30,000 FEET ABOVE – It was almost the perfect Saturday night in Berkeley.
The hype behind the start of the Tosh Lupoi era was palpable. The tarps were off as Memorial Stadium was at capacity. The date with UCLA was exquisitely timed, given the bitter-but-rekindled rivalry, overlapping enthusiasm and potential for a statement — or audition — against the Big Ten on ESPN.
“Truly honored and blessed to be able to play in that environment,” Cal linebacker Kamar Mothudi said. “Shout out to everybody who showed up and came to support.”
A sense of belief absent from the nation’s top public university for far too long engulfed the East Bay skies.
And on the game’s opening possession? Adam Mohammed and Cal’s revamped offense looked the part, giving the Golden Bears — who won the coin toss and opted to receive — a forceful 7-0 lead after a 75-yard touchdown drive.
Unfortunately for Old Blues, though, reality ultimately set in.
The Bruins went on a 21-0 run in the fourth quarter to beat the Golden Bears 45-24 behind six rushing touchdowns and three takeaways. UCLA’s late-game dominance came after Cal had already clawed to erase a 21-10 deficit in the first half and to tie the game at 24 in the third.
“I couldn't ask for anything better as far as the sting of having a competitive loss early,” Lupoi said. “ … It ignites the desire to improve, and I got to improve; we got to improve.”
Several items stung the Golden Bears in the season-opening loss. Here are my thoughts, in expanded form, from my 57-minute Southwest flight back to Los Angeles from San Francisco.
Third-and-Difficult
Cal’s first play from scrimmage was an eight-yard run by Mohammed. The next play was a screen to Ian Strong for a loss of four yards. The sequence set the tone for the game, as the Golden Bears frequently wasted early downs, mainly with aimless runs up the middle on first-and-10s, leaving Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele and the aerial attack to press on third-and-longs.
First-time play-caller and new offensive coordinator Jordan Somerville’s approach had been a mystery all offseason. But after Saturday, it seems there might need to be some retooling, as Sagapolutele had to constantly make up ground rather than freely attack with his new weapons, who looked good until a pivotal bobble-turned-interception by Strong in the second half.
Understandably, offensive line issues made Somerville’s debut harder. But Cal must find a way to turn a second-and-9 into a second-and-6.
Six Rushing Touchdowns, Really?
Lupoi, formerly Oregon’s defensive coordinator who had success against Chesney’s James Madison in the recent College Football Playoff, and first-time play-caller and defensive coordinator Michael Hutchings didn’t have any answers for when the Bruins got in space, particularly on wide runs and quick passes.
“We lost the perimeter game,” Lupoi said.
UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava wasn’t the biggest threat as a deep passer. But the Bruins running game was so elite — Wayne Knight collected three touchdowns and 71 yards, Anthony Woods added two scores and 118 yards, and Iamaleava scored one while keeping Cal honest — that nothing else mattered.
UCLA averaged 8.7 yards per carry and earned chunk after chunk on first down.
The defensive woes were reminiscent of Cal’s loss at Virginia Tech in 2025, when the Hokies, particularly quarterback Kyron Drones, ran all over the Golden Bears, who couldn’t adapt or consistently make tackles.
“Going off last year’s film and tendencies — the looks we might’ve been more prepared for, we didn’t necessarily get,” Mothudi said.
Cal linebacker AJ Tuitele being ejected for a questionable targeting call also didn’t do any favors.
The Trenches
New right tackle Jimothy Lewis looked solid, but Cal’s offensive line wasn’t good enough as a unit, making it hard to get a clearer sample of Somerville’s play-calling.
The run blocking was good enough to help an electric Mohammed earn a career-high 120 yards and a touchdown on a career-high 28 carries. But the pass protection had Sagapolutele running for his life on a bum ankle, which isn’t sustainable.
Cal’s defensive line was far from ideal, too, particularly on the edge. No one truly anchored the line of scrimmage or kept containment, though Nate Burrell had some promising moments and earned his first sack since 2024 against Miami.
“Executions of the call,” Lupoi said when asked what went wrong on run defense. “Got to execute our job there. They pulled our support inside and got sucked in; make a poor decision, and that ball bounced out. … they did a nice job of blocking the perimeter.”
The defensive line got to Iamaleava a few times but didn’t move the needle, and UCLA’s ground game speaks for itself.
Call a Timeout
With the score tied at 24 in the fourth quarter, Cal turned the ball over on downs after Sagapolutele and backup center Ashton Riverami mistimed a snap on a pivotal fourth-and-3 from UCLA’s 47-yard line.
It was back-breaking.
“That’s on me,” Sagapolutele said, “... the communication was just all over the place.”
The Golden Bears were clearly unorganized, as was their inappropriately noisy in-game entertainment — which displayed a “Get Loud” message before the disaster — and should’ve used a timeout.
“I would go for that 10 out of 10 times with the amount of time that was remaining there and how our defense was playing at that time,” Lupoi said.
Lupoi doesn’t regret the decision to go for the fourth down; he shouldn’t. But to fail before even starting is unacceptable.
The Bear Does Not Quit
Losing to UCLA and how it happened was deflating as it gets for the Berkeley faithful. And Cal’s upcoming cross-country trip to Syracuse won’t be easy.
However, Cal literally and figuratively cannot afford to call it a season after Week 1.
“No matter what happens, more important than anything else, we're going to gain from it,” general manager Ron Rivera said before the loss to UCLA.
The Golden Bears, particularly on offense, have too talented a roster not to figure things out, and they need every win they can get for reasons this site knows well.
Cal must seize the opportunity and be a team that owns up to a deflating season-opening loss and responds with, at minimum, the program’s first eight-win regular season since 2009.
“We take it on the chin, but, you know, now we flush it,” Sagapolutele said. “We learn from the mistakes, and we focus on Syracuse. This is a great opportunity for us to move forward.“
The Golden Bears are 0-1, not 0-12. And every game on the schedule is still winnable when Sagapolutele is upright, just like Saturday was for 45 minutes of game clock.
So, find a way to let the future first-rounder cook downfield and live with the results. Quitting isn’t an option, as the Bear ...
