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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Karl Rasmussen

Cal Stunningly Names True Freshman As Starting Quarterback for Week 1

Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was named Cal's starting quarterback for the 2025 college football season. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The California Golden Bears will be trotting out a true freshman as their starting quarterback in 2025.

Cal has reportedly settled on true freshman Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele as its QB1 for the season opener against Oregon State, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel.

Sagapolutele had initially committed to Cal in 2024 but later flipped his commitment to Oregon. He enrolled early at the University of Oregon but decided to enter the transfer portal this winter, where he later agreed to return to Berkeley.

Now, he's managed to win the starting job for the Golden Bears despite some tough competition, including that of Ohio State transfer QB Devin Brown, who was a frontrunner to win the job at Cal.

Sagapolutele was a four-star recruit coming out of Ewa Beach High School in Hawaii. 247 Sports ranked him as the No. 1 player in the state and the No. 7 QB in the nation in the class of 2025.

Cal opens the season on the road in Corvallis against the Beavers on Saturday, Aug. 30 at 4:30 p.m. ET, at which point Sagapolutele will make his collegiate debut.


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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Cal Stunningly Names True Freshman As Starting Quarterback for Week 1.

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