Cal seeks to rebound against Belichick’s Tar Heels after bye week
BERKELEY — Cal freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele devoted most of the bye week leading to Friday night’s nationally televised matchup against coach Bill Belichick and North Carolina to smoothing over the rough edges in his game.
Asked to assess how he has played through the first six games, Sagapolutele said: “Not good enough. We have two losses, and those are big losses I could have played better on. And that’s on me.”
The Bears (4-2, 1-1 ACC) also got a few days away from football since their 45-21 loss to Duke on Oct. 4 and Sagapolutele and five teammates used the opportunity to visit Chinatown in San Francisco.
“That was pretty cool to go experience that and get outside of Berkeley. Live life,” he said.
The excursion included tasting what almost certainly was dragon’s beard candy, a Chinese treat that reportedly dates back to the Han Dynasty about 200 BC.
“It was like this hairy candy or something. Or furry candy or sticky candy,” he said. “It was pretty nice.”
A victory over North Carolina (2-3, 0-1) in the 7:30 p.m. matchup would be sweeter still for the Bears.
Sagapolutele said playing under Friday night lights reminds him of high school — all of a year ago. But he’s got no frame of reference for competing against a future Hall of Famer.
“It’s such a blessing, going against one of the best coaches to ever coach this game,” Sagapolutele said. “It’s going to be a great challenge for us.”
Belichick’s debut season at UNC has been a rocky one, including a report last week he was exploring options for getting out of his five-year contract. Belichick called that “categorically false,” and said the Tar Heels continue to work to establish their program.
“There’ll be a score change at some point,” he said. “Hopefully this weekend.”
The 73-year-old coach, who won six Super Bowls with quarterback Tom Brady, said Sagapolutele “is having a good year as a freshman.”
It was quite good early, but the 19-year-old has had a tougher time recently. He guided the Bears to a 3-0 start by completing 67 percent of his passes with six touchdowns and just one interception. Cal is 1-2 since then and Sagapolutele’s numbers have dropped to 57 percent with two touchdowns and six picks.
Cal coach Justin Wilcox has consistently praised his young quarterback, but knows there is room for improvement.
“There’s things he can do better certainly – taking what’s there, playing each play on its own merit, and knowing there’s a time . . . just once in a while he’s got to cut it loose and get rid of the ball,” Wilcox said.
“He’s gonna get that. He’s a very smart guy. He’s very coachable. He’s gonna get it. And when he does, he’s gonna play at a very, very, very high level.”
TEDFORD RETURNS TO CAMPUS
Jeff Tedford, the winningest coach in program history, will be recognized Friday night as part of the latest class inducted into the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame. Wilcox has known Tedford since the 1990s, when Wilcox was a defensive back at Oregon and Tedford was the Ducks’ offensive coordinator.
“He gave me my first full-time job here, so I’m forever indebted to him for that,” Wilcox said, referring to being hired as linebackers coach in 2003. “It was a great time to be here — we had phenomenal players. He poured his heart into this place, had some great teams.”
COME EARLY, STAY LATE
The Cal Football Countdown and Cal Football Wrapup, the latest in a series of new game-day functions, will debut on Friday.
They will be held on the Goldman Plaza in front of Memorial Stadium and hosted by KNBR’s Greg Silver and former Cal and NFL running back Patrick Laird.
The Countdown will begin two hours before kickoff at home games and last one hour (starting at 5:30 p.m. this week), with the co-hosts previewing the matchup and interviewing Cal GM Ron Rivera at 5:40 p.m.
The 20-minute Wrapup will review the game and preview what’s ahead.