The Virginia Tech Hokies (4-1, 1-1) look to get back on track this weekend as they head across the country to face the California Golden Bears (2-3, 1-1) in their third ACC matchup. It still feels odd calling Cal and Stanford ACC rivals.
The Hokies are coming off their first loss, a 35-33 heartbreaker to Pitt, filled with turnovers and questionable officiating. Regardless of what you think about the interception that shouldn’t have been or the field goal at the end, Virginia Tech remains undefeated
if it doesn’t turn the ball over four times. The Hokies dominated the Panthers, but Pitt proved more opportunistic.
Cal is coming off an ugly 39-31 loss at UNLV. The Golden Bears lost some key players to injury, including starting quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. Sagapolutele’s status for Saturday’s game remains unclear, as he’s in the concussion protocol.
To learn more about the Golden Bears, here’s Cal by the numbers.
2
The Hokies and Golden Bears have only met twice. The second meeting was last year, when the Hokies won 42-34 in a double-overtime thriller in Blacksburg. Virginia Tech quarterback Kyron Drones had one of the best games of his college career, passing for 119 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for 137 yards and two touchdowns.
The first meeting occurred back in the 2003 Insight Bowl. The legendary Aaron Rodgers was under center for Cal and led the Bears to an exciting 52-49 win over Virginia Tech.
336
6-foot-0, 220-pound junior running back Adam Mohammed leads Cal with 336 rushing yards. He did it in the first four games, before missing last week with an injury. Mohammed averages 4.6 yards per carry and has scored three touchdowns. He has also caught a touchdown pass. Mohammed is sixth in FBS with 32 forced missed tackles. He was listed as questionable on Wednesday’s availability report.
5
Kingston Lopa, a 6-foot-5, 210-pound redshirt sophomore safety, leads all of FBS with five interceptions. Like Sagapolutele and Mohammed, Lopa was also listed as questionable on the first availability report. Lopa went down on the first play of last week’s game with a concussion. He’d be another big loss for California if he can’t play.
121
Cal’s run defense ranks No. 121 in the country, allowing 187 rushing yards per game and over 5.1 yards per attempt. Virginia Tech’s running game has struggled recently, though Jeff Overton has had an outstanding season. Saturday could be an excellent opportunity for Overton and Marcellous Hawkins to have big days.
88
In ESPN’s SP+ rankings, the Golden Bears rank No. 88. They dropped seven spots after last week’s loss at UNLV. Meanwhile, the Hokies remain steady at No. 28 for the third consecutive week.
