Cal Embarrassed In 41-7 Loss To Wake Forest

BERKELEY — Embarrassing. Depressing. Insulting.

California was thrashed 41-7 by Wake Forest on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium in yet another torturous watch for Blue-and-Gold loyalists. With a seemingly healthy Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele oddly sidelined until late in the third quarter, the Golden Bears (3-4, 2-2 ACC) trailed the Demon Deacons (6-1, 4-1 ACC) 34-0 at halftime and delivered the most discouraging and confusing performance of the Tosh Lupoi era.

Wake Forest quarterback Gio Lopez cruised to 267 passing yards and four touchdowns on 16-for-23 passing. Wideout Dominick Barry led pass-catchers with four receptions for 102 yards and three scores; Demon Deacons star wideout Carlos Hernandez didn’t even play.

Cal, meanwhile, accomplished nothing on offense or defense and earned loud boos from the announced 33,000-person crowd.

Quarterback Jackson Brousseau, who threw for 81 yards on 17-for-29 passing, and new play-caller Pat McCann had no leftover magic after last week’s inspiring win over Virginia Tech. The Golden Bears posted an empty 266 total yards compared to the Demon Deacons’ 509, yet had possession for roughly four more minutes. Sagapolutele finished with 110 yards and a 28-yard touchdown pass to Mason Mini on 15-for-18 passing.

Lupoi said Brousseau, who learned he’d start on Monday, gave Cal a “spark” when asked why Sagapolutele didn’t begin the game under center.

And despite Kingston Lopa returning from concussion protocol, the Golden Bears’ defense was lifeless from the jump. Wake Forest faced minimal resistance all game and arguably left its starters in too long.

The loss was Cal’s worst margin-wise since a 63-19 loss at Oregon in 2023. But Saturday night’s disaster is perhaps one of the more puzzling in Golden Bears history.

“I mean, it’s very disappointing,” Mini said. "They came in here, it's a home game … No. 21 team in the country, you know, we didn't really have much to lose playing this team, but they had the best of it.”

Next up, Cal will face top-25 SMU in Dallas next week at 9 a.m. The Mustangs beat Virginia on Saturday and will be seeking revenge at home against a Golden Bears team that upset them a season ago.

The going has been tough for the Sons of California. And after Saturday’s new low, it’s only going to get tougher.

And that's before mentioning Cal’s unknowns under center.

“Both the guys did a good job — at times,” Lupoi said when asked who'd start at quarterback against SMU. "So, gonna assess … do my very best at all positions to get the players we feel like are gonna put us in position to win.”

Injury Updates

Lupoi said wideout Ian Strong, who wasn’t listed on the weekly ACC injury reports, was banged up at practice and unable to be a “full-go” despite suiting up. Mark Hamper started in his place.

Lupoi didn’t have any updates on injuries to center Bastian Swinney and running back Ashten Emory.