Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele exited the Bears' 39-31 road loss to UNLV after a hit to the head and was held out of the rest of the game as a precaution, coach Tosh Lupoi said Saturday.
Sagapolutele, one of the top young passers in college football, was medically cleared to return to the game, but Lupoi said he was not comfortable with sending him back in.
The sophomore was injured late in the second quarter when he was tackled from behind after a throw and twisted so his helmet slammed into the Allegiant Stadium turf. Sagapolutele briefly attempted to stay in the game before stumbling out of the huddle and being escorted to the sideline. He was replaced by Jackson Brousseau.
"I personally just was not comfortable with the way he came off the field, literally wobbling," Lupoi said. "I made that decision to start out with Jackson and not jeopardize Jaron's health. He went out there and I wanted to make sure, instead of just throwing him back out there, I was not going to jeopardize him. Much more important than any game is his health, his life, his career.
"I think there was enough symptoms there to just, for me, no matter what, I'm not going to jeopardize that young man. I made that decision. Not gonna put anybody in harm's way."
Sagapolutele watched the second half from the sideline in street clothes. He finished with 195 passing yards, a passing touchdown, an interception and two sacks on the day.
Brousseau entered the game facing a 24-7 deficit and led an 18-point scoring run to take the lead early in the fourth quarter.
The Colorado State transfer threw for 200 yards on 19-of-32 passing with two touchdowns, including a 10-yard score to Ian Strong with 29 seconds left to make it a one-score game. Cal's onside kick attempt was unsuccessful.
The Bears (2-3, 1-1 ACC) hope to have Sagapolutele back when they continue ACC play next Saturday against Virginia Tech.
"We'll reassess everything healthwise and see where we're at going into this next week," Lupoi said. "If Jaron is ready to rock, then awesome. If he has symptoms just like any one of our players, we'll reassess there and make sure we're not going to put him any harm's way."
Cal safety Kingston Lopa suffered an upper-body injury in the first quarter and did not return. Lopa had an FBS-leading five interceptions and a team-high 27 tackles through his first four games. The Bears' secondary also lost Daniel Harris and Cam Sidney to targeting ejections during the loss.