California football fans will get to experience a rare sight – a freshman starting quarterback – when the Golden Bears make their 2025 home debut against Texas Southern in a nonconference game Saturday afternoon in Berkeley, Calif.
Making the first season-opening start for a Cal freshman quarterback since Jared Goff in 2013, Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele passed for 234 yards and three touchdowns when Cal opened its campaign with a 34-15 win at Oregon State last Saturday.
The Hawaii-born left-hander, originally an Oregon commit, went 20-for-30 passing in what some services labeled the most impressive start of any freshman quarterback in the country on opening day. That’s lofty praise in that several bowl-projected teams, including Michigan, BYU and Maryland, also started freshmen quarterbacks.
Sagapolutele celebrated the win, but quickly grounded himself with a film review as he prepared for his second collegiate start.
“It was a great blessing to receive such high praise,” the 18-year-old admitted to reporters after Tuesday’s practice. “But it’s one game and there’s so much I could have done better in that game. So much we’ve got to fix, especially me – a lot of things I’ve got to get better on.”
Cal did little wrong against its former Pacific-12 Conference rival, including rushing for 122 yards to complement Sagapolutele’s 234 passing yards. Four backs ran for at least 22 yards and nine receivers caught at least one pass in the balanced attack.
Despite that, Sagapolutele got a majority of the flowers afterward, and Cal coach Justin Wilcox applauded how the rookie dealt with it.
“Like everybody, there’s a lot to learn, especially at that position,” Wilcox noted at his weekly press conference Tuesday. “He did a nice job and I know he was eager to get in there and watch the video and improve.”
The freshman’s first opportunity to dazzle his new Berkeley fans will come against an FCS opponent that impressed its coach in a heart-breaking, 22-21 loss to Southwestern Athletic Conference rival Prairie View A&M in the Labor Day Classic in Houston.
Prairie View’s Cameron Peters threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns, one on the final play of the game, on a day when Texas Southern amassed just 267 yards of total offense.
“We had a chance to win it. It didn’t go our way,” Texas Southern coach Cris Dishman insisted to reporters afterward. “We’re going to learn from it. The season is not over. When we get that opportunity, we’ve got to seize it.”
The Tigers’ most productive players in the loss were their kickoff returners. Kerien Charlo busted a 76-yarder, while Trenton Leary had a 45-yarder.
Texas Southern ventured into FBS territory once in each of the last two seasons. The Tigers were thumped 71-3 by Toledo in 2023 and 69-7 by Rice last season.