and fix ‘em. When we come into practice on Monday, we’re going to be ready to go.”

Perhaps no one’s resolve will be tested more than freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. He turned heads with his excellent play in Cal’s first three games, but his inexperience finally surfaced against SDSU.

He completed seven of his first eight pass attempts, then was 10 for 30 the rest of the night. Among those were two interceptions — he had just one over the first three games — including a 97-yard pick-6 that broke the game open at 27-0 in the third quarter.

In the post-game interview session, Sagapolutele took more of the blame than he deserved but said the Bears are better than what they showed.

Asked how he expects the team to respond at BC, he said expressed a confident resolve.

“This wasn’t the result that we wanted,” the left-hander from Hawaii said. “I think it reflects on me and my leadership and I just think I didn’t get the guys ready enough. I obviously didn’t put our team in good enough situations to be able to score.

“There’s so much to get better from. Going into next week, I think we’re going to have that chip on our shoulder and we’re going to come out firing. It’s a big loss. There’s so much to learn from I’m just excited to work even harder now.”

Wilcox said nothing in the team’s preparation last week suggested this performance. But that doesn’t change what transpired.

“Every coach, every player, anybody that had anything to do with that game has to look themselves in the mirror and figure out what they can do better so that never happens again,” he said.

Wilcox anticipates the right response.

“I expect them to come in, ready to work, take their medicine and move forward,” he said. “Because this is going to be a test when guys show up on Monday morning.”