For those who stayed up late to watch the debut of California Golden Bears quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele against the Oregon State Beavers on the road in Corvallis it was well worth the wait.
Interestingly enough, Cal’s offense did go conservative in the opening offensive series with three straight runs that were short of first down yardage. Yet Oregon State made a special teams mistake resulting in a penalty that gave the Bears a first down.
Sagapolutele completed his first ever throw to Trond Grizzell for 35 yards. After another completion to running back Brandon High for five yards, and a run play that went for no gain. Tight end Mason Mini caught the first touchdown of the season for California which went for 19 yards.
The Beavers continue to make mistakes as the opening snap was fumbled and recovered by quarterback Maalik Murphy who was making his debut after starting his collegiate career with the Texas Longhorns and having a good 2024 season with the Duke Blue Devils.
Back-to-back incomplete passes led to a three and out. Sagapolutele found tight end Landon Morris for 26 yards, after three runs by Kendrick Raphael a transfer from North Carolina State, another completion this time to Jacob de Jesus, Grizzell was found for the second touchdown of the game this time from 32 yards and more importantly the football was placed beautifully.
Offensively Oregon State it seemed like any chance of momentum got taken away. Running back Anthony Hankerson had a 14 yard gain and Murphy found Trent Walker for 30 yards. Two plays later a four yard loss stalled the drive and Caleb Ojeda made a 53-yard field goal.
For the Beavers defense it settled down some and with some pressure and on Sagapolutele 10th passing attempt he had his first incompletion on a ball that was batted down. His second incomplete pass was perfectly placed to Mark Hamper on a deep throw, and his third one was one where he escaped what seemed like a sack for Oregon State’s defense yet Dejesus was not able to keep a foot in-bounds on what was a first down.
Late in the first half the offense it seemed like the Beavers were going to make it interesting. Arguably in regard to moving the football their best drive and there were some clock management issues. Also, the refs did have a bit of a difficult time when it came to how many seconds were left on the clock.
Yet cornerback Brent Austin put a big hit on tight end Bryce Caufield who fumbled the football, and it was recovered by linebacker Ryan McCulloch.
This meant Sagapolutele with 42 seconds left got an opportunity to put more points on the board before halftime, which was important since the Beavers got the second half kickoff. Time management was also an issue for Cal and nearly cost points.
Kicker Abram Murray made a 49-yard field goal to end the half and gave Cal a 17-3 lead.
After another unimpressive drive which went for negative yardage and resulted in the Beavers punting. The Bears offense needed only four plays to find the end zone highlighted by a tremendous catch by Hamper who was injured on the play and a touchdown pass to Morris.
Murphy and the Beavers offense finally answered, and he looked like why many NFL scouts will take notice of him. As he is 6’5″ 230 pounds. He made some impressive throws yet did have some fortune after throwing behind his receiver in the end zone and what seemed like a pick-six as there was pass interference on the Bears.
A two yard run by Hankerson gave Oregon State their first touchdown of the season and the two point conversion was not successful.
After a punt by the Bears pinned the Beavers at the one, Murphy and the offense got some breathing room after a couple run plays got six yards and a six yard completion to David Well Jr got a needed first down.
Two more short completions got another first down and Murphy made a throw late to his receiver resulting in an interception by Hezekiah Masses which nearly became a pick-six. One play later, High runs it in from two yards out.
For the Beavers Murphy was visibly frustrated. He once again made the throws he needed to, and he capped off the drive on fourth and goal with a three yard touchdown run. He did have a noticeable limp after nearly running into an official. Another two point conversion was tried, and it was not successful.
A three and out by the Bears offense, seemingly gave the Beavers one last chance to make the game even more interesting. The result a three and out and a punt. California was then able to get a few first downs on the ground and for the most part run out the clock. The end result was a 23-yard field goal made by Chase Meyer.
Noteworthy were that three of the incomplete deep passes by Sagapolutele were perfectly placed giving his receivers an excellent opportunity to make a catch. He seemed poised in the pocket and did not rush his throws or make ill-advised ones. As he gets more experience he will also learn when to take off with the football and when to throw the football away. Cal will need to run the football better as the season progresses.
Even better for California though was the offensive line that did a tremendous job to keep the pressure off their quarterback.
Sagapolutele ended the game completing 20 of 34 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns. High led the way with 10 carries for 41 yards and a touchdown, and Grizzell caught five passes for 83 yards and a touchdown.