After struggling mightily to start his sophomore campaign, star Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was benched on Saturday.
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 to a 25-20 upset of Virginia Tech last week, lined up under center for the 3-3 Bears and was named a game captain.
"Tosh Lupoi had a decision to make, he's sticking with Jackson as the starter tonight, said this will be a quarterback competition moving forward," ESPN sideline reporter Lauren Sisler said during the first drive. "Tosh told us he met privately with Jaron on Sunday, addressed the entire offense on Monday, telling them this was a dream come true as a head coach with two ballers 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 managed 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 TDs, landing him on the Davey O'Brien Award Watch List heading into this season given annually to college football's best quarterback.
Despite a disastrous start to the 2026 season, a win on Saturday would at the very least pull Cal into a tie for second in the ACC.
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This article originally published at Star Cal QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele benched, Jackson Brosseau starts against No. 21 Wake Forest.