Cal hits 3-0 again, steady in all four quarters against Minnesota
Same script, louder chorus. For the second straight year, the California Golden Bears have opened 3-0, this time by handling Minnesota 27-14 at home on September 13, 2025. The scoreboard told the story of control more than chaos: Cal scored in every quarter (7-3-7-10) and never let the Gophers get comfortable.
Quarterback J. Sagapolutele set the tone with a calm, decisive night. He completed 24 of 38 passes for 279 yards and three touchdowns, spreading the ball and staying patient when Minnesota dropped into coverage. That balance kept Cal on schedule and made the red-zone calls simple rather than desperate.
One of the night’s cleaner moments came early: wideout Jacob De Jesus grabbed his first touchdown as a Golden Bear in the opening quarter, a milestone that doubled as a momentum anchor. Cal’s offense wasn’t flashy every possession, but it didn’t need to be. The Bears built their lead piece by piece, then protected it with field position and a defense that won enough snaps up front.
Minnesota didn’t fold. The Gophers punched back in the second and third quarters, closing the gap behind steady quarterback play and a reliable ground game. But empty possessions in the first and fourth frames proved costly. When the game tilted late, Cal’s defense squeezed space, and Minnesota ran short on answers.
Defensively, Cal’s edge pressure continues to trend up. Outside linebacker T.J. Bush Jr. recorded a sack for the second straight game, a small streak that hints at bigger things if he keeps winning one-on-one. Inside linebacker Aaron—whose full stat line wasn’t listed in the postgame notes—was active in the middle and part of the reason Minnesota’s chunk runs didn’t snowball.
The win also keeps Cal perfect at home (2-0) and extends a broader theme for this group: a clean, measured September. It wasn’t about breaking the game open in one burst. It was about stacking quarters and avoiding the wobble that gives road teams life. In a nonconference matchup where styles rarely mesh, Cal made its style the one that stuck.
How Cal built it, what Minnesota learned
Sagapolutele’s night was less about hero throws and more about choosing the right ones. Minnesota tried to compress windows and make Cal win underneath; Cal obliged, then picked spots to climb the ladder. That’s the blueprint when your quarterback is confident in his reads and your receivers are winning the details on routes.
De Jesus’ first touchdown mattered beyond the points. Early scores force defensive coordinators to shade help and adjust leverage, which opened room later for intermediate routes and kept Cal away from too many obvious passing downs. The offense kept moving the sticks, and the chains did the talking.
On the other side, Minnesota quarterback D. Lindsey had flashes. He went 19-for-32 for 205 yards with one touchdown and one interception—enough to threaten but not enough to force Cal into panic. His best lifeline was L. Brockington, who caught eight passes for 106 yards and consistently found space against soft spots in zone. The Gophers’ run game, led by F. Ijeboi’s 16 carries for 85 yards, gave them balance, but late-game possessions never fully turned into scoreboard pressure.
Cal’s pass rush didn’t overwhelm, but it arrived at the right times. Bush Jr.’s sack was the headline, yet the cumulative effect—edges squeezing, interior hands in throwing lanes—mattered most. Minnesota had to earn everything in between the 20s, and even their successful drives fought uphill against down-and-distance math.
You can also see the coaching fingerprints. Cal avoided the self-inflicted stuff that flips momentum: no wild swings in field position, no strings of negative plays. That discipline is how you beat a physical Big Ten opponent in a one-score script and stretch it late.
For Minnesota, the takeaways are clear enough. The Lindsey-to-Brockington connection works. Ijeboi offers a trustworthy base in the run game. The next step is turning good drives into finishers, especially on the road, and finding a pass-rush spark that changes series outcomes. The Gophers didn’t look outclassed; they looked a drive or two short.
Cal walks out 3-0 again, a repeat that carries real weight in September. It’s two home wins in two tries, plus a nonconference scalp against a sturdy Big Ten visitor. The schedule only stiffens from here, but the routine—the composure, the balance, the timely defense—travels. And that’s usually what separates a hot start from a lasting one.
- Final: California 27, Minnesota 14
- Cal scoring by quarter: 7-3-7-10
- Minnesota scoring by quarter: 0-7-7-0
- Cal QB J. Sagapolutele: 24/38, 279 yards, 3 TDs
- Cal WR Jacob De Jesus: first TD with the program (first quarter)
- Cal OLB T.J. Bush Jr.: sack in back-to-back games
- Minnesota QB D. Lindsey: 19/32, 205 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
- Minnesota RB F. Ijeboi: 16 carries, 85 yards
- Minnesota WR L. Brockington: 8 receptions, 106 yards
- Records: Cal 3-0 (2-0 home), Minnesota 2-1 (0-1 away)