Quarterback competition is heating up
The quarterback competition may have finally started to untangle itself, and the defense continued its opportunistic tendencies as Cal had its most game-like practice of training camp Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Head coach Justin Wilcox didn’t say that any decisions had been made at quarterback, but the four-headed competition appears to have been whittled down to a threeman race. Junior Chase Forrest attempted only three passes — two of which were intercepted.
Sophomore Ross Bowers, transfer Brandon McIlwain and freshman Chase Garbers split the rest of the repetitions on a 95-play day that included scrimmage, hurry-up and red-zone situations. McIlwain went 6-of-11 for 82 yards, including a 14-yard scoring strike to Jeremiah Hawkins on the final play, and Bowers led the offense’s other three scoring drives.
“He bounced back from a little bit of a slow start,” Wilcox said of Bowers. “It was nice to see him string some plays together, move the offense and put some points on the board.
“Each of the guys kind of had his moments. We just need each of them to continue to grow and learn from their experiences.”
After the defense intercepted passes on three of the first five possessions, it stopped the offense three straight times on red-zone chances. Bowers finally got the offense on the board when he found Kanawai Noa for a 14-yard touchdown.
Bowers lofted the ball into triple coverage, but Noa outleaped the defenders for the offense’s first score.
“You love having guys who can make you look good, when it’s not the best throw in the world,” Bowers said. “He made a heck of an adjustment on that play. … That definitely sparked us.”
Bowers led touchdown drives on his next two chances, hooking up with Demetris Robertson on a 74-yarder and ending a 64-yard drive with a 1-yard run of his own.
“It just took us a minute to wake up,” Bowers said. “Everybody was looking around at each other: ‘Who’s going to make the play?’ We finally started putting together some good drives, building some confidence and trusting everything that we do in practice. We finished strong.”
The practice was a bit of a dress rehearsal for the season as the team stayed at a hotel, bused to the stadium and had a “pregame” meal before taking the field.
Cal is hoping the defense continues to play the way it did Saturday. It had five takeaways, including an interception by senior linebacker Raymond Davison that he returned 40 yards for a score.
“That’s supposed to be our identity,” Davison said. “We don’t want to just get stops. We want to take the ball away.” Rusty Simmons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rsimmons@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Rusty_SFChron