Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele

#3 · QB · So. · California6′3″ · 225 lb · Ewa Beach, HI · James Campbell

California has lost five straight in the games played. A short-game passer who rarely runs.

Weakest: 8% of throws gain 20 or more yards, 31st lowest of 158 starters.

Passing yards

1,751

178 of 264, 67%

TD–INT

11–6

6.6 per throw

NCAA rating

132.3

86th of 119

ZPR

47

67th of 119

How ZPR works

Up and down: great in 1, shaky or worse in 3.

  • 0-2 against ranked teams, 188 passing yards a game.

Best by our grade: Wagner. Lowest: at NC State, with 1 interception and sacked 2 times. Biggest game: at SMU, No. 23.

Tap a game for its plays

Q1Q2Q3Q4

Virginia Tech

W 25–20·Unranked

Did not play

Wake Forest

L 7–41·Ranked #21

Came on in Q3

Came on in the third quarter for Jackson Brousseau · 110 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · No rushes · Sacked 0

Season

Fades after halftime

How to read this

Each column is a quarter. Blue and up is a good stretch for the quarterback, red and down a bad one, hatched means the game was already decided. A red cross is a turnover and a black dot a touchdown. The word on the right grades the whole game. A gold line means the r/CFB game thread kept naming the quarterback. Dashed outlines on the Season row are last season’s average. Tap a game to open its plays: each bar is one of the quarterback’s plays, up helped the team’s chance of winning and down hurt it, and the grey line is that chance.

The word grades the game against every FBS quarterback start, from Rough to Great, using the same throws as the season Zeitgeist Passer Rating and adjusting for the defense faced. Bars are points added per throw in that quarter. The Season row leaves out quarters after a game was decided.

Style of play

Short-game passer

Also: stays in the pocket, yards after catch

Why this word
Runs1.1 a gameRarelyA lot
Throws6.6 yards past the lineShortDeep
Completes66% by play-by-playFewerMore
Takes sacks5% of dropbacksRarelyOften

The dot is this quarterback, among this season’s starters; the tick is the middle.

Throws shorter than most and rarely runs. 1.1 carries a game. Closest matches: Dickens, Lindsey, Moss ’25, Brown.

Where the throws go

Behind the line23%typical 17%
Short45%typical 47%
Middle20%typical 22%
Deep11%typical 14%

Runs 1.1 times a game; 94% of starters run more.

Closest in style

DickensLindseyMoss ’25BrownThis QB

Nearer the middle means more alike.

  • Dickens Northern Illinois · Short-game passer
    1,617 yards, 8 TD, 6 INT so far. Both hit few big plays and throw short.
  • Lindsey Minnesota · Short-game passer
    1,592 yards, 10 TD, 6 INT so far. Both throw behind the line a lot and hit few big plays.
  • Moss ’25 Louisville 2025 · Short-game passer
    2,679 yards, 16 TD, 7 INT. Both hit few big plays and rarely run.
  • Brown Iowa · Short-game passer
    1,190 yards, 8 TD, 3 INT so far. Both complete a lot and rarely run.

Compared with the 158 FBS starters this season for throws and running, and with 219 quarterbacks across 2 seasons for the matches, on how they play and how they have done.

This week

What’s being said

11 stories in the last 30 days, from 8 outlets.

Oct 6: 1Oct 7: 1Oct 10: 3Oct 17: 1Oct 18: 1Oct 19: 1Oct 22: 1Oct 24: 1Oct 27: 1W 25-20 vs Virginia TechWL 7-41 vs Wake ForestLL 20-59 at SMULL 10-31 at NC StateLOct 6Nov 4Most in a day: 3
Oct 6: 1Oct 7: 1Oct 10: 3Oct 17: 1Oct 18: 1Oct 19: 1Oct 22: 1Oct 24: 1Oct 27: 1W 25-20 vs Virginia TechWL 7-41 vs Wake ForestLL 20-59 at SMULL 10-31 at NC StateLOct 6Nov 4Most in a day: 3
Stories per day. W and L: the team’s results.

All 32 stories this season

His most important play this season

  1. Q1, 11:30 · California tiedJaron-Keawe Sagapolutele finds Taimane Purcell for a 91-yard touchdownCalifornia at UNLV, week 5Q1, 11:30 · California 7, UNLV 09191-yard touchdown pass9191-yard touchdown pass91-yard touchdown passJ.Sagapolutele pass complete short right to T.Purcell caught at CAL25, for 91 yards to the UNLV00 touchdown, 1ST DOWN, kick goodWatch from this play CBS Sports College Football

All 6 of his plays on video

Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele

QB · California · #3

Played for two head coaches in two seasons at California. The first one came in 2025: All-ACC. One game to point at: 413 passing yards and 3 passing TD against Wagner — Week 3, 2026.

1,751 passing yards · 11 passing TD · -16 rushing yards