LAS VEGAS — Tosh Lupoi spent Saturday away from his family trying to fix Cal’s offense. The work continued through Sunday, Monday and Tuesday after a 24-10 loss to Clemson in which the Bears failed to score an offensive touchdown. Lupoi called the production “flatout unacceptable” and said he went back through Cal’s three Power Four games to study where the offense had functioned best, where the run game could improve, how the Bears could protect Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele and how they could create more opportunities to throw vertically.
Lupoi did not announce a coordinator change, but he did say responsibilities have been redistributed. He named Pat McCann, Nick Rolovich and Keith Bhonapha while talking about the experience on Cal’s offensive staff and said he has been “elevating some responsibilities” and giving coaches ownership of specific roles. Lupoi also said he intends to spend more time making sure the offense and special teams are being coached to the same standard he expects from the defense.
The most direct question came when Lupoi was asked whether he was comfortable with Jordan Somerville remaining the offensive play caller for the rest of the season. “I’m comfortable if we’re producing at a high level,” Lupoi said. “If we’re producing at a high level, absolutely. If we’re not, it’s my job to make sure.” He added that the same standard applies to every coordinator and all three phases.
Lupoi declined to explain the operational changes in detail because he did not want to give UNLV a competitive advantage before Saturday’s game. He said the staff has to recognize where it has fallen short, make changes and give the players more clarity in how they are being coached.
Clemson forced the issue. Sagapolutele threw for 119 yards, Cal rushed for 86 and the Bears converted three of 12 third downs. Their only touchdown came from the defense when Kamar Mothudi returned a fumble 35 yards. Lupoi said Cal’s defense has now scored as many touchdowns as the offense across the Bears’ last two Power Four games.
He spent much of the weekend reviewing what has worked around Sagapolutele and what has not. Lupoi said the quarterback is capable of playing as well as anybody in the country when his feet are set and his rules are clear, but Cal has to do a better job defining where the ball should go and creating the same connection between Sagapolutele and his current receivers that he had with last year’s group.
“We’ve got to clear up and cause clarity for sure of his progression, where the ball needs to go,” Lupoi said. He put that responsibility on himself and the staff, saying Cal has to create the connection between its quarterback and receivers rather than waiting for it to develop on its own.
The run game is part of that work. Lupoi said his review focused on where Cal can “generate and stimulate” better rushing production so the Bears can protect Sagapolutele and get back to more of the vertical passing game. That becomes more important with uncertainty in the backfield, where Lupoi declined to provide specific injury updates Tuesday and described the group as day-to-day.
Lupoi also said he is bringing some of the methods he has used on defense into the way Cal prepares offensively. He made clear he is not trying to take over the scheme or present himself as an offensive specialist, but he has already started changing parts of the preparation and teaching process. “I’m by no means going to pretend that I’m an offensive guru and have specific offensive answers,” Lupoi said.
He connected that approach to the five years he spent working under Nick Saban, saying coaches have to continue changing how they run meetings, walkthroughs and practice periods when something stops improving. Lupoi said his responsibility is to identify where Cal has stalled and change it rather than waiting for different results from the same preparation.
Cal will arrive at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday without Lupoi announcing a new offensive coordinator or a new play caller. What he did announce was that the offense is already being prepared differently than it was before the Clemson loss.
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