Jaron- Keawe Sagapolutele (“JKS”) haswhen been anointed as a freshman QB phenom, the savior for a Cal football team riddled by losses in the transfer portal. JKS came to the mainland as a ballyhooed Hawaii prep star who is the Aloha State’s all time leader in passing yardage. The Odyssey and Pat McAfee were among those bowing down to new royalty. Cal’s 3-0 start even had one of the media on the ACC Network to suggest that there was a possibility that Cal could make the ACC conference championship game, in part due to a marshmellow conference schedule that excluded Miami, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Clemson.
A typically perfect San Diego night ended such dreaming as the brakes on the Golden Bear Express brought Cal to a screeching halt. How did a double digit favorite get smoked 34-0? SO SO Cal!! For the second straight year, Cal’s balloon burst in a shocking manner. Last year, when Gameday made its first visit to Berkeley, Cal was beating Miami by 21+ points in the 3rd quarter only to crumble to a Cam Ward comeback. The Aztec squad that humbled Cal looked absolutely woeful in its last outing, a 36-13 whipping in the Palouse to a mediocre Wazzu squad.
The Aztecs looked anything but mediocre with Michigan transfer, Jayden Denegal , smartly leading the Aztec offense with a 15/18 performance. Cal let SDSU off the hook after dominating a scoreless first quarter. A 19-play drive drove to the Aztec 1 but , on 4th down, JKS threw too late to a tight end who had been open in the back of the end zone. The power and accuracy of JKS’s arm was on view as he perfectly threw 2 long bombs in the early going. Both dropped!
Cal discovered a hard lesson: do not let a home underdog stick around and gather confidence. The Golden Bears appear not to have significant offensive talent to surround JKS. And the vaunted Hawaiian had freshman moments as the Aztecs intercepted two balls, including one for a 97-yard TD return.
The Odyssey roots for Cal but is worried about 2026 for the Golden Bears. If JKS is not surrounded by significant talent, will he be tempted by the riches from the transfer portal?
We end with 2 two observations about San Diego State’s ticket policy. The ticket count was 31,000 but the turnstile count was only 21,000, augmented by Cal fans. Swaths of prime, lower level seats were empty. We suspect that exorbitant pricing was the culprit. The cheapest seats were running $100, which seems pricy for a Mountain West program. The empty seats are a very bad look for any program. If you have to fill said seats with local prep football players as a comp, please do so.
Memo to Athletic DIrectors: do not overprice your product! TV is a comfy alternative.