Recap: Cal unable to withstand second-quarter barrage in loss to Duke
What looked promising was gone in a flash Saturday night. Cal jumped out to a 21-7 lead early in the second quarter and looked to have all the momentum. Then suddenly that all changed.
Duke scored 24 unanswered points to end the first half completely flipping the game. The end result was 45-21 loss for the Bears on homecoming night in Berkeley. The Blue Devils scored 38 unanswered points to end the game.
Cal’s defense has been its hallmark under head coach Justin Wilcox. That group struggled to end the first half allowing the Blue Devils to score on five consecutive drives at one point.
Duke ended the game with 445 total yards including 265 yards passing by quarterback Darian Mensah. The Blue Devils had 11 passing plays that went for at least 15 yards in Saturday’s game.
Sagapolutele struggles with turnovers for Cal
Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele looked like the player who burst on the scene in the season opener early in Saturday’s game. He led two scoring drives to open the game that put the Bears up 14-0 with 5:20 to go in the first quarter.
He went 8-for-8 on on his opening drive and guided the Cal offense to 159 yards by the end of the first quarter. Things began to unravel a bit in the second quarter for the freshman.
Sagapolutele threw an interception looking for receiver Jacob De Jesus in double coverage. The play allowed Duke to tie the score at 21-21 just a few plays later and the Blue Devils would never look back.
The Cal quarterback threw three interceptions by the end of the night. Sagapolutele finished with 245 yards on 20 completions and 31 attempts. His 6-yard throw to Jordan King with 9:11 in the first quarter would go as his only touchdown of the game.
Devin Brown entered the game late in relief of Sagapolutele.
The Bears ended the game with 286 total yards including just 41 yards rushing.
Cal will have a bye next week before hosting North Carolina on Oct. 17 in a Friday night matchup with the Tar Heels.
