Cal QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele Still Questionable Ahead of No. 21 Wake Forest

Cal still doesn't know who will start at quarterback Saturday night. Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele is listed as questionable on the first injury report for the home game against No. 21 Wake Forest, California Golden Bears On SI reported. The ACC released the report Wednesday night.

Sagapolutele took a concussion late in the first half of the loss at UNLV. He stayed questionable all of last week while he worked through concussion protocol, and Cal held him out of the Virginia Tech game in a decision made close to kickoff. Jackson Brousseau started in his place and played well in his first start, going 29-for-43 for 321 yards with a touchdown in the 25-20 upset of the Hokies. Brousseau hasn't turned the ball over in the three halves he has played since Sagapolutele went down. If Sagapolutele can't play Saturday, Brousseau will start again.

Two other key Bears have the same tag. Running back Adam Mohammed is still Cal's leading rusher with 336 yards. Safety Kingston Lopa leads the country with five interceptions but has been dealing with a concussion. Each missed the Virginia Tech game, and each could now miss a third straight game. Wide receiver Cooper Perry is also questionable. Running back Carter Vargas and defensive lineman Nate Burrell have already been ruled out. With Vargas out, Ashten Emory would probably get most of the carries if Mohammed sits.

Wake Forest has questions of its own. Carlos Hernandez leads the nation with 49 catches and ranks third with 720 receiving yards, and he is questionable. So is defensive lineman Langston Hardy, who has 9.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.

What it means for Saturday

The Demon Deacons arrive at 5-1 and playing like a ranked team. They've won three straight, including a 30-27 win at No. 16 Louisville, a 57-3 rout of Stanford and a 38-14 win at NC State last week. Their only loss came against No. 5 Miami. Wake is averaging about 37 points a game and allowing about 21.5.

Cal is 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the ACC. The Bears have alternated wins and losses for most of the season, and their scoring has been inconsistent. They scored 10 points against Clemson and gave up 39 at UNLV before tightening up against Virginia Tech. If Lopa can't play against Hernandez, or if Hernandez is limited himself, the pass game on both sides could look different.

The market expects a road win. On this site's board, Wake Forest is favored at -335 on the moneyline at Novig, and Cal is +308 there. Novig has the Deacons favored by 9.5 at -100. FanDuel has the best Wake Forest spread price anywhere, -8.5 at -115, so the venues are a full point apart on the number. The total is 53.5 at Novig and Pinnacle, with the over at -108 and -107. Sportsbook hold runs from 3.4% to 7.0% across the 11 venues tracked.

Those numbers will probably move as more is known about Sagapolutele, Mohammed, Lopa and Hernandez. Kickoff is Saturday, October 17, on ESPN2.