Kingston Lopa's 3 interceptions help California take down Syracuse 21-18

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- — Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele threw for two touchdowns, and Kingston Lopa had three interceptions as California beat Syracuse 21-18 in an Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams Saturday.

The win was Tosh Lupoi’s first as the Golden Bears’ head coach.

“No matter what occurred in that game, our guys had the ultimate belief that the pendulum was going to swing back our way,” said Lupoi, whose squad trailed by double digits midway through the second quarter. “We were gonna take it no matter what it took to do that.”

Lopa returned the second interception for a 24-yard touchdown with 4:51 left in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring. The third came on Syracuse’s final drive with 54 seconds left.

“That’s the mentality we have going out: We (are going to) win this game,” Lopa said. “It’s nothing new to us. Just going out there, trying to get a three-and-out, get our offense back up, get the momentum. And that’s what we did today.”

Syracuse had a chance to tie it at 21-all with 1:35 left, but Tripp Woody missed a 46-yard field goal. Woody also doinked one from 31-yards out on the Orange’s first drive of the fourth.

Sagapolutele was 21-of-34 passing for 182 yards for Cal (1-1). Adam Mohammed, who had 120 yards rushing in a loss to UCLA last weekend, rushed for 74 yards on 19 carries. Chase Hendricks and Jordan King each had a touchdown catch.

“We’re not gonna have a cautious approach when things get tense,” Lupoi said. “We’re gonna do what we do and go on the attack. And fortunately, it worked out for us.”

Steve Angeli finished with 306 yards on 24-of-49 passing with one touchdown and three interceptions for Syracuse (1-1). LSU transfer Ju’Juan Johnson had 46 yards rushing and a touchdown in the third.

Syracuse, which led 12-7 at halftime, forced a turnover on downs to open the second half, but Lopa picked off Angeli and returned it 53 yards before King’s 2-yard touchdown catch gave Cal a 14-12 lead.

The Orange amassed 436 yards of total offense to 249 for the Golden Bears.

“I gotta coach better,” Syracuse coach Fran Brown said. “(There are) some things that I need to do better to be able to put our team in positions and go out and win.”

The takeaway

California: The Golden Bears collapsed in the second half last week against UCLA. Thanks to Angeli’s mistakes and a string of penalties, Saturday’s second half was the opposite.

Syracuse: Daunte Bacheyie impressed, and the Orange’s kick returners showed much to fawn over, but Syracuse must stay disciplined as its schedule gets tougher.

Up next

California: Hosts Wagner next Saturday.

Syracuse: At Pittsburgh on Thursday.

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