The Cal Bears were beaten soundly by the rival Stanford Cardinal in ACC football action on Saturday. After the game, the University of California was forced to hand over The Axe.
The transfer of the axe is rivalry tradition that takes place each time the game’s trophy is moves from school to school. This year’s ceremony was incredibly tense, with emotions adding to postgame fireworks.
The Bears were a slight road favorite in making the short trip to Palo Alto. Despite outscoring the Cardinal offense 10-0 in the first half, Cal found itself down at the halftime break.
Stanford returned a pair of fumbles to the endzone for touchdowns. They held a 14-10 lead after 30 minutes of play.
From there, the Bears would be held scoreless. The Cardinal started to click on both sides of the ball. They’d go onto win 31-10.
The Cal football team gave up The Axe
— no context college football (@nocontextcfb) November 23, 2025
The Bears had been riding a four-game rivalry winning streak. The Axe is now headed back to Stanford. Each time the trophy is transferred from campus to campus, a ceremony takes place to recognize the change.
The Stanford Axe debuted at a campus rally in April 1899. Two days later, Cal undergrads seized it after a baseball game, cut off the handle, and scurried back across the Bay with it. Stanford students responded with a midnight raid of the fraternity behind the theft but were unable to recover the Axe, maybe because it had been stashed in a bank vault, where it would remain for more than 30 years. In 1933, it was negotiated that the axe would be given to each year’s Big Game winner (though in 1973, there was yet another elaborate heist)…
The Axe “has a history beyond the game, having endured years of theft, conspiracy, and the constant threat thereof.” This year’s transfer was tense.
Emotions ran high as the Cal Axe Committee handed the trophy over to the Cardinal. Those tensions trickled into the postgame festivities as Stanford players celebrated at midfield.
Things got chippy at the end of Cal vs Stanford and Andrew Luck is right in the middle of it all pic.twitter.com/Rsq49LPRdA
— Brad (@Graham_SFN) November 23, 2025
Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was restrained.
The Cal quarterback had a frustrating football game. One of college football’s top freshmen, he was held out of the endzone in the passing game though he did run for the Bears’ only score.
Sagapolutele was also sacked five times.
The agony of defeat was compounded by the Cardinal’s celebration. He was seen being forcibly restrained while exiting to the locker room after the game.
Justin Wilcox and Cal walk off the field after a 31-10 loss in the 128th Big Game
I don’t know what was said or who said it, but Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele reacted to something as seen here as the team walked off the field pic.twitter.com/e7CcT30yHp
— Thomas Dunn (@Thomasdunn24) November 23, 2025
What was said to trigger the quarterback’s reaction is unclear. It’s hard to tell whether Sagapolutele was speaking to opposing fans or players.
One thing is certain. The Bears were not happy about losing the rivalry game. Stanford, meanwhile, took its victory lap after securing The Axe.
The moment will not be forgotten in next year’s faceoff. It should make for an exciting 129th edition of The Game.
The post Cal QB Forcibly Restrained After Midfield Scuffle Follows Tense Axe Transfer appeared first on BroBible.
Cal QB Forcibly Restrained After Midfield Scuffle Follows Tense Axe Transfer
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