Cal was tied with North Carolina State 10-10 at halftime, but the Wolfpack dominated the second half and beat Cal 31-10 Saturday afternoon in Raleigh, North Carolina State. It was the Bears' third straight loss.

NC State was playing its first game since head coach Dave Doeren was fired a week ago.

The game summary:

NORTH CAROLINA STATE 31, CAL 10

RECORDS: CAL (3-6, 2-4 ACC), NORTH CAROLINA STATE (4-4, 2-3 ACC)

Player of the Game

North Carolina State linebacker Popo Aguirre. Aguirre had 16 tackles, including two tackles for loss, and one quarterback hurry.

Turning Point

With the score tied 10-10 early in the third quarter, North Carolina State quarterback CJ Bailey threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Chance Robinson, putting the Wolfpack ahead 17-10 with 9:40 left in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY 1: NC State quarterback CJ Bailey threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Deandre Desinor to give the Wolfpack a 7-0 lead with 13:29 left in the first quarter.

Pack on the board first ‼️

📺 @accnetwork x @PackFootball pic.twitter.com/ehtZ1kp3cR

— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) October 31, 2026

KEY PLAY 2: Cal tried to go for a first down on a fourth-and-3 play from the NC State 47-yard line, and Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele threw an incomplete pass, giving the ball over to the Wolfpack with 13:19 left in the second quarter. It led to an NC State field goal in KEY PLAY 3.

KEY PLAY 3: Wolfpack kicker Kanoah Vinesett kicked a 43-yard field goal to give NC State a 10-0 lead with 9:28 remaining in the second quarter.

KEY PLAY 4: Cal’s Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Chase Hendricks to reduce the NC State lead to 10-7 with 4:58 to go in the second quarter.

CHASE HENDRICKS. WHAT A GRAB. 👏

📺 @accnetwork x @CalFootball pic.twitter.com/oWYinwHyg2

— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) October 31, 2026

KEY PLAY 5: NC State’s CJ Bailey fumbled a snap, and it was recovered by Cal’s Solomon Williams at the Wolfpack 19-yard line with 4:55 left in the second quarter. However, three plays later Cal kicker Towns McGough missed a 40-yard field-goal attempt to keep NC State ahead 10-7 with 2:44 remaining in the second quarter.

KEY PLAY 6: Cal kicker Towns McGough kicked a 38-yard field goal on the final play of the first half to tie the game 10-10 at halftime.

KEY PLAY 7: CJ Bailey threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Chance Robinson to give NC State a 17-10 lead with 9:40 left in the third quarter.

DROPPED IT IN THE BUCKET 🎯

📺 @accnetwork x @PackFootball pic.twitter.com/RY6qDVQiZX

— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) October 31, 2026

KEY PLAY 8: NC State's Darius Johnson scored a touchdown on a 2-yard run to complete a 75-yard drive that gave the Wolfpack a 24-10 lead with 11 second remaining in the third quarter. A 28-yard run by Davion Gause and a pa interference call on Cal' Ricky Fletcher aided that drive.

KEY PLAY 9: Wolfpack receiver Victor Snow caught a 36-yard pass from Bailey that led to Davion Gause's 6-yard touchdown pass on the next play, giving NC State a 31-10 lead with 9:05 left in the game.

STAT OF THE GAME I: Cal had just 25 yards of offense in the third quarter, when NC State outscored Cal 14-0.

STAT OF THE GAME II: Cal was penalized just 15 yards in the first half, but had 66 penalty yards in the second half.

STAT OF THE GAME III: Cal had 11 rushing yards in the second half.

STAT OF THE GAME IV: NC State had 219 of their 327 yards of offense in the second half.

INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE GAME: Cal linebacker Odera Okaka had 11 tackles, including one tackle for loss.

INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE GAME II: NC State running back Davion Gause had 19 carries for 104 yards and a touchdown.

QUARTERBACK STATISTICS: Cal’s Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was 29-for-45 for 196 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He was sacked three times. NC State’s CJ Bailey was 13-for-25 for 192 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, and he rushed for 1 yard.

CAL PLAYER AVAILABILITY: Linebacker DJ McKinley, wide receiver Jordan King, wide receiver Mark Hamper, running back Carter Vargas, tight end Dorian Thomas and defensive lineman Nate Burrell did not play.

NORTH CAROLINA STATE PLAYER AVAILABILITY: Running back Duke Scott, safety Tristan Teasdell and offensive linemen Daniel Cruz and Spike Sowells Jr. did not play.

What It Means

Cal has now lost three games in a row and five of its last six. The Bears have been outscored 63-0 in the second half of the past two games. With a 3-6 record, the Bears would have to win all three of their remaining games plus a bowl game to achieve a winning record for the season straight year.  With a 2-4 ACC record, Cal would need to win its final three games to finish with a winning conference record for the first time since 2009.  Otherwise, this will be the 17th consecutive year that Cal will have failed to have a winning conference record, the longest such streak among FBS schools. The loss is another setback for the beginning of the Tosh Lupoi era, which began with such fanfare and anticipation before the first game of 2026 was played.

Cal’s Bowl Barometer

Cal’s bowl chances dwindled to about 10%. The Bears need to win all three of their remaining regular-season games to become bowl-eligible for the fourth straight season. Cal has a bye next week, but the Bears will be underdogs for their November 14 game at Virginia.  The final two games against Stanford and Pitt look like tossups, but Cal would have to show significant improvement to win all three games.

Cal’s ACC Title Barometer

Cal’s chance of reaching the ACC title game is gone. The Bears now must try to finish as high as they can in the ACC standings. With a 2-4 conference mark, Cal could finish 5-4 in the ACC if it wins all three of its remaining games, and that would be a major accomplishment.  On the other hand, if Cal loses all three – which is not out of the question – the Bears would wind up with a 2-7 ACC mark, which would match Cal’s 2022 and 2017 seasons for the Bears’ worst conference records since 2013, when they went 0-9 in the Pac-12.

Cal’s Next Game

Next Week: Cal has a bye next weekend

Next Game: Cal (3-5…., 2-3 ACC…) vs. Virginia (4-4, 2-3 ACC before Saturday)

Site: Scott Stadium, Charlottesville, Virginia

Date: Saturday, November 14

Starting time: To Be Determined (Starting time to be announced on Monday)

TV: To Be Determined (TV coverage will be announced on Monday)

Most recent Virginia result: Virginia played 14th-ranked Wake Forest on the road on Saturday.

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