Cal has found its quarterback.
Freshman Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele completed his first nine passes, threw touchdown passes on his first two series as a college quarterback and the Bears went on to score a 34-15 victory over Oregon State at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon on Saturday night.
Sagapolutele, one of a boatload of questions about this team entering the season, emphatically answered with an impressive debut performance. The 18-year-old left-hander from Hawaii wound up completing 20 of 30 passes for 234 yards with three touchdowns and no turnovers and no sacks.
He is just the second Cal quarterback to start a season-opening game as a freshman. Jared Goff passed for 450 yards with two touchdowns against Northwestern in 2013, but he was intercepted three times in a 44-30 home defeat.
The Bears led 14-0 after Sagapolutele connected with tight end Mason Mini for a 19-yard touchdown with 11:23 left in the first quarter, then hit Trond Grizzell with a 7-yard scoring pass with 7:56 left. He was 6 for 6 for 125 yards with a crazy 385 passer rating at that point.
New Cal placekicker Abram Murray drilled a 49-yard field goal on the final play of the first half for a 17-3 lead.
Wide receiver Trond Grizzell #7 of the California Golden Bears celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Oregon State Beavers with running back Brandon High Jr. #5 at Reser Stadium on Aug. 30, 2025 in Corvallis, Oregon. (Photo by Amanda Loman/Getty Images)
Sagapolutele then threw 4 yards to tight end Landon Morris for his third touchdown of the night, giving the Bears a 24-3 lead with 11:37 left in the third quarter.
Cal started 13 players who weren’t even on campus a year ago, and it was hardly a flawless performance by the visitors. But the defense kept the Beavers out of the end zone until Anthony Hankerson scored on a 2-yard run with 4:16 left in the third quarter.
Running back Brandon High Jr. scored on a 2-yard run to push Cal’s lead to 31-9 with 12:02 left in the fourth quarter. Cornerback Zeke Masses, a senior transfer from Florida International, set up the TD with a 41-yard interception return to the 2-yard line. In the third quarter, Masses had a 100-yard pick-6 nullified by a pass interference penalty.
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Chase Meyer, who will handle Cal’s shorter field goals, connected from 23 yards with 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter to complete the scoring.
Linebacker Cade Uluave, the Bears’ best defensive player, had 10 tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss.
Receiver and return specialist Jacob De Jesus, a graduate transfer from UNLV, had 177 all-purpose yards, including 78 on three kickoff returns and 73 on three punt returns.
Cal plays its home opener next Saturday against FCS opponent Texas Southern (3 p.m., ACC Network Extra), which lost 22-21 to SWAC rival Prairie View A&M in its opener on Saturday.