BERKELEY — Big plays by a couple of Cal freshmen helped keep the Golden Bears undefeated after a 27-14 victory over Minnesota in front of a national TV audience and 38,566 fans at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night.
Freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele threw his third touchdown pass of the game with 6:55 left to give the Bears their first double-digit lead of the night.
The 8-yard scoring drive was set up when another freshman, defensive back Aiden Manutai, jumped on a loose ball after a muffed punt return try by Minnesota’s Koi Perich.
The Bears scored three plays later when Sagapolutele faked a handoff, rolled left and delivered a 2-yard touchdown pass to wide-open Jordan King. The extra point pushed the lead to 10 points.
Cal’s Chase Meyer kicked a 38-yard field goal with 1:10 left to cap the scoring.
Sagapolutele finished the game 24 for 38 for a season-high 279 yards with three touchdowns and no turnovers. He connected with nine different receivers.
Cal (3-0), which scored 27 points on a Golden Gophers’ defense that had allowed a total of just 10 in its first two games combined, can match its best start in six seasons next week when it visits San Diego State (1-1). Minnesota lost for the first time in three games.
Cal led 10-7 at halftime before Minnesota took its first lead of the game when Drake Lindsey passed 3 yards to tight end Jameson Geers with 4:36 left in the third period. That finished a nine-play, 64-yard drive. Cal contributed two penalties that provided the Gophers with first downs during the series.
Cal responded on its next possession, going 75 yards in nine plays and scoring when Sagapolutele hit tight end Mason Mini for a 9-yard touchdown with 20 seconds left in the quarter. Mini caught the ball at the 4, spun free of a tackler and went into the end zone. The point after made it 17-14.
The Bears’ ground game, which had minus-13 yards (including sacks) when the possession began, got a lift from Brandon High, who had runs of 18 and 13 yards.
Cal took its three-point lead at the half when redshirt freshman Abram Murray converted a 49-yard field goal that skipped off the inside of the right upright and through as time expired.
Minnesota had scored with 43 seconds left and the Bears had no timeouts left. But Sagpolotele completed a 39-yard pass to Mark Hamper on the first play of the hurry-up drive, then got another first down with a 19-yard pass to Jacob De Jesus.
The Gophers got on the scoreboard seconds earlier when Cam Davis wiggled across on a third-down and inches play after the Bears twice stopped them from the 1-yard line.
Cal scored the only points of the first 29 minutes, with Sagapolutele hitting De Jesus with a 3-yard TD pass at 2:54 of the first quarter. That capped a seven-play, 62-yard drive in which Sagapolutele completed his final four attempts for 59 yards.
He finished the half 18 for 26 for 241 yards and the TD but the Bears managed just 3 rushing yards against one of the nation’s top run defenses.
Punter Michael Kern averaged 49 yards on three kicks, two of them pinning Minnesota back at its own 2-yard line.
