Cal will make first trip to Virginia Tech

“Bears will meet Hokies on Gridiron for first time”.

Facebook10/21/2025 12:00 p.m. | By: Cal Athletics

Bears seek bowl game eligibility in Blacksburg

The California Football Team (5-2, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) will travel East for the first time at Virginia Tech (2-5, 1-2 ACC) Friday night at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Virginia. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. PT and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN.
FRIDAY PROGRAM
Place: Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, Virginia
Time: 4:30 p.m. (Pacific Time)
Watch (ESPN): Anish Shroff (PxP), Andre Ware (analyst), Paul Carcaterra (sideline reporter)
Listen: 8:10 a.m.
Justin Allegri (play-by-play), Mike Pawlawski (analyst), Ben Ross (sideline reporter); SiriusXM Ch. Application 371 or SXM, the Varsity application
BEAR AGAINST. HOKIES

– This will be the first time the Golden Bears and Hokies will meet in an Atlantic Coast Conference game on the field.
– The Bears and Hokies have met once before when Cal won a dramatic 52-49 game in the Insight Bowl on December 26, 2003.
– Virginia Tech is coming off a week off after suffering a 20-35 loss to Georgia Tech last time out on October 11th. This is the fourth time this season that Cal has played an opponent that is coming off a bye week after facing San Diego State, Boston College, North Carolina following their bye weeks.

CAL…
– Will play its second straight game Friday night after last Friday’s 21-18 win over North Carolina in Berkeley.
– Won his only Friday night road game last season at Wake Forest when the Bears beat the Demon Deacons 46-26 in their first-ever ACC victory.
– Is currently on a streak of 19 consecutive games with at least one sack recorded, continued Chris Victor’s sack in the fourth quarter against the Tar Heels last week.
-Defended well in the passing game, allowing just four passing touchdowns this season, which is the fewest in the conference. The Bears rank third in the ACC and 29th in the NCAA in team pass efficiency defense with a rating of 117.0 and rank fourth in the conference in pass defense with an average of 201.6 yards allowed through the air. The Bears rank fifth in the ACC and 34th nationally in total defense (323.7 average yards/game).
– Ranks second in the ACC and 19th in the nation in fumbles recovered with five and is tied for fifth in the conference in fumbles caused with four. The Bears forced three fumbles in their win over North Carolina, the first time Cal has recorded three forced fumbles in a game since its 42-39 win over Washington State on Nov. 11, 2023.
– Has his best mid-season record since 2015 and the best of the Travers family head football coach Justin Wilcoxwith a 5-2 record heading into the eighth game of the season. This week, the Bears will look to make the bowl game and go 6-2 for the first time since 2009.



OF JESUS ​​CONTINUES TO CLIMB THE NATIONAL RETURN RANKING
-WR Jacob DeJesus ranks 11th nationally in combined kick returns with his 387 yards gained via punt and kickoff returns in seven games this season.
– Ranks third in the conference and 21st nationally in kickoff returns, averaging 21.9 yards per return, and ranks third in the conference and 20th nationally in punt returns with an average of 11.2 yards per return.
– De Jesus added 398 receiving yards on 47 receptions this season, including touchdowns against Minnesota, Boston College and North Carolina.
– He finished with a career-high 13 receptions for 105 yards against UNC. His 13 catches are tied for the sixth-most in a single game by a Cal receiver in program history. It was also the most in a game for a Cal receiver since Chad Hansen had 14 catches at SDSU on September 16, 2016.
– De Jesus ranks fourth in the ACC in total all-purpose yards with 773 and fifth in yards per game average with 110.4. His yards per game average ranks 34th nationally.



“PACO PUNCH” highlights a trio of CAL FUMBLE recoveries
– DB Brent “Paco” Austin forced a fumble with a peanut punch, then recovered it in the end zone as North Carolina was on the verge of a touchdown. It was his first career fumble recovery and his second forced fumble of the season.
– Database Cam Sidney also both forced and recovered a fumble against the Tar Heels on the first play from scrimmage, creating a short field for the Bears to score the game’s first touchdown four plays later.
– Database Dr. Polidore Jr. forced and recovered a fumble on the final play of the game, making it the first time Cal has recorded three forced fumbles in a game since Cal’s 42-39 win over Washington State on November 11, 2023.



RAPHAEL REMAINS THE BEST BEARS
-RB Kendrick Raphael has five rushing scores in 2025 and nine during his collegiate career. His five touchdowns lead the Bears this season.
– He is the Bears’ leading rusher, having gained 495 yards on 115 rushing attempts through the first seven games (70.71 ypg). His production represents 75% of Cal’s total rushing yards this season.
– His 115 carries are the most of any running back in the ACC and tied for 16th in the NCAA and his 495 rushing yards rank eighth in the conference and 50th nationally.
– Raphael recorded his first career two-play touchdown drive in the Bears’ game against Duke.
– Raphael surpassed 1,000 career rushing yards in Cal’s win over Boston College on September 27. He compiled 1,229 net rushing yards in three seasons.



NEW BASH BROTHERS IN TOWN
-ILB Cade Uluave And Luc Ferrelli have become Cal’s latest dynamic inside linebacker duo.
– The duo has totaled 116.0 total tackles this season, the most of any duo in the conference.
– Uluave ranks second in the ACC and 23rd in the NCAA in total tackles with 62, while Ferrelli is fifth in the conference and 61st in the NCAA with 54. Uluave is just one tackle away from the 200 career tackle mark.
– Uluave leads the Bears in tackles for loss with 7.5 this season, holding opponents for a total of 19 yards. His TFL ranks seventh in the ACC.
– Ferrelli recorded one of Cal’s two sacks against Duke, the first of his college career, pushing the Blue Devils back 11 yards. He recorded the first interception of his Boston College career with 19 seconds left in the fourth quarter – the play that sealed the Bears’ victory.
– Uluave and Ferrelli are the latest in a strong group of Cal’s notable inside linebacker duos. Uluave and the 2025 NFL Draft pick Teddy Buchanan turned heads in 2024, combining for 185 tackles even with Uluave’s season cut short due to injury after playing in just nine of the Bears’ 13 games. Jordan Kunaszyk and Evan Weaver combined for 307 tackles in 2018 before Weaver teamed up with Kuony Deng to form the nation’s top FBS duo with 301 tackles in 2019.



THE MASSES DEFEND THE PASS
– Database Hezekiah Masses leads the country in passes defensed for the fourth straight week with his 13 between four interceptions and nine assists. His four interceptions tie him for second in the NCAA and lead the ACC.
– Masses recorded his fourth interception of the season at Boston College when he picked off the Eagles in the fourth quarter and returned it 22 yards, just two yards from the goal line to allow the Bears offense to score on the next play. He recorded an interception in the third quarter against Minnesota and spotted TSU late in the second quarter and returned it 28 yards. He returned an interception 41 yards in the fourth quarter to Oregon State in his Bears debut.
– Masses continues Bears’ legacy leading NCAA in total interceptions after 2025 NFL Draft pick and consensus All-American Nohl Williams finished his senior season with the Bears as the nation’s leading interceptor with seven. Williams is tied for third on Cal’s single-season interceptions list, with Deltha O’Neal being the all-time single-season interception with nine in 1999.



SAGAPOLUTELE OFFERS SEVEN MORE THAN 200 PASSING YARD GAMES
– True freshman QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele ranks fourth in the ACC in total passing yards with 1,696, good for 35th nationally.
– Sagapolutele has passed for over 200 yards in every game this season to start his collegiate career. He is tied with Maryland’s Malik Washington for most consecutive games with more than 200 passing yards to start their career by any true freshman in the Power Conference. NC State’s Philip Rivers previously held the record with six in 2000.
– His 12 touchdowns (two rushing, 10 passing) are the third most of any true freshman quarterback in 2025, behind BYU’s Bear Bachmeier with 17 and Maryland’s Washington with 14.
– He got his second career score on a 3-yard run against North Carolina. His first rushing touchdown came against Minnesota.
– He recorded two three-pass touchdown games this season against Oregon State and Minnesota.
– Sagapolutele became Cal’s first true freshman signal-caller to win the season opener in Cal’s 34-15 victory in Corvallis, Oregon. He completed the first nine pass attempts of his college career and in his first two drives he was 6 of 6 for 125 yards with two touchdowns. He is only the second true freshman to be named the Bears’ starting quarterback for the season opener and the first since Jared Goff arrived in Berkeley in 2013 on track to become the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.

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