The 6-foot-5 safety from Sacramento, California, delivered a performance that will be remembered as one of the defining individual showings of Cal’s young season, intercepting Syracuse quarterback Steve Angeli three times to help the Golden Bears rally for a 21-18 road victory in their ACC opener.
For Lopa, the first interception stopped a Syracuse drive and helped set up a Cal touchdown. The second was even bigger. With the Golden Bears trailing 18-14 late in the fourth quarter, Lopa read Angeli’s pass, jumped the route and took the interception 24 yards to the end zone, giving Cal its first lead of the afternoon with just 4:51 remaining. Then he did it one more time. Syracuse still had an opportunity to answer, but with 54 seconds remaining, Lopa came up with his third interception of the afternoon to shut the door and secure Cal’s comeback victory. He finished the game with five tackles, four of them solo, while his three interceptions accounted for the turnovers that ultimately separated the two teams.
It was the kind of performance that changes the conversation around a player. Lopa entered the season after transferring to Cal from Oregon, where he spent his first two collegiate seasons. A former four-star recruit out of Grant High School in Sacramento, Lopa has always stood out physically. At 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds, his size gives him a different presence in the secondary, but against Syracuse, it was his instincts and ability to attack the football that made the difference.
His three-interception performance also placed him in Cal history. Lopa became the first Golden Bear to record three interceptions in a single game since Jaylinn Hawkins did so against TCU in the 2018 Cheez-It Bowl. His first interception against Syracuse was returned 53 yards, while his second became the game-changing pick-six. The performance has already translated into national recognition. Lopa was named ACC Defensive Back of the Week, then added both the Bednarik Award National Player of the Week and Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week honors. He became the first Cal defensive back to receive a Walter Camp national weekly honor. Through two games, Lopa has four interceptions, including one in Cal’s season opener against UCLA, putting him at the top of the national leaderboard in interceptions.
For the Samoan and Tongan standout, the moment carries another layer. Lopa represents Sacramento on the field while carrying his Samoan and Tongan heritage with him, adding another name to the growing list of Pasifika athletes making their presence felt at the highest levels of college football.
And Saturday’s performance was about as loud as it gets. Cal entered Syracuse having already dropped its opener against UCLA, but the Golden Bears responded with a road win in their first ACC game of the season under new head coach Tosh Lupoi. The offense struggled to consistently move the football, with Syracuse finishing the game with 436 total yards compared with Cal’s 249, but Lopa’s three takeaways repeatedly erased scoring opportunities and kept the Bears within striking distance. Lupoi said Lopa’s performance was not a surprise to the Cal coaching staff.
“He is someone that does this consistently in practice,” Lupoi said, according to Sports Illustrated. “Kingston is a leader on our defense.”
That consistency is now translating under the bright lights.
Lopa has gone from a highly recruited Sacramento prospect to an Oregon transfer looking for a bigger opportunity, and now to one of the most talked-about defensive backs in college football after just two games at Cal. Against Syracuse, he made the biggest plays of the game when his team needed them most. Three interceptions. Five tackles. A 24-yard pick-six. A game-sealing takeaway. Kingston Lopa didn’t wait for the game to come to him. He went and took it!
