Oregon Ducks Transfer Quarterback Earns California Golden Bears Starting Job

True freshman Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele will be starting at quarterback for the California Golden Bears when they take on the Oregon State Beavers in Week One on Saturday, Aug. 30 per On3. 

Sagapolutele got the starting nod over Ohio State Buckeyes transfer Devin Brown. 2025 is a huge season for Coach Justin Wilcox and his Golden Bears. Wilcox, a former Oregon Ducks defensive back from 1996-1999, is entering his ninth season at the helm for Cal.

The Bears have been stuck in the five to seven win range for nearly all of Wilcox's tenure. He has an overall record in Berkeley of 42-50.

Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele Player Profile 

Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele is a 6-3, 225 pound quarterback out of Ewa Beach, Hawaii. He rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 5 quarterback in the class of 2025 per 247Sports. Sagapolutele was evaluated by national recruiting analyst Greg Biggins in July of 2024. 

“You can make an argument he has the strongest arm in the counter but doesn’t just throw all fastballs and has really improved in his ability to change speeds and throw with touch,” Biggins said. “His deep ball accuracy is among the bets in the country as well and he can really layer the football in to tight windows.”

Oregon’s 2025 Quarterbacks 

With the departure of Sagapolutele in the transfer portal, Oregon is left with one quarterback in the class of 2025 with Akili Smith Jr. He is now in a quarterback room led by Dante Moore and Austin Novosad. Moore appears to be the front runner to win the starting job for the Ducks but Novosad is right there as well. 

Dante Moore was a five-star recruit in the class of 2023. He played in nine games during his freshman season for the UCLA Bruins before transferring to the Oregon Ducks prior to thew 2024 season. Moore made five appearances, but just threw the ball a handful of times, going 7/8 for 49 yards overall. Moore was the backup quarterback to six-year quarterback Dillon Gabriel. 

Moore now has the opportunity to take over the offense was the starting quarterback for Coach Dan Lanning and the Ducks.

Austin Novosad on the other hand has been with Oregon since singing out of high school in 2023. He was in the 2023 quarterback room led by Bo Nix that season and then with Moore and Gabriel in 2024. He has appeared in six different games during this time, going 11/13 passing for 59 yards.