Football By JOSH DUBOW

Sagapolutele’s 3 TD passes lead Cal to 27-14 win over Minnesota

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele threw three touchdown passes and California beat Minnesota 27-14 on Saturday night for the Golden Bears’ third straight win to open the season.

Cal (3-0) got its stiffest test after convincing wins to open the season and Sagapolutele delivered once again and showed unusual poise for a freshman quarterback.

Sagapolutele finished 24-for-38 for 279 yards and three short scoring passes to help the Bears earn the win against a power conference opponent.

The Golden Gophers (2-1) were in the game until multiple special teams mishaps in the fourth quarter proved costly. Brady Denaburg missed a 51-yard field goal that could have tied the game with less than 10 minutes to play and Koi Perich muffed a punt at his own 8 on the next Minnesota possession.

Sagapolutele made Minnesota pay with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Jordan King that made it 24-14 with 6:55 to play.

Cal struck first when Sagapolutele threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Jacob De Jesus in the first quarter and Minnesota answered with 43 seconds left in the half on Cam Davis’ 1-yard run.

But Sagapolutele managed to move the Bears 48 yards in the closing seconds to take a 10-7 halftime lead on Abram Murray’s 45-yard field goal.

The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter with Drake Lindsey giving Minnesota the lead with a 3-yard pass to Jameson Geers and Sagapolutele answering with a 9-yarder to Mason Mini that put Cal up 17-14 in the closing seconds of the third quarter.

The Takeaway
Minnesota: The Gophers weren’t seriously threatened in the first two games against Buffalo and Northwestern State but fell short against the Bears. Minnesota was hurt by the absence of star running back Darius Taylor, who missed the game with a leg injury.

California: The Bears started 3-0 for the second straight season and fifth time in nine years under coach Justin Wilcox. Now Cal needs to carry that over for the rest of the season. The Bears haven’t finished with a winning record since going 8-5 in 2019.

Up Next
Minnesota: Hosts Rutgers on Sept. 27 in Big Ten opener.

California: Visits San Diego State on Saturday night.