The dust has finally settled on the 2025 season. Honestly, if you’re just checking the latest cal bears football score, you might see that 31-35 loss to Hawai'i in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl and think it’s just another "meh" year for Berkeley. But that box score doesn’t even tell half the story.
It was a weird winter for the Blue and Gold. One day you're celebrating an insane upset over a ranked SMU team, and the next, you're hearing that Justin Wilcox—the man who spent nine years trying to make Cal a defensive powerhouse—is out.
The Game That Changed Everything
Let's talk about that regular-season finale against SMU. Most people had written the Bears off. SMU was ranked No. 21 and looked like they were cruising. Cal was sitting at 6-5, having just been embarrassed 31-10 by Stanford in a Big Game performance that felt like a funeral for the Wilcox era.
Then, freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele decided to introduce himself to the ACC.
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He threw for four touchdowns. Four. Against a team that was supposed to walk all over them. The Bears held a 31-14 lead going into the fourth quarter, then SMU did what ranked teams do: they stormed back to lead 35-31 with only two minutes left.
Cal didn’t fold.
Kendrick Raphael, who has basically been the engine of this offense all year with over 900 rushing yards, punched in a 2-yard touchdown with 43 seconds left. Final: Cal 38, SMU 35. It was the kind of cal bears football score that makes you scream at your TV, but it also came just days after the university announced Wilcox wouldn't be returning in 2026.
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Breaking Down the 2025 Results
Cal finished the year 7-6 overall and 4-4 in their first-ever ACC campaign. It's a bit of a "what if" season. They beat No. 14 Louisville on the road in overtime (29-26) and knocked off SMU, but then they laid an egg against San Diego State (0-34) and lost a heartbreaker in double overtime to Virginia Tech.
Here is how the back half of the season shook out:
- at Virginia Tech: L 34-42 (The 2OT marathon that broke everyone's heart)
- vs Virginia: L 21-31 (A flat performance at home)
- at Louisville: W 29-26 (The OT thriller that kept bowl hopes alive)
- at Stanford: L 10-31 (The loss that ultimately cost Wilcox his job)
- vs SMU: W 38-35 (The high-point of the season)
- at Hawai'i (Bowl): L 31-35 (The final game under interim coach Nick Rolovich)
Why the Scoreboard Doesn't Show the Full Picture
The 25.3 points per game average suggests a middling offense, but that hides the late-season surge under Sagapolutele. Before the coaching change, Cal was a team defined by defensive grit. They forced turnovers and hoped for the best. By the time they reached the Hawai'i Bowl, they were playing a much more open, aggressive style of ball.
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Nick Rolovich took over as interim head coach for that bowl game. He brought a different energy, but the defense—long the staple of the program—couldn't hold up in Honolulu. Giving up 35 points to the Rainbow Warriors was a tough way to go out, especially for a unit that used to pride itself on being "The Takers."
What Happens Now?
The search for a new head coach is the only thing Cal fans are talking about right now. Ron Rivera, the program's General Manager and former NFL head coach, is the guy pulling the strings. There’s a lot of pressure to find someone who can recruit the West Coast but compete in an Atlantic Coast conference.
If you're looking for actionable ways to stay on top of the program during this rebuild:
- Watch the Portal: With a coaching change, the 30-day transfer window is wide open. Keep an eye on Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele; keeping him in Berkeley is the top priority for whoever takes the job.
- Monitor the Staff: Ike Hilliard was recently brought in to lead the wide receivers, and his presence could be a huge factor in whether the current offensive talent sticks around.
- Season Ticket Updates: The athletic department is expected to announce the new head coach before the end of January to stabilize 2026 recruiting.
The 7-6 record is a decent foundation, but for a school that just survived its first year of cross-country travel and a coaching firing, the score of the last game is less important than the identity of the next coach. We're looking at a complete overhaul of the culture in Berkeley.
If you are tracking the cal bears football score for betting or just out of loyalty, remember that the 2025 stats are basically a relic now. The 2026 season will likely look nothing like the Wilcox era. It's a clean slate in the ACC, and after that SMU win, we know the talent is there—it's just a matter of who's going to lead it.