Cal pulled off a rarity this week when Jackson Brousseau became the second Bears quarterback this season to be one of eight players named a Manning Star of the Week.
Brousseau made his first start at Cal on Saturday and completed 29-for-43 passes for 321 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions in a 25-20 victory over Virginia Tech.
Earlier this year Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was named a Manning Star of the Week for his performance against Wagner.
It’s unclear whether Sagapolutele will be able to start Cal’s Saturday night home game against 21st-ranked Wake Forest (5-1) as he recovers from a concussion sustained against UNLV. If he can’t play, Brousseau would make his second straight start.
In any case, Wake Forest will counter with quarterback Gio Lopez, who joins Brousseau on this week’s list of Manning Stars of the Week. Lopez was 26-for-33 for 303 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions while also rushing for 10 yards in the Demon Deacons’ 38-14 win over North Carolina State.
The other six quarterbacks named Manning Stars of the Week this week are Bradon Atkinson of Oregon State, Bear Bachmeier of BYU, Blake Baker of Louisiana Tech, Jeremy Hecklinski of Iowa, Tayven Jackson of North Texas and LaNorris Sellers of South Carolina.
.Wake Forest is the hottest ACC team other than Miami, and the Bears don't face Miami this season. Wake forest won its past two games against Stanford and North Carolina State by a combined score of 95-17. The week before those two games, Wake Forest defeated then-No. 16 Louisville on the road, 30-27. The Deacons' only loss came against Miami, and Wake Forest was competitive in that game before losing 33-20.
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