California Golden Bear quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (#3) avoids the UCLA Bruins’ defense and throws an 8-yard touchdown pass to Mason Mini in Week 1 of an NCAA football game on Saturday, September 5th, 2026, at California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, CA. (Photo credit Michael Villanueva)

By Michael Villanueva

BERKELEY – A historic rivalry that began in 1993 and continues to this day. The matchup is known by many names: the Bear Bowl, the Sibling Rivalry, or even another variation of “NorCal vs SoCal”. This game was the home opener for Cal Berkeley as the UCLA Bruins visited the California Golden Bears, starting both teams’ 2026-27 NCAA football season in week 1. This sold-out Saturday night football game had the California Memorial Stadium at maximum capacity. This is Cal and UCLA’s 95th matchup of all-time. UCLA Bruins lead the series at 58-35-1. Last time the UCLA Bruins were in Berkeley, UCLA would get the win over Cal 35-28. However, in the last matchup, it was the Golden Bears getting the win over the Bruins 33-7 in Pasadena. Ultimately, tonight, it would be the UCLA Bruins (1-0) getting the victory on the road over the California Golden Bears (0-1) 45-24.

Both of these schools came into this game with new head coaches. Tosh Lupoi was announced as the Travers Family Head Football Coach of the Bears on Dec. 4, 2025. Lupoi won a pair of national championships during a five-year stint at Alabama, where he served as an outside linebackers coach and defensive coordinator, in addition to five conference championships (4 SEC, 1 Big 10). He is the 35th head coach in Cal football program history. Bob Chesney was hired as the 20th head coach in UCLA football history on Dec. 6, 2025. He arrives in Westwood after two successful seasons at James Madison from 2024-25, guiding the Dukes to a 21-6 record and numerous historic firsts.

The Golden Bears scored the first touchdown of the night and their season. Cal’s quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele gets a short pass to the left for a 9-yard touchdown to Chase Hendricks. Sagapolutele picked up where he left off last season in his freshman year. Sagapolutele completed 316-of-492 passes for 3,454 yards with 18 touchdown throws and nine interceptions while starting all 13 games in 2025. He was only the second true freshman to be named the Bears’ starting quarterback for a season opener and the first since Jared Goff arrived in Berkeley in 2013, on his way to becoming the No. 1 overall NFL draft pick in 2016.

On UCLA’s first offensive drive, they responded. The Bruins would get on the board by their quarterback, Nico Lamaleave. Lamaleave would do a fake handoff and keep the ball to run in a 9-yard touchdown. After that, the game would be tied at 7-7, halfway through the 1st quarter. Nico Iamaleava is back for his second season at UCLA. The Long Beach, Calif., native led the Bruins in rushing yards (505), carries (112), and rushing touchdowns (4) in addition to throwing for 1,928 yards and 13 touchdowns on 208 of 323 passes.

UCLA and California’s defense have been stellar throughout the first half. It wouldn’t be until three minutes into the second quarter that Cal would add more points on the scoreboard. Cal’s kicker Town McGough would make a 28-yard field goal to give the Golden Bears the lead, 10-7. After that, UCLA’s offense would catch Cal’s defense and score on back-to-back offensive possessions. UCLA running back Anthony Woods would rush for a 31-yard touchdown to give UCLA their first lead of the night, 10-14.

After UCLA’s defense held Cal’s offense. The Bruins would march down the field and score again on another rushing touchdown from Wayne Knight’s 8-yard run. The lead would go by 11 points for UCLA over California at 10-21. Then with three and a half minutes left, Cal is looking to score before halftime, but UCLA’s defense would have something to say. Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele would get sacked and lose the ball during that, and UCLA’s Amier Washington would recover the fumble.

However, with fifty-one seconds left of the second quarter, the Golden Bears weren’t gonna let this game get out of control. UCLA quarterback Nico Lamaleava would throw an interception to Cal’s defensive back, Kingston Lopa. Giving the ball back to Cal with less than a minute. However, that’s all the time Cal would need to get themselves back in the game. With the ball at the 8-yard line, Sagapolutele would throw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Mason Mini to cut the lead to 4 points, 17-21.

With just two seconds left, UCLA would be able to get into field goal range and add three more points to the lead before halftime, 17-24. UCLA’s running game has been big for them in their Week 1 matchup. The Bruins were able to put up 123 rushing yards compared to the Golden Bears’ 34 rushing yards. These two sophomore quarterbacks have displayed that they could throw the ball and find their targets. UCLA would be able to finish the first half going 12-for-18 on passing, while California went 15-for-32 in their passing.

Heading into the third quarter, Cal took advantage of the game clock and emphasized it with a touchdown. The Golden Bears had the ball for basically the entire third quarter; they were on offense for over 11 minutes. Cal would march down the field and end the drive on a 1-yard touchdown from running back Adam Mohammed. That touchdown would tie the game and head into the final quarter.

Going into the final quarter of the game, with the score tied, the Golden Bears had the ball, and with ten minutes left, it was perfect for Cal to strike. However, UCLA’s defense would come up big for the Bruins. Cal quarterback Sagapolutele would throw two interceptions in the final minutes, and UCLA would capitalize on his mistakes. The first interception from the Bruins would follow up on a 31-yard rushing touchdown by Wayne Knight, 31-24. Then Sagapolutele would hop on the field to throw his second interception. Which, again, would lead to another UCLA touchdown by Wayne Knight, again, for his 3rd rushing touchdown of the night, 38-24.

With one minute and twenty seconds left, UCLA Bruins weren’t done with the Golden Bears. Bruins running back Anthony Woods would rush in a touchdown for 53 yards. The score would now go to 45-24. After that, it would be the Bruins doing the last dance on the field as UCLA wins the game, 45-24. UCLA Bruins would score 21 points alone in the fourth quarter.

After this crushing loss to the UCLA Bruins. The California Golden Bears are gonna hit the road for their next game. They’ll be facing the Syracuse Orange in Syracuse, New York. Syracuse got their win in week 1 against the New Hampshire Wildcats, 66-3. The game will be broadcast live on the ACC Network at 12:30 p.m.