California secured a 38-35 victory over No. 21 SMU, marking its second consecutive win against a nationally ranked opponent. The Golden Bears previously defeated No. 15 Louisville on November 8. This is the first time since 2016 that California has achieved back-to-back wins over top-25 teams.
The win was also California’s first ever against SMU. Prior to this game, SMU led the all-time series with two wins, including a 38-6 result in Dallas in 2024 and a 13-7 game in Berkeley in 1957.
With this victory, California completed the regular season with a record of 7-5, matching its best regular-season performance since finishing with the same record in 2019. The team will learn about its bowl selection on Sunday, December 7.
Wide receiver Jacob De Jesus had 12 receptions for 97 yards and one touchdown catch. He now has a total of 99 receptions for the season, placing him second on California’s single-season list behind Dameane Douglas’ school record of 100 catches set in 1998. De Jesus also surpassed the milestone of 2,000 career receiving yards and currently has a combined total of 2,010 yards from his time at UNLV and California.
Quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele completed 31 of his 40 passes for a career-high 330 yards and four touchdowns without any interceptions. His passing yardage and touchdown totals are both personal bests. In his first season, Sagapolutele has thrown for a total of 3,117 yards, ranking sixth on California’s all-time single-season list.
Sagapolutele has started his collegiate career with twelve straight games throwing for at least two hundred yards or more—a streak unmatched by any other Power Four player to begin their college tenure except Houston’s David Piland, who recorded fourteen such games spanning the years between the https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/david-piland-1.html2010 and https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/david-piland-1.html2012 seasons (he did not play in https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/david-piland-1.html2011).
Running back Kendrick Raphael rushed thirty-three times for a career-high total of one hundred eleven yards and scored what proved to be the game-winning touchdown during the fourth quarter. This was Raphael’s twelfth rushing touchdown of the year—moving him into a tie for ninth place on California’s all-time single-season list.
Three wide receivers—QuaRon Adams, Cole Boscia, and Jaiven Plummer—caught their first touchdown passes as Golden Bears during this game; it was also Boscia’s and Plummer’s first collegiate touchdown receptions.
Defensive lineman Aidan Keanaaina recorded six tackles to bring his season total to fifty-five through twelve regular-season games—the most by any Cal defensive lineman since Luc Bequette registered fifty-two tackles in https://calbears.com/sports/football/stats/2019?path=football2019.
Safety Aiden Manutai intercepted his first pass during the second quarter.
California extended its streak to twenty-four consecutive games with at least one sack after outside linebacker Chris Victor posted a personal best two sacks totaling eighteen lost yards; he also made three tackles for loss amounting to thirty negative yards—both career highs.
Eight players started every regular-season game: Brent Austin (defensive back), T.J. Bush Jr. (outside linebacker), Luke Ferrelli (inside linebacker), Hezekiah Masses (defensive back), Aidan Keanaaina (defensive lineman), Tyson Ruffins (offensive lineman), Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (quarterback), and Jordan Spasojevic-Moko (offensive lineman).
Twenty players were recognized during California’s pre-game senior ceremony ahead of their final home appearance this season.
