San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Pair of Pac-12 losses; no telling what’s next
Following the Bay Area’s collegiate quarterbacks can be a maddening proposition. Hearty applause arrives in a heady mix with exasperation for both Cal and Stanford, and on a wild Saturday night, Brandon McIlwain and K.J. Costello had to deal with defeat.
Stanford, handed a 21-0 first-half deficit with the help of two Costello misfires, staged a face-saving comeback in Palo Alto but couldn’t hold off Utah in a 40-21 loss. In the Arizona
desert, McIwain staked his claim as the Bears’ No. 1 quarterback but fell depressingly short in a 24-17 loss to the Wildcats.
Who knows where it goes from here? There’s no telling with either team. This was a crushing loss for Cal (3-2, 0-2 Pac-12), and for skeptics in the Bears’ community, it was painfully reminiscent of a 2017 season when a 3-0 start turned into a 5-7 finish after the conclusion of Pac-12 play, wiping out any chance for a bowl bid. A bowl appearance remains in the picture for Cal, thanks to what appears to be a breather in the schedule: at home against UCLA (0-5, 0-2) next Saturday, then a game at Oregon State. But trying to predict anything in this conference is risky business, so all-knowing forecasts are not advised.
Stanford, meanwhile, has drifted far out of character. A loss to Notre Dame last weekend saw the dismantling of both the offensive and defensive lines, and there wasn’t much improvement on either side of the ball Saturday night. Running back Bryce Love sat out the game with an ankle injury, stripping the Cardinal of a storied weapon, but the disastrous first half essentially removed the rushing attack as an option. Costello connected on 26 of 41 passes for 381 yards but will be haunted by his three turnovers: a lost fumble and two interceptions, the first of which was returned 100 yards — the longest pick-six in the nation this year — by Jaylon Johnson.
It’s quite uncommon to see coach David Shaw’s team so severely rattled. There is ample time to recover, with upcoming games at Arizona State and Washington State, and if there’s any hope to win the North Division, it will come in the Nov. 3 showdown at Washington (5-1, 3-0).
By the conclusion of Cal’s loss to Oregon last weekend, the consensus had McIlwain as a running quarterback who wasn’t much of a threat through the air. A bit of balance was needed, especially with Chase Garbers sharing the position. Garbers may be the superior passer, but McIlwain had some brilliant firsthalf moments against the Wildcats and never came out of the game.
Throwing more often than anyone could have anticipated, McIlwain finished with 32 completions in 43 attempts for 315 yards. But he couldn’t get Cal into the end zone through the air, throwing three interceptions along the way.
Far more impressive were McIlwain’s instincts and timing as a running quarterback. After his 123-yard rushing performance a week earlier, people were drawing comparisons to Joe Kapp from long, long ago (1958, Cal’s last Rose Bowl team). It seemed ridiculous; Kapp was a tough, legendary runner who turned it into a trademark, right into a Super Bowl appearance with the Minnesota Vikings.
Just say that McIlwain is no slouch. With the Bears trailing10-0 in the second quarter, McIlwain ran out of the pocket, broke a tackle and outran everyone for a 25-yard score. On a set play late in the first half, McIlwain turned a quarterback draw into a 23-yard touchdown run, racing through a vacant secondary after bursting through a gaping hole at the line of scrimmage.
Nobody could have anticipated the play that gave the Wildcats a 17-14 lead, one that proved to be decisive. McIlwain threw an over-the-middle
pass too high for Kanawai Noa, who barely tipped the ball with his outstretched hands. Linebacker Colin Schooler intercepted the pass and was looking to score, but Hawkins ran him down, threw a punch at the ball and knocked it into the air. Thirteen yards later, cornerback Azizi Hearn scooped up a perfect bounce and finished the job on a 34-yard touchdown play.
By the fourth quarter at Stanford, there was a certain inevitability as to the outcome, but it was truly sealed when Utah quarterback Tyler Huntley, barely escaping the grasp of Gabe Reid, unleashed an off-balance pass to Samson Nacua, who beat Frank Buncom down the left sideline for a 57-yard score and a 37-21 lead. The Bay Area’s drama now shifts to next Saturday, when UCLA’s Chip Kelly brings a winless team to Berkeley. Stanford has a bye week.
After the Bruins’ strong performance on Saturday — a 31-24 loss to 10th-ranked Washington — it seems they may be turning the corner. Or not. Such is life in the Pac-12, where nothing is quite what it seems.
Bruce Jenkins is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: bjenkins@sfchronicle.com Twitter @Bruce_Jenkins1