Sagapolutele, who missed the last game and a half after suffering a concussion against UNLV, was listed as probable Saturday morning and cleared to play hours before the Golden Bears’ 7:30 p.m. kickoff with No. 21 Wake Forest. But backup quarterback Jackson Brousseau, a Colorado State transfer who helped the Bears beat Virginia Tech 25-20 last week, lined up under center for the Bears 3-3 and was named captain for the game.
“Tosh Lupoi had a decision to make, he sticks with Jackson as the starter tonight, said it’s going to be a quarterback competition going forward,” ESPN reporter Lauren Sisler said during the first practice. “Tosh told us he met with Jaron privately on Sunday, talked about the whole offense on Monday, telling them it was a dream come true as a head coach with two players at quarterback.”
In a game and a half of work following Sagapolutele’s injury, Brousseau has completed 58 of 91 passes (64 percent), thrown three touchdown passes and has yet to throw a pick. Against FBS competition this year, Sagapolutele has thrown just five touchdown passes in three and a half games while throwing five interceptions — he threw just nine total last season to go with 18 touchdowns, putting him on the watch list for the Davey O’Brien Award ahead of this season given annually to the best quarterback in college football.
Despite a disastrous start to the 2026 season, a win Saturday would at the very least move Cal into a tie for second place in the ACC.
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