{"id":8540,"date":"2026-09-06T07:07:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T07:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8540"},"modified":"2026-09-06T07:07:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T07:07:51","slug":"ucla-knocks-off-cal-45-24-handing-bears-a-disappointing-defeat-in-tosh-lupois-coaching-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8540","title":{"rendered":"UCLA knocks off Cal 45-24, handing Bears a disappointing defeat in Tosh Lupoi’s coaching debut"},"content":{"rendered":"
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BERKELEY \u2014 With a sellout crowd at Memorial Stadium waiting for something good to happen, things spun wildly in the wrong direction for Cal on two consecutive plays Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Read more Bay Area\u2019s big Labor Day weekend festivals: Scottish games, Kings Mountain art, Millbrae art\/wine, Bizerkeley vegan<\/a><\/p>\n

An interception on a deflected pass and a 31-yard touchdown run by UCLA\u2019s Wayne Knight on the subsequent snap with 8:46 to play broke a 24-24 tie score, sending the Bruins on to a 45-24 victory in the Cal coaching debut of Tosh Lupoi.<\/p>\n

Nine months to the day after he was hired to replace Justin Wilcox, Lupoi\u2019s team showed promise at times but delivered far from a polished performance in the Joe Roth Memorial Game.<\/p>\n

The Bears led early, trailed 24-17 at halftime then dominated the third quarter, knotting the score when running back Adam Mohammed scored a 1-yard touchdown with 3:50 left in the period.<\/p>\n

UCLA, playing its first game under new coach Bob Chesney, managed just 16 yards on 11 plays over its first three possessions of the second half.<\/p>\n

But with the Bears facing third-and-8 from their own 18 in a tie game, quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele rolled left and threw downfield to wide receiver Ian Strong. The ball skipped off Strong\u2019s hands and was picked off by Bruins defensive back Ta\u2019Shawn James.<\/p>\n

Knight, who came to UCLA with Chesney from James Madison, scored on the next play and the Bruins were back on top.<\/p>\n

Sagapolutele, who passed for 271 yards and two touchdowns, had thrown a program-record 211 consecutive passes without an interception before James picked him off.<\/p>\n

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James then intercepted him again with 7:01 allowing the Bruins to add to their lead when Knight ran 4 yards into the end zone with 2:58 left to cap a 46-yard drive.<\/p>\n

The Bruins left Cal fans reeling a bit when Anthony Woods dashed 53 yards for a third consecutive touchdown with 1:17 left.<\/p>\n

Mohammed, a transfer from Washington, finished with 120 rushing yards and caught seven passes for 46 additional yards. The Bears also got solid contributions from transfer wide receivers Ian Strong (five catches, 94 yards) and Chase Hendricks (six catches, 66 yards).<\/p>\n

Read more With clock ticking on closure, Great America extends current season<\/a><\/p>\n

Cal marched 85 yards in 14 plays on its first possession of the second half, giving the ball to Mohammed nine times. He gained 54 yards, including a burst of 20 yards to the UCLA 3 before going over from the 1 with 3:50 left in the quarter, tying the score at 24-all.<\/p>\n

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The Bears won the toss, elected to receive and moved 75 yards in 10 plays to take a 7-0 lead on Sagapolutele\u2019s 9-yard TD pass to Hendricks, who tight-roped the left sideline and dived into the pylon with 10:28 left in the quarter.<\/p>\n

UCLA answered immediately with a 71-yard scoring drive, capped by quarterback Nico Iamaleava\u2019s 9-yard keeper.<\/p>\n

The Bears regained the lead on a 28-yard field goal by Towns McGough with 12:46 left in the second period before UCLA took over.<\/p>\n

The Bruins scored on back-to-back drives of 75 and 76 yards, totaling 151 on just 14 snaps. UCLA gashed Cal with its run game, with Woods scoring on a 31-yard go-ahead TD run before Knight wiggled through for an 8-yard score and a 21-10 lead with 3:23 left in the half.<\/p>\n

Sagapolutele fumbled while being sacked and Amier Washington recovered for UCLA at the Cal 37. The Bruins pushed deep into Cal territory before Oregon transfer Kingston Lopa intercepted Iamaleava at the 2-yard line.<\/p>\n

Starting with just 51 seconds on the clock, Sagapolutele then unleashed a bit of magic. He beat pressure to complete a 49-yard pass to Strong, then a 30-yarder to Hendricks along the right sideline for a first down at the UCLA 8 with 19 seconds left.<\/p>\n

From there, he rolled right and found tight end Mason Mini alone in the end zone, and the Bears closed within 21-17 with 13 seconds left in the half.<\/p>\n

UCLA wasn\u2019t done. Iamaleava passed 43 yards to former Cal wide receiver Mikey Matthews, giving the Bruins a first down at the Bears\u2019 20-yard line with 6 seconds left. Mateen Bhaghani, another Golden Bear defector, converted a 38-yard field goal and the UCLA lead was 24-17 at the half.<\/p>\n

Read more Man found shot to death in East Oakland on Friday<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the game tied at 24-24, UCLA outscored Cal 21-0 over the final 8 1\/2 minutes of the game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8539,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nUCLA knocks off Cal 45-24, handing Bears a disappointing defeat in Tosh Lupoi’s coaching debut - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8540\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UCLA knocks off Cal 45-24, handing Bears a disappointing defeat in Tosh Lupoi’s coaching debut - 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