[ad_1]
PROVO, Utah – Cal has reduced its quarter of three players to two on Saturday night.
Of course, the quarterback's identity would not matter if their defense continues to play that way.
Cal's defense was only 2.8 yards per game and did not allow a touchdown until the last minute for an unconditional effort that masked the imperfections of the quarterbacks in a 21-18 win over Lavell Edwards Stadium.
Chase Garbers, Redshirt's first-class quarterback, clinched his first collegiate start.
Junior Ross Bowers, who had started 13 games in a row, including the win over North Carolina, have been watching from the sidelines wearing a baseball cap and listening to calls to the helmet.
He may have had more fun listening to defensive calls at an evening when the Bears won a road match for the second time only in their last 16 tries.
Cal will face Idaho State next Saturday and should be halfway to eligibility next week. BYU is looking to bounce back from last year's 4-9 season and appeared with a surprise early this week in Arizona, but Cal made a setback.
Even without his most dynamic player, linebacker Cameron Goode, who missed the match with a left-leg injury, the Bears had a lot of defensive production. Jordan linebackers Jordan Kunaszyk and Evan Weaver each had 12 tackles each, and Traveon Beck and Jaylinn Hawkins were each intercepted, spending just one week of questions on the quarterback Bears after the fact.
Three quarterbacks played in turn in the first game, combining only 119 passing yards. While Garbers was the main quarterback and McIlwain was generally offering a chase threat during the second week, Cal had 214 yards.
Garbers won 18 yards out of 28 for a total of 176 yards and two touchdowns, and McIlwain went from 5 to 7 for 38 yards. The quarterbacks were also the best rushers of the team. McIlwain had 79 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries. Garbers added 45 yards on five innings.
After a first untimely takeover on his first collegiate start, Garbers helped Cal reach 80 yards in 11 games over the second possession. Garbers had a 17-yard run on the road and found Patrick Laird on a 25-yard run to give the Bears a 7-0 advantage with 1:46 remaining in the first quarter.
BYU had the ball for 19 minutes, 42 in the first half, but did not do much with that. The Cougars averaged just 3.3 yards per game and were limited to three points, a 36-yard goal by Skyler Southam in the middle of the second quarter.
Garbers doubled his first-period total with a third-quarter draw: a 52-yard touchdown pass to Kanawai Noa who gave the Bears a 14-3 lead three minutes into the second period.
The first sales of Cal's season resulted in a BYU touchdown. Running back Derrick Clark took a pass and gained 3 yards before banging Butch Pau'u. Security Dayan Ghanwoloku recovered the ball and landed 36 yards to reduce the Bears' lead to 14-10 with 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Cal wasted no time in another turnover as Isaiah Kaufusi read Garbers' eyes and grabbed a pass to Laird on the next Bears possession. But Cal's defense has tripled and the Bears offensive has overturned his ship.
Garbers had a 25-yard pass to Jordan Duncan, and McIlwain had a 17-yard run while Cal had 85 yards in 11 games. McIlwain finished the race with a 2-yard dive that put the Bears in the top 21-10 with 13:42 remaining.
Rusty Simmons is a writer for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @Rusty_SFChron
[ad_2]
Source link
