Bears Fall to #15 Virginia, 31-21

BERKELEY - A game that looked to be a potential lopsided loss with some rough first half play turned into a nailbiter, as the Bears late rally attempt fell short with a game-ending pick six for #15 Virginia as they held off the Bears, 31-21.

The Bears were almost doubled up in yardage to the tune of 456 to 263 but they clawed their way back into the game and kept fighting, allowing just four first downs in the Cavs’ last four possessions to give themselves a chance to rally for an upset victory.

Cal QB Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele‍ finished 19-for-30 with no TDs and 2 interceptions on the day but until the final pick, the super frosh kept the Bears in the game with several critical tough completions throughout much of the game. Receiver Trond Grizzell led the Bears receivers with 8 catches for 80 yards, hauling in all 8 of his targets. Running back Kendrick Raphael‍ led the Bears with 3 TDs, including a long TD catch but was unable to generate a consistent run game for the Bears with just 46 yards in 13 carries.

“Not good enough to win,” head coach Justin Wilcox noted when asked about how his team played. “The guys competed very hard. I thought they gave great effort. There was strain. There was a lot of guys stepping up, whether it was on defense, special teams, some new receivers taking reps. So I think the effort was there. We just we missed out on some opportunities. On defense, it was the third downs. Offense, we had a couple that we didn't quite connect on. And ultimately, against team like that, you got to make those and we didn't quite do that.”

The game got off to a rough start for the Bears as Virginia sliced right through the Cal defense, driving 75 yards in 8 plays while only facing third down once in the drive which turned into an all-too-easy 25-yard touchdown run by Cavs running back J’Mari Taylor. Remiscent of several run misfits and missed assignments this season that led to big plays, once Taylor cleared the first line of defense, he found nothing but green grass for the TD just 2:57 into the game.

After the Bears couldn’t get anything going in their first possession, Virginia went on the move again, moving the ball to the Cal 6 on a perfect 38-yard Chandler Morris completion to tightly-covered receiver Eli Wood. The Bears’ defense stepped up from there, stuffing two runs and forcing an incompletion that led to a 26-yard Will Bettridge field goal to put Virginia up 10-0 with 5:21 left in the quarter.

The Bears finally got things going in their next possession, putting together a systematic drive where they ran well and never faced third-and-long on the drive. Running back Raphael capped the 14-play, 75-yard drive, taking a direct snap for a 2-yard TD run up the middle to bring the score to 10-7 two minutes into the second quarter.

For the third straight drive, the Bears were unable to keep Virginia off the scoreboard, as the Cavs chewed up almost 8 minutes of clock, driving 75 yards in 14 plays, with running back Taylor bullying his way through the Cal defense for the 5-yard TD run to put Virginia up 17-7 with 5:21 left in the half.

When the Bears finally got the ball back with 1:59 left in the half after an inexplicable no-call on a punt return interference where returner Jacob De Jesus‍ was hammered, they were pinned back at their 7. It was only their fourth offensive possession of the game.

After picking up a quick first down, the drive was derailed on a pair of UVA sacks, with the line looking like a sieve when the Bears needed to pick up some late first half points to narrow the deficit going into the locker room. The drive had a chance to be extended when punter Brooke Honore was brought down by the rush but another inexplicable no-call gave the Cavs the ball at their 29 after the 54-yard punt. Virginia was nearly able to capitalize on the gift, driving to the Cal 31 for a 48-yard field goal attempt but the kick missed to close out the half.

Redshirt frosh inside linebacker Aaron Hamption was a revelation in the first half, compiling a stellar 10 tackles after coming in after the defensive breakdown on Virginia’s first TD, filling in for an injured Cade Uluave, who was on the sidelines with his hand wrapped after the Cavs’ first TD drive. Hampton led the Bears for the game with 15 tackles in the loss, including 7 solos.

Things got no better for the Bears to start the second half as they only managed to go backwards on their first possession as a false start and an errant snap pushed the Bears back to their 2, forcing a punt.

After the Cavs took over at the Cal 23 after a 26-yard Cam Brooks punt return, the Bears’ defense held strong, taking over on downs after a fake field goal attempt was stopped at the Cal 14.

The Bears were unable to score their next possession but finally started to show some signs of life, pinning Virginia back at their 4 after a 51-yard Honore punt and a block in the back on the return and forcing a quick 3-and-out.

De Jesus fielded the ensuing punt at the Cal 40, returning it 18 yards to the UVA 42. The next play was electric, as the Bears pulled off a stunning double pass from Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele‍ to tight end Mason Mini‍ that caught the Cavs flatfooted, with Mini hitting a wide-open Kendrick Raphael‍ for the 42-yard TD. The Chase Meyer‍ PAT narrowed the deficit to 17-14 with 6:08 left in the quarter.

It didn’t take long for the Cavs to answer back, putting together a quick 4-minute drive to extend their lead to 24-14 on a 3-yard Eli Wood TD run with 1:51 left in the quarter.

The Bears appeared to be well on their way to cutting the Cavs lead after a pair of elite Sagapolutele completions to Grizzell and De Jesus moved the ball to midfield but what looked like a long completion to De Jesus at the UVA 13 on the next play turned into a critical interception as Cav’s DB Corey Costner wrestled it away for the INT.

The Bears forced a 3-and-out for the second straight possession and took over at the Virginia 25 after the punt appeared to partially blocked by rusher Tristan Dunn‍, going out of bounds for just a 14-yard kick.

The Bears struck quickly, with Sagapolutele hitting Mini for a 24-yard strike under pressure. Rafael found paydirt on the next play, fighting his way into the end zone for his third TD of the game and his 11^th of the season, narrowing the deficit to 3, 24-21 with 12:57 left in the game.

The Bears’ defense held in the next possession, taking over at their 16 after forcing a UVA punt. After holding the Cavs to just one first down in their last three possessions, the Bears would have a chance to take the lead for the first time in the game but WR De Jesus was not able to hold on to a perfectly-thrown Sagapolutele pass at midfield in the first series and the Bears were forced to punt.

Cal’s defense again stepped up, forcing another 3-and-out aided by a pair of UVA penalties. The Cavs’ punt pinned Cal back at the 3 as the Bears again attempted to take their first lead, taking over with 8:03 left in the game.

Facing 3rd-and-4 at the 9, Sagapolutele hit a diving De Jesus for a 31-yard gain but the drive stalled from there after a Sagapolutele fumble was recovered by the Bears for a 6-yard loss and a pair of incompletions forced another punt.

The Cavs took over at their 19 with 5:20 remaining in the game. Facing 3rd-and-6 to open the drive, Morris had all day to set up and hit an open Ross for 26 to the Cal 50 for the critical first down. Running back Taylor next ripped off a 19-yard run to move the Cavs to the Cal 32. A Morris keeper to the Cal 23 put the Cavs in a 3rd-and-1 and Taylor narrowly picked up the first down with 2:31 left in the game. 

The Bears used up all three of their timeouts in the next series, with UVA facing a 3rd-and-3 at the 2-minute break. The Bears’ defense held on third down and forced a turnover on downs on the next play, giving themselves one last chance to win the game, taking over with 45 seconds remaining. But it was not to be as the frosh QB made an ill-advised pass to a double-covered De Jesus that was intercepted by DB Cam Robinson and returned 35 yards for the game-clinching score. The Bears were able to get it to midfield before the clock ran out on their upset bid.

The Bears will next go on the road to face #16 Louisville (7-1/4-1) in a 4:30 PST kickoff on their third east coast trip of the season and second in two weeks as they fell to 5-4 (2-3) on the season. Virginia now moves to 8-1 (5-0) on the season and are in sole possession of 1st place afterGeorgia Tech's loss to NC State.