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Time for "Sad Stats"
IG:cbssports (12/19/19)
Defense, QB Play Lead Bears To Hard-Fought Victory
CAL NOW 2-0 AFTER WIN AT BYU
PROVO, UT – The Cal defense once again put on a suffocating performance and quarterbacks Chase Garbers and Brandon McIlwain threw or ran for three touchdowns as the Golden Bears beat Brigham Young 21-18 on the road Saturday night at Lavell Edwards Stadium. Garbers, making his first career start, threw scoring passes to Patrick Laird and Kanawai Noa while McIlwain provided a spark off the bench and added a 2-yard touchdown run. The Bears' defense, meanwhile, held the Cougars to 287 yards of offense and didn't allow a touchdown until the game's final minute. The Bears' defense also produced when it mattered most, forcing the Cougars to go three-and-out on offense following each of their touchdowns. Cal's defense also came up with timely interceptions to flip the momentum, once after a fumbled punt and another following a failed fourth-down conversion by the offense. "I think our guys understand we could be a pretty good football team if we keep working at it," Cal head coach Justin Wilcox said. "We are a long way away yet but the thing I appreciate is how we keep competing and keep fighting. Even when there were momentum shifts in the game, there was calm on the sideline. There was problem-solving going on, no panic. It was about finding solutions, and we were able to do that as a team against a good football team on their home turf." The Bears scored first when Garbers found running back Patrick Laird over the middle for a 25-yard touchdown pass with 1:46 remaining in the first quarter. BYU responded with a second-quarter field goal and it was 7-3 at the half. Cal made an immediate statement to begin the second half, forging a 79-yard drive on seven plays on the first possession of the third quarter that culminated on a 52-yard touchdown pass when Garbers found Noa wide-open down the left sideline on a wheel route for a 14-3 lead. BYU cut the deficit to 14-10 on a flukey 36-yard fumble return, but its offense found itself running in place for most of the game. McIlwain, the transfer from South Carolina who made his Cal debut during last week's win over North Carolina, engineered the Bears' final scoring drive, going 3-for-3 passing for 23 yards and rushing for another 27 yards during an 11-play drive that culminated in his 2-yard scoring run. "Both Chase and Brandon did some really good things," Wilcox said. "We all know they still have a lot of work to do but I was really proud of how both of them competed." The Cougars closed to within 21-18 with a desperate drive in garbage time that ended with a touchdown with less than a minute left to play, followed by a lucky two-point conversion. But Cal easily recovered the ensuing onside kick and the Golden Bears ran out the clock. Garbers finished 18-for-28 for 176 yards while McIlwain led the Bears with 74 yards rushing. Garbers also produced some key runs and finished with 45 yards rushing. Noa had seven catches for 93 yards and Laird added 85 all-purpose yards (53 of them receiving) and a touchdown. Junior Evan Weaver, one week after announcing himself as a defensive force with a career-high 13 tackles, once again was dominant with a co-team high 12 tackles, three pass break-ups and a quarterback hurry on a key third down. "Evan is playing really well," Wilcox said. "We expect him to play well, to be quite honest. He has a really good feel and understands what we are asking him to do. I'm really proud of how far he's come. It's great to see him around the ball. That's just kind of who he is." The undefeated Bears return home next week to host Idaho State then will enjoy a bye week before beginning Pac-12 play against Oregon.
Bears Manhandle Oregon State, 49-7 Cal Dominates On Both Sides Of The Ball
BERKELEY – The Cal football team put forth season-best performances on both sides of the ball in a 49-7 whitewashing of Oregon State on Saturday afternoon at Reser Stadium. The Bears also put themselves back in the race for a post-season bowl bid.
Cal (4-3) racked up a season-high 539 yards of total offense, including a season-high 305 yards rushing. Senior Patrick Laird led the ground effort with a season-best 193 yards rushing and two touchdowns while reserve Christopher Brown Jr. registered his first career touchdown run.
Quarterback Chase Garbers was an efficient 17-for-26 for 234 yards through the air with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Cal amassed eight big plays of 20 yards or more.
The Bears held Oregon State, which entered the game ranked third in the Pac-12 in total offense (453.7 yards per game), to just 241 yards from scrimmage. It was the Beavers' lowest output of the season. Included in Cal's defensive effort were a season-high seven sacks and 12 tackles for loss.
"When we are able to stay in rhythm and control what we can control, we do a pretty good job of moving the ball on offense and getting stops on defense," Cal head coach Justin Wilcox said. "I'm proud of our team and how we've continued to work together. We had a really good week of practice and we came out and executed better today on both sides of the ball." The Bears opened the scoring on their second possession of the game, as a 55-yard pass from Garbers to Vic Wharton III set up a 3-yard touchdown pass to Malik McMorris. Cal extended it to 21-0 on 29-yard touchdown catch by Laird, who followed that up with a 4-yard scoring run. It marked the second time this season Laird has had a touchdown run and catch in the game game. Laird broke off a 53-yard run on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, helping the Bears complete a 78-yard drive that finished with Brown Jr's score to extend the advantage to 28-0 early in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Cal's defense forced Oregon State into four consecutive three-and-outs in the first half, and Traveon Beck followed that up with his second interception of the year. The Beavers cut the deficit to 28-7 with 3:40 remaining in the third quarter and then recovered an onside kick. But the Bears' defense did what it had been doing for most of the afternoon – slowed Oregon State's offense to a standstill and forcing another three-and out. "It's great to get a win," Wilcox said. "We knew it's a challenge to come in here. It's a tough place to play. Now we just have to take the next step where we are executing more consistently." The Bears put things away with three fourth-quarter touchdowns – a 24-yard pass from Garbers to Kanawai Noa, a 30-yard scoring run by Laird and a 54-yard interception return by Josh Drayden. Sophomore Tevin Paul led Cal's defensive pressure with 2.5 tackles for loss, including his first career sack. "He's been a pretty active guy for us," Wilcox said. "I thought our defense was ready to play and we executed better. As a whole, our defense played really hard and pretty clean."
Cal D Provides Spark In Season-Opening Win
Four Takeaways Lead Cal To 24-17 Victory Over North Carolina
BERKELEY – Having spent the first year of his return to Berkeley re-establishing a commitment to the defensive side of the football, Cal head coach Justin Wilcox entered year two of his tenure with those same principles providing the foundation for progress still yet to make. Those strides forward continue to provide context for the Bears' trajectory as a program and the 2018 season opener put an offseason of hard work on full display as Cal's defense forced four turnovers and limited visiting North Carolina well enough early to begin Wilcox's second season with a 24-17 victory over the Tar Heels. A picturesque day greeted fans as football returned to California Memorial Stadium and a focused defensive effort set a definite tone right away as Cal fought to gain the early upper hand against its visitors from Chapel Hill.
On the stat sheet, the early success was evident. North Carolina struggled to gain positive yardage at all in the first half, failing to pick up even one first down in the first quarter. Cal's first takeaway also set the stage for the first points of the season as an interception by safety Jaylinn Hawkins put the Bears on the North Carolina 23-yard line. Four plays later, Patrick Laird darted over the right side of his offensive line for a 4-yard touchdown run that put Cal ahead 7-0. The second quarter started with the same intensity, only this time the Cal defense took the opportunity to do the scoring itself. Cameron Goode did the honors, feigning an edge rush before dropping into coverage and grabbing a Nathan Elliott pass for the Bears' second interception. The sophomore took off for a 38-yard return and gave the Bears a 14-0 advantage. New Cal kicker Greg Thomas added to the lead with a 35-yard field goal and an interception by Ashtyn Davis punctuated a half in which Cal held North Carolina to just one first down and 38 yards of total offense. "The turnovers were huge," Wilcox said. "Taking the ball away, creating some field possession and getting a score was the difference in the game. Turnover ratio is the No. 1 indicator of winning and losing so when you win the turnover battle 4-0, you're going to give yourself a chance to win the game." The Tar Heels hit the scoreboard first in the second half with a 43-yard field goal by Freeman Jones but Cal re-established command with a lengthy scoring drive of its own. Quarterbacks Chase Garbers and Brandon McIlwain both saw time behind center during the drive but it was Garbers who eventually put the Bears in the end zone, connecting with Laird in the right flat for a 4-yard touchdown pass.
North Carolina's first touchdown came on a 3-yard run by Antonio Williams but the 19-play drive burned over six minutes off the clock and left the Tar Heels down 24-10 with 6:31 left to play. Thanks to a highly-questionable pass interference call on Camryn Bynum, the Tarheels were able to keep a desperate 4th down attempt alive, and a few plays later capitalized on the gift with a 14-yard pass from Elliott to Anthony Ratliff-Williams. This brought UNC to within a touchdown with 1:13 left but the ‘Heels would get no closer. During the ensuing onside kick they illegally blocked Cal players before the ball had traveled the requisite 10 yards and had to kick again. Try No. 2 was quickly covered by Cal and the Bears kneeled to run out the clock. "We were able to find a way to finish the game," Wilcox said. "We probably didn't finish it as well as we would've liked in every phase – offense, defense, special teams – but we found a way to win the game and guys battled. There's going to be so much to learn from the video, which is encouraging because it's a lot more fun to learn those lessons when you win." Garbers and McIlwain both saw time at quarterback for the Bears, trading in and out with starter Ross Bowers throughout the game. Cal's three signal-callers combined to complete 16 passes for 32 yards with one touchdown and did not turn the ball over. On the ground, Laird began his season with the same sort of consistent success that Cal fans have become accustomed to seeing from him as the senior carried 29 times for 95 yards and a touchdown. Hawkins grabbed another interception in the second half and finished with two of Cal's four total takeaways. Evan Weaver led the defensive charge when it came to tackles, recording a career-high 13, while Camryn Bynum led the secondary with four pass breakups. Cal gets back to work with its first road trip of the season as the Bears head to Provo, Utah for a Saturday showdown against BYU. Kickoff is set for 7:15 p.m. (PT) and the game will be broadcast live ojn either ESPN2 or ESPNU. Cal returns to Strawberry Canyon on Sept. 15 for a 3 p.m. game against Idaho State.
ANOTHER SECOND HALF COMEBACK FOR THE BEARS
BERKELEY – California posted 20 second-half points to cap off an impressive defensive effort that kept Ole Miss scoreless in the final two quarters of a scrappy battle to down the Rebels 27-16 on Saturday night at California Memorial Stadium.
The Golden Bears have trailed in all three of games at the intermission this season, but have fought back - recording 57 total second-half points while allowing only 13. In that time, the Bears have only given up a single touchdown: during the third quarter of the North Carolina game on Sept. 2.
Redshirt freshman Cameron Goode, an outside linebacker, cemented the win with a 32-yard pick-six with three minutes remaining in the game to put the final stamp on the night.
The Bears found momentum early in the second half taking the opening kickoff and going on a 72-yard scoring drive capped by a 19-yard touchdown pass from Ross Bowers to Vic Wharton III to close the Rebels' lead to 16-14. Two possessions later, after moving to the Ole Miss 2-yard line, Matt Anderson cleared the crossbar from 19 yards to give Cal its second lead of the game 17-16 with 4:11 remaining in the third quarter.
The defense finished with three interceptions and five sacks against Ole Miss' top-ranked passing offense, which it limited to two first-half touchdown passes. Cal's five sacks were its most since 2015 against Washington State.
"It's not always pretty right now with us," said Justin Wilcox, who remains undefeated in his first season as Cal's head coach. "It's the third week in a row we never flinched and fought back. We play our best when things get tough. There's so much more meat left on the bone in terms of how much better we can get. It took so many guys. We needed everybody. That was the ultimate team win."
Cal quarterback Ross Bowers completed 24-of-47 passes for 236 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Patrick Laird led the effort on the ground with 78 yards rushing on a career-high 22 carries and a score, followed by Vic Enwere who added 75 yards. Laird, who has scored in all three games this season, also added 28 yards on a career high five catches. Kanawai Noa finished with career highs of six receptions and 81 yards receiving to top the Bears' receivers while Wharton pulled in five catches for 57 yards and the touchdown.
Ole Miss quarterback Shea Patterson went 26-of-44 for 363 yards with three interceptions and two touchdowns on a pair of one-play drives. The first scoring throw came on a 72-yard pass to DaMarkus Lodge in the first quarter and the second on a 71-yard throw to D.K. Metcalf that gave Ole Miss a 16-7 lead with 13:02 remaining in the half.
But after three explosive plays of 20 or more yards including the two 70-plus touchdown plays, the Cal defense would not allow another point or explosive play the remainder of the game.
The defense posted several key plays throughout the evening including first-quarter interceptions by Jaylinn Hawkins and Devante Downs to help the Bears win the turnover battle, 3-2, with all of the takeaways interceptions. Downs finished with a career-high-tying and game-high-tying 14 tackles, as well as career-highs of 2.0 sacks (-8 yards) and 3.0 tackles (career-high -13 yards) while the interception was his second of the season and fifth of his career. Downs' second sack iced the contest on the final Ole Miss offensive play of the game with 0:36 remaining. Alex Funches (-13 yards), Davison (-11 yards) and Hamilton Anoa'i (-1 yard) also each had one of Cal's season-high 5 sacks.
Anderson went 2-of-4 on field goal attempts, his longest from 41 yards out that moved the Bears ahead 20-16 with 3:44 left in the game. With 244 career points, Anderson is now tied for sixth all-time with Robbie Keen and Mark Jensen on Cal's career points list.
Cal (3-0, 0-0 Pac-12) closes its three-game homestand next Saturday when the Bears host No. 4 USC (3-0, 1-0 Pac-12) at 12:30 pm PT. The game will be televised live nationally on ABC.
WILCOX ERA OPENS WITH GRITTY WIN AT NORTH CAROLINA
Strong 2nd Half Turns Close Battle Into 35-30 Victory
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – A highly competitive contest on the other side of the country marked the start of Justin Wilcox's tenure as head coach and the Cal football team turned the tables on a halftime deficit with 21 second-half points to kick off the 2017 season with a 35-30 victory over North Carolina at Kenan Stadium. Ross Bowers made his first start as a Golden Bear and completed 24 of 38 passes for 363 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions to lead the Cal offense. Vic Wharton III emerged as Bowers' primary target and hauled in five passes for 156 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, Cal claimed three takeaways, including two interceptions, and held North Carolina to just 194 yards of total offense in the second half. A series of key plays helped Cal (1-0) take the lead just a few minutes into the fourth quarter. Two conversions on fourth down, one coming on a play-action pass from Bowers to Malik McMorris for 18 yards, set the stage for a 20-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Duncan and the Bears took a 28-24 advantage with 12:58 to play. After a defensive stop on fourth down gave the Bears the ball back on downs, Cal launched a massive 11-play, 70-yard drive that whittled over five minutes off the clock. A 43-yard pass from Bowers to Wharton pushed the ball inside the North Carolina 5-yard line and, after the clock ran inside two minutes, Vic Enwere finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to put Cal up 35-24 with 1:56 left. North Carolina added a touchdown as time expired but Cal left Chapel Hill with the win. "Well, it's great to get a win. In the locker room, it's pretty special right now and I'm just really proud of our team and excited for those guys," Wilcox said. "Obviously, there's going to be a ton to learn from today on both sides of the ball, offense, defense, special teams and the coaches. But I think when you look at the big picture of the game, it was just the battling back that we had to constantly show in different ways, shapes and forms." Cal took its first lead of the second half thanks to some creativity from its new quarterback. Forced out of the pocket by North Carolina defenders, Bowers spun left and threw on the run, finding Patrick Laird as an outlet in the flat. Laird took it from there, breaking up the sideline and between Tar Heel defenders as he dashed into the end zone for a 54-yard touchdown to make it 21-17 Cal. A tip by Raymond Davison III allowed Derron Brown to grab Cal's second interception of the day but North Carolina (0-1) returned the favor with an Andre Smith interception and 73-yard return putting the ball inside the Cal 10-yard line. Two plays later, the Tar Heels re-took the lead on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Chazz Surratt to Thomas Jackson and Cal trailed 24-21 after three quarters. A back and forth first half ended with momentum squarely in Cal's corner despite North Carolina holding a 17-14 lead. Trailing 17-7 after a short field produced a Tar Heel touchdown, a targeting penalty on North Carolina deep in Cal territory extended the Bears' drive and Bowers turned that opportunity into six points as, on the very next play, he found Wharton behind the defense after a perfectly run out-and-up pattern. The two connected in stride and Wharton broke away for a 67-yard touchdown to bring Cal within three with 1:08 left in the half. North Carolina made its own bid to add points before the half but this time it was the defense's turn to make a big play for the Bears. With the Tar Heels already on the edge of field goal range, senior Devante Downs stepped in front of a Brandon Harris pass inside the 20-yard line, grabbing Cal's first interception of the year to send the Bears into the locker room on a decidedly positive note. Cal's first touchdown of the season came in the first quarter and was another product of good timing in the passing game. A well-executed drive ended in the hands of Jordan Veasy as Bowers lofted a back shoulder fade over a North Carolina defensive back and Veasy did the rest, wrestling the ball away on the way to the ground for a 10-yard touchdown. "There's going to be so much off the tape that was far from perfect, it's never going to be quite as good as you want it, but man it feels good in that locker room right now and I'm just really, really proud of our team, the players, our coaches, our university, our fans," Wilcox said. "It's just a great moment."
Miami Dolphins Running Back Patrick Laird Exists to Inspire
TSC's Fred Richani interviews inspirational Miami Dolphins running back Patrick Laird about his incredible journey! Order Patrick Laird's official jersey on NFL Shop: https://go.magik.ly/ml/ucm6/