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footballSeptember 26, 20265 min read

ONE PUNT FLIPPED BERKELEY: CLEMSON 24, CAL 10

Two defenses traded blows for three quarters. Then Bryant Wesco Jr. found a seam, and Clemson walked out of Memorial Stadium with the win.

ONE PUNT FLIPPED BERKELEY: CLEMSON 24, CAL 10

Two defenses traded blows for three quarters. Then Bryant Wesco Jr. found a seam, and Clemson walked out of Memorial Stadium with the win.

By Will League | RepMax Media

BERKELEY, Calif. — Tait Reynolds rolled right, and Aiden Manutai ran him down. The Clemson quarterback lost the ball on the way to the turf. Linebacker Kamar Mothudi scooped it at the Clemson 35 and was gone.

The officials reviewed it and upheld it. Cal 7, Clemson 0, with 5:15 left in the first quarter.

The place shook.

Cal fans were asked to pack Memorial Stadium on a Friday night, and they answered. A healthy wave of orange made the trip too. This was the first meeting between these programs since Cal joined the ACC in 2024, and both fan bases treated it that way.

A defensive fight from the first snap

The first five minutes set the tone. Clemson's opening drive ended with Isaiah Crosby intercepting a deep flea-flicker shot. Crosby returned it 35 yards to the Clemson 36, but an unsportsmanlike conduct flag on Daniel Harris pushed Cal back to its own 19.

Four plays later, Elliot Washington II picked off Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. That's how it went all night.

Clemson answered Mothudi's touchdown with a Nolan Hauser field goal on the first play of the second quarter. The Tigers had a first down at the Cal 4 on that drive, and the Cal defense held them to three.

The next drive hurt. Clemson went 17 plays for its only first-half touchdown. The drive

Clemson RB scores.

stayed alive because Niles Davis jumped offside on a fourth-and-4, with Clemson lined up to pooch punt out of field-goal formation. Gideon Davidson took a direct snap and plunged in from the 1. Clemson led 10-7 with 5:37 left in the half.

Cal pushed into Clemson territory before the break, but a 51-yard field goal fell short. By halftime Clemson had outgained Cal 179-94 and held the ball for 19:12.

What I saw from the sideline

Kingston Lopa was a problem for Clemson all night. He didn't fill the stat sheet the way he did at Syracuse, but he was around the ball constantly. That kind of disruption shows up on film first.

The linebacker play on both sides was the best part of this game. It was physical and fast, and nobody got a free yard.

The tie, then the turn

Cal took the second-half kickoff and drove into Clemson territory. Andy Burburija broke up a third-and-2 pass, and Chase Meyer's 30-yard field goal tied it 10-10.

Cal lost running back Adam Mohammed to a left-knee injury early in the third quarter. He had 51 rushing yards and 30 receiving yards when he went out, and he did not return. Coach Tosh Lupoi didn't have an update afterward but said he believes Mohammed will be fine.

Then came the play of the night. With 3:57 left in the third, Angus Davies hit a low, 39-yard

punt down the middle. Wesco, Clemson's No. 12, caught it on the run at his own 35. He beat two tacklers, cut toward the Clemson sideline and went 65 yards untouched the rest of the way.

It was Clemson's first punt-return touchdown since 2018, when Amari Rodgers took one back 58 yards at Boston College. Dabo Swinney joked afterward that 2018 turned out fine, so maybe it's a good omen.

Closing it out

Cal still had a shot in the fourth. Hauser missed a 48-yard field goal wide left, his first miss of the season, and Cal took over at its own 30 with 9:14 to go.

A sack by Champ Thompson and Jeremiah Alexander stalled that drive. Clemson took over at its own 2-yard line with 5:32 left, and a few plays later Davidson broke a 75-yard touchdown run. That made it 24-10 with 2:59 to play.

Washington's second interception ended Cal's next drive. Davidson finished with 159 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.

What Cal fixes this week

Cal's defense scored the team's only touchdown and kept this game tied into the third quarter. The offense couldn't match it. Sagapolutele went 16 of 29 for 119 yards and two interceptions, and Cal failed to score an offensive touchdown at home for the first time since a 12-10 win over Washington in 2018.

Lupoi put it on himself: "We got to execute at a higher level, starting with me."

That's the right starting point, and all of it is fixable. The flags that extended Clemson drives are discipline issues, and discipline is coachable. The punt coverage breakdown is one rep of film study. A second-year quarterback with this defense behind him has time to find his rhythm.

Here's my call, plainly: this Cal defense holds UNLV under 20 points in Las Vegas next Saturday.

Before the game, Cal honored several of its other varsity teams, and the stadium gave them a real ovation. Credit also goes to both staffs for how they handled the night. This was a clean, hard-hitting game, and it was a pleasure to cover from the field.

Next up

Cal goes to Allegiant Stadium to face UNLV on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 12:30 p.m. on CBSSN. Clemson returns home the same day to host No. 6 Miami.

Want to follow the players who made this game? Look up Mothudi, Manutai, Davidson and more in the RepMax Intelligence database. Subscribe to RepMax Media for more national college football coverage from the sideline.

Your turn: What decided this game? Was it Wesco's return, or a Cal offense that never found the end zone? Tell us in the comments.

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