California quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, one of the top young passers in college football, will not play against Virginia Tech on Saturday, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Colorado State transfer Jackson Brousseau will replace Sagapolutele against the Hokies. He threw for 200 yards on 19-of-32 passing with two touchdowns after Sagapolutele suffered a concussion last week.
Cal safety Kingston Lopa also has not recovered from a concussion and will not play Saturday, sources told ESPN. He had an FBS-leading five interceptions and a team-high 29 tackles through his first four games.
Sagapolutele has been in concussion protocol since he was hit in the head during last week’s game vs. UNLV. He was medically cleared to return to that game, but coach Tosh Lupoi said he was not comfortable sending him back in.
The sophomore has thrown for 1,180 yards with eight touchdowns and five interceptions on 65.2% passing this season.
Cal will have a new offensive playcaller this week after passing game coordinator Pat McCann replaced Jordan Somerville, who had his offensive coordinator duties stripped by Lupoi during last week’s loss to UNLV.
Lupoi hired Somerville from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers despite no offensive coordinator experience, and the unit has struggled against FBS competition. McCann is a former offensive coordinator at Fresno State who oversaw the Mountain West’s No. 2 passing offense in 2023.
Running back Adam Mohammed has been ruled out for the second straight game. The Washington transfer has rushed for 336 yards and three touchdowns on 73 carries while catching 17 passes for 168 yards and another score. With Carter Vargas also out, it will mean an increased workload for Ashten Emory and Anthony League.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg and Max Olson contributed to this report.
