Cal rallies to win in Wilcox’s debut
Ross Bowers threw for 363 yards and four touchdowns in his first college start, helping California defeat North Carolina 35-30 on Saturday at Chapel Hill, N.C., in the Golden Bears’ first game under Justin Wilcox.
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 to help Cal (1-0) win its first East Coast day game since 2012.
Vic Wharton III had five catches for 156 yards for Cal, which trailed 17-7 in the second quarter. But a targeting penalty on North Carolina’s Jalen Dalton extended a drive to set up Wharton’s 67yard score just before halfwith time, a game-changing sequence that helped Cal outscore North Carolina 28-7.
“I’m really glad he hit me high, because that gave us a lot momentum,” Bowers said.
at Oregon 77, Southern Utah 21: The Willie Taggart era at Oregon got off to a fast start with Tony BrooksJames’ 100-yard touchdown return on the opening kickoff. Royce Freeman ran for 150 yards and four touchdowns and the Ducks, coming off a 4-8 season, routed the Thunderbirds with their most points since 1916.
Kani Benoit ran for 107 yards and three additional scores for the Ducks, who had an Autzen Stadiumrecord nine rushing touchdowns. Justin Herbert completed 17 of 21 passes to finish 281 yards and a touchdown. It was Oregon’s seventh consecutive seasonopening victory.
at Oregon State 35, Portland State 32: Isaiah Hodgins caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Jake Luton with about a minute left as the Beavers came back to defeat the FCS Vikings.
Luton threw for 235 yards, one touchdown and one interception and had six completions in a row on the last drive for the Beavers (1-1), who bounced back from a loss at Colorado State. at No. 24 Washington State 31, Montana State 0: Luke Falk threw for 311 yards and three touchdowns. Northern Arizona at Arizona, late