Island connections abound when Cal meets Hawaii at Hawaii Bowl

Cal quarterback and potential 2026 Heisman Trophy candidate Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele hopes to enjoy a homecoming when Cal takes on Hawaii at the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve in Honolulu.

The matchup pits Cal (7-5), which clinched a winning season with a 38-35 home upset of then-No. 21 SMU on Nov. 29, against a Hawaii team (8-4) that opened its season with a 23-20 home win over the Golden Bears' rival, Stanford.

The Cardinal beat Cal 31-10 in the annual Big Game on Nov. 22, which led directly to head coach Justin Wilcox's firing the next day. The Golden Bears and Rainbow Warriors have one other common opponent: Hawaii thumped San Diego State 38-6 in November, seven weeks after the Aztecs stunned Cal 34-0.

Cal replaced Wilcox with Tosh Lupoi, a former assistant who currently serves as Oregon's defensive coordinator in the Ducks' pursuit of a national championship in the ongoing College Football Playoff.

Lupoi has been splitting his time between working on the Ducks' playoff run (they beat James Madison in the first round Saturday) and attempting to keep key pieces of the Cal roster and coaching staff in place, while also importing new faces as assistants.

Nick Rolovich, who coached Cal's win over SMU in the wake of Wilcox's firing and will be retained as the team's quarterbacks coach in 2026, will lead the team in Hawaii, giving him an opportunity to match wits with former Hawaii teammate Timmy Chang, the Rainbow Warriors' head coach.

Sagapolutele, a Hawaii native, ranked among the top freshman quarterbacks in the nation in his first season at Cal. He has thrown for 3,117 yards and 17 touchdowns, becoming just the second quarterback in FBS history to start a college career with 12 straight 200-yard games.

Lupoi admitted his first goal at Cal was to keep Sagapolutele from following in the footsteps of Fernando Mendoza, who left Cal for Indiana after last season en route to winning the Heisman this year.

Noting the success Cal has had with quarterbacks, including Aaron Rodgers and Jared Goff, Lupoi recorded his first win as Golden Bears' coach when Sagapolutele announced on Dec. 5 that he'd be staying in Berkeley.

Lupoi flew to Hawaii to meet Sagapolutele's family as part of his recruiting mission.

"It's really a testament to how great of a coach (he is) and what he wants to do for this program. How much I meant to him," Sagapolutele told reporters during his preparation for the Hawaii Bowl. "That meant so much to me and I'm grateful."

Hawaii has received similar good news from its star quarterback, Micah Alejado, the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year after throwing for 2,832 yards and 21 touchdowns.

The news was all the more calming in that it followed the announcement that top receiver Jackson Harris had left the program to enter the transfer portal.

The matchup of Sagapolutele and Alejado not only pits a pair of freshman left-handers but also childhood friends.

"We were always together," Alejado said. "Every night we were throwing to Coach Galu, Tua (Tagovailoa)'s dad. Just watched him grow up. Happy for him, all the success that he's had. There's a lot of upside to him and just (awesome) to see him grow."

--Field Level Media