Tony Elliot Praises California Ahead Of Matchup On Saturday: "It Is Going To Be A Challenge"

Coach Elliot talked highly of the Golden Bears in his initial press conference

Oct 1, 2022; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Virginia Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliot looks on during the second half against the Duke Blue Devils at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images | Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

Offensively, California is led by a dynamic duo on offense with true freshman star Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who has been an exciting player this year for the Golden Bears. He has thrown for 1,982 yards and 11 touchdowns. He is the highest-rated player on the team with a 77.3 offensive grade this season in 545 snaps. He has been a bright spot for the Golden Bears this season and has continued to make big plays and keep California in games. Jacob De Jesus has been the second part of the duo that is performing at a high level and is a go-to player on offense. He leads the team in catches (55), and yards (492). The senior wide receiver had his best game recently against UNC, where he finished with 13 catches for 105 yards and a touchdown. He has caught the attention of Virginia head coach Tony Elliot and the Cavaliers.

"Yeah. One, they got a very, very good quarterback that's going to be special for many years to come, and that's where it starts. Number 21 (Jacob De Jesus) is electric. I mean, he's a do-everything kind of guy. They have great size at receiver and run well,” said Elliot.

“They got an ACC, a former, I guess I could say, East Coast ACC running back (Kendrick Raphael). That's a really good back there. They're long up front. They're big. They can run the ball, they can throw the ball. So they present tremendous challenges offensively and then defensively. They're very, and offensively they're very well coached and very well coordinated.”

California is led by two tackling machines in the ACC in Cade Uluave and Luke Ferrelli. Uluave has 81 tackles (leads team), three sacks, and three passes defensed. Ferrelli (second-leading tackler) has 58 tackles, an interception, a pass defensed, and a sack. Despite their secondary not being the finest, they have one of the better linebacking cores in the conference.

“But on defense, man, the guys are where they're supposed to be. They got a ton of confidence in the scheme. They have multiple D linemen they can roll in and keep those guys fresh. We already talked about the linebackers, one of the best in the country. And his running mate's pretty good too. I know Zero (Cade Uluave) gets all the attention, but 41's (Luke Ferrelli) a really good football player.

“They can stop the run with six if they need to. They run a structure where they can get eight near the box, really, really quickly. Their support defenders in their free safety and their nickel Sam support the run very, very fast. And then they got two really, really good corners, if not the two, the best combination of corners in the league in Zeke (Hezekiah Masses) and And the young man, I think it's (Brent) Austin, is his name, came from South Florida. We tried to go after both of them, but didn't have much luck. So I know they're pretty good. So they're a very, very well-coached team. They have an identity of playing extremely hard. And it's going to be a good challenge."

The Running Game Is A Key For The Cavaliers On Saturday

Virginia’s J’Mari Taylor gets the game winning touchdown against Louisville at L&N Stadium Saturday. Oct. 4, 2025 | Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On Saturday, that will be one of the biggest things to watch if California can slow down J’Mari Taylor, who is the leading rusher for the Cavaliers with 581 yards and nine touchdowns. The Cavaliers took a bit of a hit to their depth in the running back room after coach Elliot announced Xavier Brown was done for the season.

"So X (Xavier Brown) is unfortunately going to be out for the remainder of the season. They did confirm that it is an ACL. So he'll have to have surgery,” said Elliott.

Despite the injury, Elliot is looking for more out of his running backs in the game this week against California.

“I want the backs to be decisive and a little bit more, when they're decisive, squaring up their pads and hitting it downhill, and turning a three-yard run into six. And I think that was the difference, right? And sometimes when it's perceived that you may be struggling, now you're trying to hit the home run instead of taking the base hit. And I want us to just take those base hits, and A, if it's blocked for four, get four, and let's try to push it to six, right? As opposed to if it's blocked for four, well, we don't see the base hit. And now we're at zero, right? Because we're trying to do too much.”

The running game will be key to the success of the Cavaliers and defeating a talented group on Saturday.