SAN DIEGO, CA — After an impressive 3-0 start, the Cal Bears’ trip to Snapdragon Stadium ended in a 34-0 defeat. The Aztecs warmly welcomed the Bears and defended their home turf, just as they have historically done against Cal. The all-time series between the two is now knotted up at five apiece.
“If you don’t play this game with the utmost focus, effort and detail, it’ll disrespect you in two seconds,” Cal head coach Justin Wilcox opened up with. “We have to learn a lot, you don’t get to wipe and forget it … The most important day of the year will be Monday.”
Cal Bears vs. SDSU Aztecs 2025: Week 4 College Football Game Recap
To simply illustrate it, the Bears went into hibernation and kept hitting the snooze button. They were outmatched in all three phases. SDSU looked sharper, faster and more hungry for a win in Saturday night’s prime time showing.
Back-to-back Cal turnovers that resulted in touchdowns tell the story. It turned the Bears towards desperation, leading to forced plays down the field and eventually putting the football in harm’s way.
Cal, Not as Advertised
Cal entered tonight with expectations to run through San Diego State, but that was far from the outcome. Golden Bear quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele undoubtedly had his worst game. The freshman threw for season-lows of 208 yards, 44.7 completion percentage, 17 completions and had a season-high two interceptions. Not to mention, two dropped picks that could have made the stat line worse for the young talent.
Other than Trond Grizzell, who was making incredible contested grabs over defenders, the rest of the Bears’ receivers struggled. The timing between quarterback and wide receiver wasn’t there, leading to dropped passes and misplaced balls.
“It really starts with me, I didn’t come out firing,” Sagapolutele said. “We have to attack practice harder, and take it day by day. It’s gonna be a big one for us to learn from … We’re a better team than we were today.”
Outside of the Blue and Gold’s opening drive — which stalled on a failed fourth-down attempt that the two-yard line — nothing instilled fear into SDSU, or its fans.
Additionally, Cal’s lack of discipline with careless pre-snap penalties also made their hole much deeper than it needed to be. Self-inflicted wounds are hard to recover from, and Saturday night was a prime example.
It was an ugly, deflating game for Cal fans everywhere. It raises the question: Where does Justin Wilcox take his team? The ninth-year head coach faced criticism the past few years, and a strong start to 2025 eased those remarks, but it could very well resurface.
However, the good news is that it’s not going to get any worse for Cal. A shutout loss to a Mountain West opponent is the bottom of the barrel.
Aztecs Expose Bears
The Aztecs exploited Cal’s rush defense early. The Bears, who only allowed 82.3 rushing yards per game prior to Saturday night’s outing, gave up 83 in the first half and 132 through four quarters.
Coming off a bye week, a well-rested San Diego State looked much more physical at the line of scrimmage and was outright beating the Bears to spots. They were the underdog and played it like.
An 80-yard catch and run by SDSU’s Jordan Napier shifted the momentum early in the second quarter, taking a 7-0 lead. The Aztecs continued to build off that, keeping Cal scoreless for the first time since 2019. The sophomore wideout tied his career-high with nine catches, and tallied 154 yards (first career 100-yard game) and a touchdown.
“You’ve got to own what you do, you’ve got to own what you put on film,” Cal linebacker Cade Uluave said. “We’re going to own it. We got punched in the mouth and that’s obvious, but one thing about our team is that we’re resilient.”
It’s also hard to ignore the crowd noise — especially from the student section. Every positive play that the Aztecs had going, the crowd erupted. When the Bears huddled or faced a crucial third down, it was hard to pinpoint a single Aztecs fan either not screaming or standing. It truly made for a hostile road environment.
Cal Bears Week 5 Outlook
The 3-1 Bears will remain on the road and travel to Alumni Stadium for an ACC date with the 1-1 Boston College Eagles.
Cal can not afford to have a duplicate its Week 4 outing, and must play a much more polished brand of football.
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Eric Hayrapetian
Eric is a lifelong Angeleno and a sports journalist who graduated from the University of California, Berkeley. He joined The League Winners in January of 2025, and is the lead beat writer for the UCLA Bruins. Follow Eric on X (formerly known as Twitter) @EricHayrapetian.