Three Picks, Two National Awards, One Future First-Rounder: Kingston Lopa Has Arrived

There was less than a minute left in Syracuse, and the Orange had first down near midfield, needing only a field goal to tie. Steve Angeli let the ball go. Kingston Lopa laid out for it, got both hands under the ball and came up with the interception at the Cal 44. Syracuse was out of timeouts, so Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele took a knee and gave Tosh Lupoi his first win as a head coach.

That was pick number three.

Cal won 21-18, and one player decided the game. The recognition came fast. Lopa was named ACC Defensive Back of the Week on Monday, then earned the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week and the Bednarik Award National Player of the Week on Tuesday. He was also the only ACC player on Pro Football Focus' 22-man national team of the week.

EVERY PICK CHANGED THE GAME

Great defenders make plays. Special ones make them right when the game is about to get away from their team, and Lopa did it three times in one night.

The first came in the third quarter with Syracuse leading 12-7. Lopa ended an Orange drive and returned the ball 53 yards, setting up the touchdown that put Cal ahead 14-12. The second he scored himself, a 24-yard pick-six with 4:51 left in the fourth quarter that turned out to be the final points of the game. The third, the diving catch with under a minute to play, sealed the win.

Syracuse outgained Cal 436 yards to 249. Angeli threw for 306 yards but completed only 24 of his 49 passes. Most weeks, a team that gets outgained by nearly 200 yards loses. Lopa didn't let that happen here.

He's the first Cal player to intercept three passes in one game since Jaylinn Hawkins did it in the 2018 Cheez-It Bowl. He also had an interception in his Cal debut against UCLA, when he led the team with six tackles. Two games in, he has four interceptions, more than anyone else in the country.

WHAT YOU SEE WHEN YOU WATCH HIM LIVE

I've watched Kingston Lopa play in person, and the box score doesn't do him justice.

He's a 6-foot-5 safety who shows up all over the defense. On one snap he creeps into the box and plays like a linebacker. On the next he's back in the middle of the field, taking away the throw the quarterback wanted. You can see quarterbacks hesitate because they can't tell where he'll be. That doesn't show up on a stat sheet, but it makes the rest of the defense better.

The grades back up what I saw. Through two games, his PFF overall grade of 86.2 ranks fifth nationally among safeties, his 90.1 coverage grade is tied for the best in the country, and his 11 tackles lead Cal.

So here's my prediction, and you can hold me to it:

Kingston Lopa will be a first-round pick in the 2028 NFL Draft.

He's still far from a finished player. Offensive coordinators should be worried about that.

THE ROAD HERE TOOK PATIENCE

Lopa didn't arrive in Berkeley as a finished star. He was a two-way standout at Grant Union High School in Sacramento, then went to Oregon, where playing time was hard to come by. As a true freshman, he played 57 total snaps, only 24 of them on defense. In 2025 he appeared in 13 games and made 12 tackles.

A lot of talented players give up on themselves after two years like that. Lopa kept working, and he followed a coach who believed in him. Lupoi was Oregon's defensive coordinator while Lopa was there, and after the 2025 season Lopa transferred to Cal to play for him again.

"He's like a son to me."
— Cal head coach Tosh Lupoi

Cal defensive coordinator Michael Hutchings, who coached safeties for the Minnesota Vikings before coming to Berkeley, said the staff has worked since spring on keeping Lopa consistent and developing him as a leader.

"It's really a show of his work over the last nine months since he got here," Hutchings said. "But we're going to keep building. The work is not done at all."

Any high school athlete stuck behind someone on the depth chart can learn from this. The right fit matters as much as the offer. The work you do in the seasons when nobody's watching is what shows up when the big moments come.

THE MAN BEHIND THE HELMET

A couple of weeks ago, I ran into Kingston at a restaurant. We only talked for a few minutes, but I still think about that conversation.

He knows what kind of player he is. What stood out more was how he carries himself. He was easy to talk to and a genuine pleasure to be around, and it's rare to meet someone this talented who is that grounded.

You hear the same thing when he talks about football. After the Syracuse game, he said the defense takes the field expecting to win, that the pressure is nothing new to them, and that the goal is to get a three-and-out and swing the momentum back.

CAL HAS BUILT A PIPELINE

Cal's success in the secondary goes back further than this season. In 2024, Nohl Williams led the country with seven interceptions, and he now plays for the Kansas City Chiefs. Last season, Hezekiah Masses had five interceptions, and he's now with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Lopa is next, and he may turn out to be the best of the three.

I'm a fan of this player and a fan of Cal football. The program should keep recruiting young men like him, players who can take over a game and also represent the school well off the field.

NEXT UP

Cal hosts Wagner, an FCS program, at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Before each snap, watch where No. 1 lines up, and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Now it's your turn. First round in 2028: am I right, or am I getting ahead of myself? Tell me in the comments, and subscribe to RepMax Media so you don't miss the next breakout story.

If you're an athlete looking for the right fit the way Lopa did, check out the RepMax college football database at RepMax.io and start building your list today.

SOURCES

• AP game recap: https://abc7news.com/post/kingston-lopas-3-interceptions-help-california-take-down-syracuse-21-18/19824764/

• SI, final interception and Lupoi quotes: https://www.si.com/college/cal/football/kingston-lopa-saves-the-day-for-cal-01m2c4vyy4k0

• SI, ACC award, PFF team, pick details, Cal DB pipeline: https://www.si.com/college/cal/football/cal-s-kingston-lopa-gets-acc-weekly-award-01m2gc6eks8v

• SI, PFF grades: https://www.si.com/college/cal/football/grades-for-cal-s-kingston-lopa-jaron-keawe-sagapolutele-stand-out-01m2gqacp2t9

• Cal postgame notes: https://calbears.com/news/2026/9/12/football-postgame-notes-cal-21-syracuse-18

• Cal football news (Walter Camp and Bednarik releases): https://calbears.com/sports/football

• Kingston Lopa's Cal bio: https://calbears.com/sports/football/roster/kingston-lopa/27671

• Hutchings quote: add the URL for the SI story "Cal Safety Kingston Lopa Picks Up National Honors."