Way-Too-Early 2026 Virginia Tech Football Preview and Prediction: Week 6, vs. California

Following its ACC home opener against Pitt, Virginia Tech football embarks on its first trip to the West Coast in two years, facing California for the first time in the Golden State. The Golden Bears are the third of the first six teams that the Hokies are facing that will return its main signal-caller from 2025.

And likely, California will boast the strongest quarterback Virginia Tech has faced up to this point in the season.

True sophomore Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele returns after a breakout freshman campaign. The NFL-caliber quarterback isn't much of a dual-threat, but he is dangerous with his arm and poses a potent test for the Hokies' defense to manage. Still, Virginia Tech did it last year — California was one of three teams, and two ACC schools, that lost to the Hokies last season, coming as a 42-34 loss that arrived in a double-overtime thriller. In that contest, running back Marcellous Hawkins also racked up a season-high 167 rushing yards.

Sagapolutele was an immediate starter, and in his freshman year, he threw for 3,454 yards, 18 touchdowns and nine picks. In his first-ever game against Oregon State, he went 20-for-30, amassing 234 passing yards and three touchdowns

Like a good portion of the quarterbacks VirginaTech will go up against in 2026, Sagapolutele is not a rushing threat. The signal-caller scored four times on 60 carries, though he absorbed 30 sacks and finished with a net minus-120 rushing yards. Sagapolutele was held in the negatives in six of California's 13 games. In four of those games, California lost, including a four-game stretch where Sagapolutele was held in the negatives in each game and the Golden Bears lost three of those four.

Sagapolutele threw for over 200 yards in every game in 2025, and he surpassed the 300-yard mark in three of his final four games. After a rough three-game stretch from Sept. 20 to Oct. 4 where he threw three touchdowns to six picks and eight sacks, Sagapolutele proceeded to only throw two more interceptions the rest of the season, tossing nine more touchdowns along the way.

Sagapolutele compiled 330 passing yards and four passing touchdowns on 31-of-40 passing against then-No. 21 SMU, foiling the Mustangs' chances of making it to the ACC Championship game to play Virginia. The freshman then rounded out his first season with a 28-for-39, 337-yard effort against Hawaii that came up just short in a 35-31 loss.

At running back, California will need a new bellcow back after leading rusher Kendrick Raphael Jr. departed for fellow ACC school SMU. That effort will presumably be anchored by Adam Mohammed, who tallied 523 rushing yards and five scores on the ground last season at Washington. California totaled 81.7 yards per game on the ground, which was last in the ACC.

The pass catchers is perhaps where California has seen the largest degree of change.

Wideouts Jacob De Jesus and Trond Grizzell are gone after totaling a combined 1,818 yards and seven touchdowns on 163 catches. Mason Mini is back after logging 387 yards on 35 catches, and Quaron Adams will enter 2026 as California's leading returning wideout (273 yards, one touchdown).

In regard to the newcomers, tight end Dorian Thomas comes from New Mexico, where he was named All-Mountain West First Team after a 56-catch, 560-yard, four-receiving TD season. At wide receiver, Ian Strong should factor in after totaling 762 receiving yards on 52 receptions at Rutgers last season.

In the past two seasons, Strong has hauled in 95 catches for 1,438 receiving yards and 10 scores. He totaled 100 or more receiving yards in four of the Scarlet Knights' first five games, including a 151-yard effort against Iowa. Fellow newcomer Chase Hendricks also totaled 1,037 receiving yards and seven TDs on 71 catches last year at Ohio.

On the defensive front, California lost Cade Uluava and Luke Ferelli to BYU and Ole Miss (prev. Clemson), respectively. The two combined for 188 total tackles, four sacks and 80 unassisted tackles. Dru Polidore graduated, as well, meaning that the Golden Bears will need to replace his 62-tackle output.

Cornerback Hezekiah Masses is also out the door, off to the NFL after a 12-pass deflection, five-interception season in 2025. Defensive back Aiden Manutai returns after a 44-tackle season in 2025, as does safety Cam Sidney (47 tackles, 28 unassisted), though it's hard to earmark whether both will occupy larger roles with the influx of transfers.

It's safe to say that while Callifornia's offense appears to be better than last season's, its defense is an unknown at the time of writing — not unlike the situation Virginia Tech finds itself in with the relative lack of proven production outside several key contributors (Jaquez White, Kemari Copeland, etc.)

Like last year, Virginia Tech and Cal's clash seems to be another one of the 50-50 contests on the Hokies' 2026 schedule. Sagapolutele should be stronger this season, and he seems to have NFL-level potential. If the Golden Bears' playmakers pan out, I think California emerges with the victory here. If not, I think Virginia Tech has what it takes to eke it out. For this one, I'll go with the Golden Bears since there's more of a sample size on Sagapolutele than there is on Hokies quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer (1,339 passing yards, eight TDs, four INTs in 2025).

Virginia Tech's clash with California is set for Saturday, Oct. 10. No time or TV channel has been set for the showdown at the time of writing.

Final score prediction: California 34, Virginia Tech 26

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