Bears’ strong start undone by second-half turnovers

McIlwain sparks Cal to 14-10 lead in first start at QB

Quarterback Brandon McIlwain made his first start for Cal on Saturday night at Arizona and played superbly until coming apart at the seams in the desert night.

McIlwain and a stout performance by the Cal defense forged a 14-10 lead, but four second-half turnovers by the sophomore transfer from South Carolina allowed the Wildcats to claim a 24-17 victory.

“You can’t turn the ball over that many times and expect to win,” Cal coach Justin Wilcox said. “A really poor performance on our part, coaching and playing.”

The loss was the 14th in a row in a Pac-12 road game

for the Bears (3-2, 0-2), who have not won a conference game outside Berkeley since September 2015. Cal lost to Arizona (3-3, 2-1) for the fourth straight time.

Things seemed in order for the Bears until a poor throw by McIlwain turned into a crazy play that changed everything. He had completed 20 of 25 passes at that point and finished the game with a career-high 315 yards passing and 107 more on the ground, including secondquarter touchdown dashes of 25 and 23 yards.

But late in the third quarter, with Cal leading 14-10, McIlwain overthrew target Kanawai Nai and linebacker Colin Schooler intercepted. Schooler ran 39 yards before Cal wideout Jeremiah Hawkins, coming from behind, punched the ball loose.

It bounced directly into the arms of cornerback Azizi Heard, who ran the final 34 yards for the touchdown with 3:19 left in the third quarter for a 17-10 Arizona lead.

Wilcox refused to the blame the loss on strange bounces by the football.

“We didn’t deserve to win the game because of the execution in all phases,” he said. “We can play better. That’s the expectation. We go out and improve. It wasn’t an acceptable performance by us.”

McIlwain had a hand in 422 of Cal’s 476 total yards. But he threw three interceptions and lost a fumble, two of those giveaways leading directly to Arizona touchdowns.

“It’s on me,” McIlwain said of the turnovers. “I’ve got to be able to make better throws, I’ve got to take care of the ball better, make better decisions and clean it up. It’s never acceptable.”

As good as he’s been at times, McIlwain has seven turnovers the past two games, and the other team took four of them back for scores.

Chase Garbers, who started the three previous games and shared snaps with McIlwain, was on the field for just one play at Arizona — when McIlwain lost his helmet and was required to sit out a play.

Wilcox made no dramatic declarations about the future of the position immediately after the game, but wasn’t happy.

“Brandon will get better, no doubt about it,” Wilcox said. “It’s decision-making. Knowing when and where to throw the ball and where not to.”

THE FOURTH-DOWN DECISION >> Down 17-14 with just over 12 minutes left, Wilcox made the call to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the Arizona 3-yard line. McIlwain was stopped cold.

“Trying to win the game. We’re talking about fourth and 1 yard,” Wilcox said. “When you don’t get the fourth-down conversion, it’s a bad call. And I own it.” THE DEFENSE DESERVED BETTER >> Arizona led 10-0 after the first quarter, totaling 116 yards in the opening 15 minutes. The Wildcats’ offense was scoreless the rest of the way. They managed just 149 yards and seven first downs over the final three quarters, averaging 3.5 yards per snap. PENALTIES WERE UGLY >> The Bears were flagged 13 times for 115 yards in penalties, and everyone contributed. Each of the five starting offensive linemen had at least one infraction, including six false starts.

“We’ve got to be able to focus and execute,” Wilcox said. “We’re going to play in hostile environments. It’s no excuse.”