Bowers stars as Cal beats UNC
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Nothing felt foreign for Justin Wilcox in his first game as California’s football coach. The same was true for firsttime starting quarterback Ross Bowers.
Neither seemed surprised by winning his debut, either.
Bowers threw for 363 yards and four touchdowns, and Cal rallied from an early deficit during a game-changing sequence to beat North Carolina 35-30 in Saturday’s season opener for both teams.
“All due respect to North Carolina, we expected to win the game,” said Wilcox, a defensive coordinator the past 11 seasons at Wisconsin, Southern California, Washington, Tennessee and Boise State.
Bowers, a sophomore, had never thrown a pass in a college game and had to win a preseason battle for the starting job. But he shook off two interceptions and came up with several good throws to help Cal win its first day game on the East Coast since 2012.
As for North Carolina, it was a jarring way to start coach Larry Fedora’s sixth season against a team picked to finish last in its Pac-12 division.
Pitt 28, Youngstown State 21, OT
PITTSBURGH — Jester Weah hauled in an 11-yard touchdown pass on the opening possession of overtime to give Pittsburgh the lead, and Bricen Garner picked off Youngstown State’s Hunter Wells in the end zone to help the Panthers hold off Youngstown State.
Pitt (1-0) blew a 21-point point halftime lead and was dominated in the second half by the Penguins (0-1) before Weah’s acrobatic grab and the first pick of Garner’s career helped the Panthers escape.
Qadree Ollison ran for 91 yards and two touchdowns for Pitt. Max Browne struggled in his debut at quarterback after transferring from Southern Cal, completing 17 of 24 passes for 140 yards and the winning touchdown.
Wells passed for 311 yards and a pair of scores to running back Christian Turner.
Virginia 28, William & Mary 10
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Kurt Benkert threw three touchdown passes and Virginia began Bronco Mendenhall’s second season as coach with a victory.
The Cavaliers gave Mendenhall and their fans a much more encouraging start than a season ago, when Virginia was dominated 37-20 by Richmond — like William & Mary (0-1), a member of the Football Championship Subdivision.
Benkert finished 27-for-39 passing for 262 yards. Jordan Ellis ran for 80 yards and a touchdown and caught the clinching score, while Andre Levrone and Olamide Zaccheaus had touchdown catches of 34 and 17 yards, respectively.
Duke 60, N.C. Central 7
DURHAM, N.C. — Brittain Brown rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown in his college debut, and Daniel Jones accounted for three scores as Duke opened with a rout of an FCS foe.
Shaun Wilson also had a short touchdown run, and Bryon Fields Jr. returned an interception 28 yards for a touchdown in the highest-scoring performance by a David Cutcliffe-coached team.
The Blue Devils led 40-0 midway through the second quarter, scored on their first seven drives and held a 524-158 advantage in total yards over the Eagles (0-1).