Cal Football Game Summary: Bears Beat Boston College

KEY PLAY 3: Two plays after the interception. Boston College running back Turbo Richard ran 27 yards for a touchdown to give the Eagles a 14-0 lead with 7:47 to go in the first quarter.

KEY PLAY 4: On a fourth-and-goal play from just outside the Boston College 1-yard line, Cal running back LJ Johnson Jr. ran 1 yard for a touchdown to reduce the Boston College lead to 14-7 with 1:03 left in the first quarter.  A 29-yard pass from Sagapolutele to Trond Grizzell and a 15-yard pass interference penalty aided the 74-yard drive.

KEY PLAY 5: Sagapolutele threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jecob De Jesus to complete a 14-play, 84-yard drive that tied the score 14-14 with 3:46 remaining in the first half.

KEY PLAY 6: Boston College kicker Luca Lombardo booted a 52-yard field goal to put the Eagles ahead 17-14 with 37 seconds left in the second quarter.

KEY PLAY 7: .On a fourth-and-1 play from the Boston College 3-yard line, Cal's Kendrick Raphael was stopped for no gain, giving the ball over to Boston College on the first play of the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY 8: Cal cornerback Hezekiah Masses intercepted a Dylan Lonergan pass at the Boston College 24-yard line and returned 22 yards to the Boston College 2-yard line. On the next play Cal's Kendrick Raphael ran 2 yards for a touchdown that gave Cal a 21-17 lead with 13:47 remaining in the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY 9: Boston College running back Turbo Richard ran 71 yards for a touchdown that put the Eagles back in from 24-21 with 13:35 left in the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY 10: On a fourth-and-inches play from the Boston College 29-yard line, Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was stopped for no game on a quarterback sneak, giving the ball over to Boston College with 8:11 remaining in the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY 11:   On a fourth-and11 play from the Cal 34-yard line, Sagapolutele threw an incompletion, but Boston College's Isaiah Farris was penalized for pass interference on intended receiver Trond Grizzell. The 15-yard penalty moved the ball to the Cal 49-yard line with 1:52 to go in the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY 12: Sagapolutele threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Mason Mini to give Cal a 28-24 lead with 1:30 left in the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY 13: On a second-and-goal play from the Cal 5-yard line, Boston College quarterback Dylan Lonergan threw a pass that was intercepted by Cal linebacker Luke Ferrelli in the end zone and returned to the 2-yard line with 15 seconds left.

INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE GAME: Boston College running back Turbo Richard had 171 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE GAME II: Cal running back Kendrick Raphael rushed for 113 yards, his second 100-yard game of the season. He also had one rushing touchdown.

QUARTERBACK STATISTICS: Cal’s Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was 22-for-34 for 254 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Boston College’s Dylan Lonergan was 21-for-37 for 197 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions

WHAT IT MEANS: Cal bounced back from a humbling 34-0 loss to San Diego State to win on the road against a Boston College team that was favored by a touchdown. That’s an accomplishment and ends, for the moment, questions about the Golden Bears’ resiliency. The Bears also rallied from an early 14-0 deficit to pull out the win. Cal’s chance of finishing with a winning overall record for the first time since 2019 increased significantly, and the Bears’ chance of winding up with a .500 or better conference record for the first time since 2009 seems possible after they won their ACC opener.

CAL'S BOWL BAROMETER: Cal has about an 80% chance of landing a bowl berth for the third straight year. The Bears need to win just two of their seven remaining games to become bowl-eligible, and a number of winnable games lie ahead, although none is a gimme. Heading into this weekend, the ESPN College Football Power Index gave Cal a 61.4% chance of winning the six games needed to gain bowl-eligibility. That percentage is likely to incrase this week. Earlier this week, every reputable site that does bowl projections predicted Cal will be in a bowl.

CAL’S ACC TITLE BAROMETER: With a 1-0 conference record, Cal’s chance of winning the ACC title increased to about 15%, and its chance of reaching the conference title game stands at about 20% Cal does not face Georgia Tech, Florida State, Miami or Clemson, which enhances the Bears’ chances. It’s starting to look like the ACC race is wide open with Miami being the only elite team. (The Hurricanes had a bye Saturday.) Heading into this weekend, the ESPN College Football Power Index gave Cal a 0.1% chance of winning the ACC championship, so that is not an optimistic view.

JUSTIN WILCOX’S HOT SEAT READING: The seat got cooler with Saturday’s win. It had warmed up a bit following last week’s 34-0 loss to San Diego State when the Bears were 14-point favorites. But a 4-1 record, including 1-0 in the ACC, eliminates whispers about Wilcox’s job security for now.  Wilcox’s contract runs through the 2027 season.

NEXT GAME: Cal (4-1, 1-0 ACC) vs. Duke (3-2, 2-0 ACC) at California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, on Saturday, October 4. Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. TV: ESPN. Duke defeated Syracuse 38-3 on Saturday in a road game for the Blue Devils. Duke freshman running back Nate Sheppard rushed for 168 yards and two touchdowns, and quarterback Darian Mensah went 22-for-28 for 268 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions.