BOSTON - The Bears broke their recent years trend of late game disappointments to pull off a scintillating last minute victory over Boston College in Alumni Stadium tonight to start off their ACC season in the win column with a thrilling 28-24 victory in Boston.
After a frustrating start, frosh QB Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele shook off early struggles to lead the Bears to a final minutes touchdown drive, hitting tight end Mason Mini for a 51-yard TD with 1:30 left in the game to secure the win. The frosh QB finished the game going 22-for-34 for 254 yards and 2 TDs with 1 INT in the win.
“You know, a lot of prayers went into the whole game,” Sagapolutele said after the game. “Our whole team really just trusted in him and trusting each other.
“Going into that last drive we had, we rep it a lot in practice, and our defense gives us great looks, so that would not be possible if our defense wasn't giving us the looks in practice to be able to do that, and it paid off. Mason made a great catch and the OL was blocking their butts off the whole game.”
“Jaron gave me a great ball. Had to jump up and get it and then took off onto the end zone. I mean, we're all the way here in Boston and seeing a Cal crowd like that in the stands feels great,” Mini said of being surrounded by Cal fans near the end zone when he scored the winning TD.
Running back Kendrick Raphael put a difficult performance in last week’s loss in the rear view mirror to help secure the victory, rushing for a team-high 113 yards and one TD in the win.
Also breaking recent trends, the Bears got strong performances on the receiving end with WRs Trond Grizzell (5 catches for 78 yards), Jacob De Jesus (8 catches for 61 yards and 1 TD) and Jordan King (4 catches for 41 yards) having solid games as well as Mini with 4 catches for 70 yards and the late-game TD.
The game started off reminiscent of last week’s debacle at SDSU as the Eagles sliced right through the Cal defense for a methodical 12-play, 84 yard touchdown drive as BC quarterback Dylan Lonergan started off the scoring with a 7-yard scramble up the middle after completing 6-of-8 passes on the drive to put BC up 7-0 just 5:54 into the game. The two incompletions were the only plays of the drive that didn’t pick up yardage for the Eagles.
It didn’t take long for things to get worse. In a hurry.
On just the second play of the drive, Sagapolutele was intercepted by safety Omar Thornton at the Cal 27. Reviews showed tight end Mason Mini clearly bumped out of the way, allowing the INT but there was no flag on the play.
BC took advantage of the break, taking just two plays to hit paydirt again, with Eagle running back Turbo Richard scoring on a 27-yard run that included a myriad of missed tackles and bad angles by Cal defenders. After the PAT, BC was up 14-0 with 7:47 remaining in the 1st quarter. Richard came into the game averaging just 3.67 yards per carry but he gashed the Bears several times during the game, leading all rushers with 171 yards and 2 TDs on just 15 carries, living up to his name.
The TD ran the streak to 48 opposition points without a Cal score.
The Bears finally got things going on their next drive as Sagapolutele hit receiver Trond Grizzel for a beautiful 29-yard completion down to the BC 28. 11 plays later, running back LJ Johnson finally punched it in from the 1 for a TD to narrow the lead to 14-7 with 1:15 left in the quarter. It was what should’ve been Johnson’s second TD of the drive as he was inexplicably ruled short of the goal line earlier when well clear of the goal line.
After quickly stopping BC, the Bears took over at their 15 following the Eagle punt and put together another one of their patented long drives, going on a 14-play, 84-yard touchdown drive capped by a 5-yard TD pass from Sagapolutele to De Jesus to tie the game at 14 after the PAT with 3:46 remaining in the half. The longest play of the drive was just 11 yards on a Sagapolutele completion to De Jesus mid-drive.
The Bears were unable to sustain the momentum to close out the half, allowing the Eagles a 52-yard field goal in waning minute of the first half, giving BC a 17-14 lead going into the locker room.
The game remained scoreless throughout the second half, though the Bears put together a late 3rd quarter drive to move to the BC 3 yard line, where they eventually turned it over on downs. Twice in the last series, the Bears appeared to be robbed by hometown spots on what looked like clear first downs.
The Bears were able to shake off their disappointment however, as interception specialist Hezekiah Masses hauled in a Dylan Lonergan pass at the BC 24, returning it to the Eagles 2. The next play, running back Kendrick Raphael rushed up the middle for the score, giving the Bears their first lead of the game, 21-17 with 13:47 left in the game.
The lead was short-lived as Richard again gashed the Bears’ defense, taking the ball 71 yards for a touchdown run to give BC the lead back at 24-21 after the PAT. On what should’ve been a short gain, once Richard cleared the first line of defense, he saw nothing but green grass to the end zone.
Facing 4th-and-1/4 yard the next possession, the Bears were again unable to get enough push to pick up the first down, this time with Sagapolutele and the line unable to pick up the crucial inches needed for the first down as BC took over at their 28 with 8:11 left in the game.
Neither team was able make another mark on the scoreboard till the Bears’ super frosh QB put together the Cal’s final scoring drive to clinch the win.
Taking over at their 12 after a De Jesus fair catch, the Bears moved to midfield, facing 2nd-and-10 from the Cal 49 with 1:40 left on the clock. As Sagapolutele rolled left, he launched a ball to tight end Mini, who raced past his defender to haul in the winning touchdown grab at the 26 and outraced the defense to the end zone to clinch the victory, going up 28-24 after the PAT with 1:30 remaining.
The winning touchdown almost didn’t hold up as a raucous but nervous Cal fan contingent watched the Eagles march down to the Cal 5, narrowly missing a winning TD when receiver Reed Harris was unable to secure a touchdown pass from Lonergan as nickel back Cam Sidney defended in tight coverage in the closing seconds.
On the next play, facing 2nd-and-goal from the 5, Lonergan tried to hit on a crossing route but MLB Luke Ferrelli stepped up to secure the game saving interception with 19 seconds left on the clock.
Wilcox was asked about the Bears’s ability to shake off adversity throughout much of the game and come out on the winning end tonight.
“I think that was the most positive lesson we'll learn from this game,” Wilcox said. “There's gonna be a lot but that we don't have to be perfect to win. We certainly weren't, but they played the entire game, literally down to the last play, and competed. And for the offense to put together a drive and make that play to put us ahead and then the defense to go back out there and have a couple of chances to get off the field in a more timely manner, but we didn't quite get that done for a couple reasons. But then making the play to end it, Luke making that huge interception, but I think that's a lesson. We won imperfectly, and we’ve got a lot to clean up, but it's finding a way to win, and that's what it was today.
The Bears moved to 4-1 (1-0 in ACC play) with the victory. They’ll next face Duke Saturday night in Memorial Stadium at 7:30 on ESPN.
