The California Golden Bears are home on Saturday for some ACC action, hosting the Virginia Tech Hokies.
The 2-3 Cal squad could have some trouble against the 4-1 Hokies due to injury, though — Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele is out.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported the news Saturday afternoon that Sagapolutele wouldn’t play, and it’s a tough bit of info for Cal.
The report came less than half an hour before kickoff, which suggests that the Golden Bears may have at least considered getting JKS back on the field.
Either that or they just did a good job of keeping the information under wraps until just before kickoff.
How Long is Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele Out?
It’s not clear how long Sagapolutele will be out.
Thamel’s report didn’t reveal any such information.
The tricky part here is that Sagapolutele is recovering from a concussion. Those can both be tough to gauge and are also something that teams do their best to be cautious about.
The lefty sophomore exited Cal’s last game when he was taken to the ground and had his head slam back into the turf.
Sagapolutele went back to the huddle, but his wide receiver Ian Strong noticed he didn’t seem right and made sure his QB got medical attention.
From that point on, Sagapolutele didn’t play the rest of the game.
“I personally just was not comfortable with the way he came off the field, literally wobbling,” Cal coach Tosh Lupoi said last week. “I made that decision to start out with Jackson and not jeopardize Jaron’s health. He went out there and I wanted to make sure, instead of just throwing him back out there, I was not going to jeopardize him. Much more important than any game is his health, his life, his career. I think there was enough symptoms there to just, for me, no matter what, I’m not going to jeopardize that young man. I made that decision. Not gonna put anybody in harm’s way.”
Who is Cal’s Backup QB?
Jackson Brousseau is the backup QB for Cal.
He came into the game against UNLV with the Golden Bears down 24-7 and mounted a comeback attempt.
A transfer from Colorado State, Brousseau threw for 200 yards while completing 19-of-32 passes. He threw two touchdowns.
Brousseau started eight games for Colorado State last year. This will be his first start at Cal.
The other QB on Cal’s roster is redshirt sophomore EJ Caminong, and he would conceptually get the call on Saturday if Brousseau encountered an injury issue of his own.
How Long is Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele Out? QB Injury News Brings Out Cal Backup