Photo via Toronto Star

Bryant Wesco's punt return TD leads Clemson to a 24-10 win over Cal

Read the original at Toronto Star ↗
Cite

Dubow, J. (2026, September 26). Bryant Wesco's punt return TD leads Clemson to a 24-10 win over Cal. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/football/bryant-wesco-s-punt-return-td-leads-clemson-to-a-24-10-win-over-cal/article_f8fef323-25fd-5077-bb09-fbf71cb3bf1a.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Toronto Star · collected 2026-09-26 · by Josh Dubow

Quick Summary

Bryant Wesco Jr.’s punt return touchdown late in the third quarter helped Clemson secure a 24-10 victory over California in Berkeley, California. Both teams struggled offensively, with only one offensive touchdown scored until Gideon Davidson’s decisive 75-yard run near the end of the game. The Tigers’ defense held strong after Wesco’s key score, preventing Cal from scoring again and ensuring Clemson’s win despite a poor showing by both quarterbacks.
Written by AI on 2026-09-26, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Clemson defeated California 24-10 on Friday, September 25, 2026, in a game where both teams struggled offensively. The match, part of ESPN's college football coverage that night, saw Clemson extend their winning streak to three games despite an early stumble against North Carolina. Cal had also recently won two consecutive games but faced challenges against Syracuse and Wagner. Key player Bryant Wesco Jr. scored the game-winning touchdown with a 65-yard punt return in the third quarter, marking Clemson's first such score since their national championship year in 2018. Both teams now have records of 3-1, with Clemson maintaining an ACC lead at 2-0 and Cal dropping to 2-2 overall.

Written for “Clemson vs Cal Game” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Clemson vs Cal Game
Sports · 4 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Fox News
Hedges 3 of 21 claims Outlet record 69/100
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 14 claims Outlet record 66/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
20
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 20 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
4
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-26 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Toronto Star · 11143 article(s) · 28 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 28 correction(s)
2026-10-26
Correction
2026-10-24
Correction
2026-10-07
Correction
2026-09-24
Correction

Who wrote this

Josh Dubow
38 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
🔮 Micah Ford rushed for 150 yards, Nico Brown caught two TD passes and Caden High had nine catches for 103 yards and a score for the Cardinal. CJ Bailey threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns and Will Wilson ran for two short scores for the Wolfpack (3-4, 1-3).
🔮 San Francisco 49ers star receiver Mike Evans will miss Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons because of Achilles tendinitis.
🔮 He didn’t return to the game and his status for this week’s game against Atlanta remains in question with coach Kyle Shanahan saying he didn’t know how long the issue will impact Evans’ ability to practice or play.
🔮 San Francisco 49ers receiver Mike Evans left Monday night’s game against the Washington Commanders with an Achilles tendon injury and the team said he would not return.
🔮 Daniels was then sacked by Keion White and Ogbo Okoronkwo before he could throw up a desperation pass.
🔮 With five more pass attempts, he will take his place on top of the all-time leaderboards.
🔮 Lupoi told ESPN it would be a competition at quarterback going forward despite the heavy investment Cal has made in Sagapolutele.
🔮 Defensive end Nick Bosa (calf) didn’t practice Thursday, but Shanahan said there’s a chance he could return this week after missing the past three games.
🔮 Thrash upheld the suspension and Greenlaw will miss Monday night’s game against Washington and lose out on nearly $200,000 in pay for the week.
🔮 Greenlaw will miss San Francisco’s game next Monday night against Washington pending an appeal on Tuesday.
Also by Josh Dubow
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 38 articles by Josh Dubow →

Topics

Bears Cal California Clemson Tigers

Subjects

Clemson ORG · 9× Cal ORG · 7× Tigers ORG · 4× Bears ORG · 2× California GPE · 2× Davidson PERSON · 2× Atlantic Coast Conference ORG · 1× BERKELEY GPE · 1× Bryant Wesco Jr. PERSON · 1× Calif. GPE · 1×

Narrative

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Bryant Wesco Jr. had Clemson’s first punt return touchdown in eight years to break a tie late in the third quarter and the Tigers went on to beat California 24-10 Friday night in a game where both offenses struggled.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-26
2026-09-26 · Toronto Star
Bryant Wesco's punt return TD leads Clemson to a 24-10 win over Cal · assertive framing

Claims (20 extracted, 0 hedged)

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Bryant Wesco Jr. had Clemson’s first punt return touchdown in eight years to break a tie late in the third quarter and the Tigers went on to beat California 24-10 Friday night in a game where both offenses struggled. asserted
offenses → have → game
Both Clemson (3-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) and Cal (2-2, 1-1) struggled to generate much offense in the first matchup between the schools since the Golden Bears joined the ACC in 2024. asserted
Bears → struggle → 2024
The teams combined for one offensive touchdown until Gideon Davidson put the game away with a 75-yard run with 2:59 to play. asserted
Davidson → combine → 2:59
Davidson finished with 159 yards rushing and two TDs. asserted
Davidson → finish → yards
Cal got a field goal to tie the game on the opening drive of the second half, but Clemson went back ahead after the Bears punted on their next possession. asserted
Bears → get → possession
Agnus Davies had a low 39-yard punt down the middle that Wesco fielded on the run. asserted
Wesco → have → run
He eluded two tacklers and then broke it toward the Clemson sideline before racing in for the 65-yard score. asserted
He → elude → score
It was the first punt return touchdown for the Tigers since their national championship season in 2018 when Amari Rodgers had a 58-yarder in a win at Boston College. asserted
Rodgers → have → College
The Tigers defense made the lead stand up as Cal never got close to the end zone again. asserted
Cal → make → zone
Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele finished 16 for 29 for 119 yards and two interceptions for his fewest yards in 17 career starts. asserted
Sagapolutele → finish → starts
Clemson’s Tait Reynolds wasn’t much better, throwing for 108 yards and turning the ball over twice in his second start. asserted
Reynolds → throw → start
The teams traded interceptions on each opening drive and that set the tone for the first half dominated by the defenses. asserted
that → trade → defenses
Cal struck first with a 35-yard fumble return touchdown by Kamar Mothudi. asserted
Cal → strike → Mothudi
But Clemson got a field goal and then took the lead on a 1-yard run by Davidson that capped a 17-play drive that was extended when Niles Davis jumped offside on a fourth-and-4 pooch punt out of field-goal formation. asserted
Davis → get → formation
The Tigers played their fourth game ever in California and first since beating Alabama in the College Football Playoff title game on Jan. 7, 2019. asserted
Tigers → play → Jan.
Clemson looked nothing like that team led by Trevor Lawrence that went undefeated on the way to a third national title. asserted
that → look → title
The Bears offense that was supposed to be the strength of the team in Sagapolutele’s second season struggled to move the ball with any consistency. asserted
that → suppose → consistency
Cal was held without an offensive touchdown at home for the first time since a 12-10 win over Washington in 2018. asserted
Cal → hold → 2018
It last happened in a loss in a 21-3 defeat to Stanford in the 2012 Big Game. asserted
It → happen → Game
Up next Clemson: Hosts No. 6 Miami on Oct. 3. asserted
Clemson → host → Oct.
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support