Bears’ two-QB system suffers costly malfunction
Cal throws scare into No. 8 WSU before late turnover
So many wonderful things were on Cal’s doorstep late Saturday night at Washington State: an upset of the 8th-ranked team in the nation, back-to-back victories over Top 25 teams and bowl eligibility.
All quarterback Chase Garbers had to do was put the final touches on a nice fourth-quarter drive and then turn things over to the Bears’ increasingly stingy defense.
Except that Garbers wasn’t on the field.
Instead, on first down at the WSU 12-yard line in a game tied at 13 with 7:34 to play, Cal coach Justin Wilcox and offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin hit the button on their two-quarterback system and sent Brandon McIlwain onto the field in place of Garbers.
McIlwain, who accounted for 11 turnovers in a recent three-game stretch, immediately threw an interception in the end zone and all those wonderful things on Cal’s doorstep ultimately disappeared,
Washington State scored with 32 seconds to play, escaping with a 19-13 victory and putting a good share of the loss on Wilcox and Baldwin. If nothing else, the Bears braintrust should consider pulling in the reins — if not pulling the plug — on a two-quarterback arrangement that has produced some great moments but also too many mistakes.
McIlwain, the transfer from South Carolina, lost the starting job three games ago after a threeweek stretch in which he gave the ball away 11 times via interceptions and fumbles.
Garbers, by no means a finished product as a redshirt freshman, had nonetheless helped engineer wins the pass two weeks against Oregon State and Washington, then ranked No. 15. Garbers turned the ball over just once in those two games.
Against Washington State (8-1, 5-1 Pac-12), the
coaching staff returned to a more liberal use of the tagteam QB system. Both quarterbacks played on the drive midway through the fourth quarter that found the Bears in the red zone with a first down.
But it was Mcilwain, while rolling right, who overthrew Patrick Laird and appeared not to see WSU safety Sklyer Thomas, who picked the ball off while keeping one foot inbounds.
Wilcox explained that McIlwain is perhaps the team’s most explosive offensive player and gives the Bears a way of loosening defenses that want to crowd the line of scrimmage.
But he conceded, “We can’t throw it to the other team. If it’s not there, we’ve got to keep it or throw it out of bounds.”
Explained McIlwain: “I saw Pat open. I overthrew him a little bit. I’ve got to find a way to get that done. I’ve got to make a better decision on that play.”
The Cougars marched into field goal range only to have Blake Mazza miss wide right from 30 yards with 3:31 left. But they got the ball back with 2:25 to play, after Cal went three and out, and Brandon Minshew — the nation’s leading passer — took the Cougars 69 yards to paydirt on six plays. QB STATS >> Garbers wound up 15 of 26 for 127 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He has 10 TDs and five picks on the season. He also was the game’s leading rusher with 67 yards, including three runs for first downs.
McIlwain was 3 for 7 for 52 yards with the interception and netted minus-2 yards on the ground. Although he remains Cal’s No. 2 rusher on the season, McIlwain now has eight interceptions against just two TD passes.
BOWL STATUS >> Cal (5-4, 2-4) remains one victory shy of bowl eligibility. The Bears play next Saturday on the road once more against USC, a team they have not beaten since 2003.
“Obviously, we’re frustrated. We expected to win and it hurts that we didn’t,” linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk said. “We’re going to watch the film, we’re going to learn from it and flush it and move on to USC.”
After USC, Cal closes the season with home games against Stanford and Colorado. THE STREAK >> The Bears remain winless in their past 38 games (0-37-1) against AP Top10 teams on the road. Their last win in that circumstance was in 1969 against No. 10 Indiana.
The last time the Bears beat ranked teams in consecutive weeks was November 2009, when they knocked off Arizona and Stanford, both ranked No. 17 at the time.
In 2016, victories over No. 11 Texas and No. 18 Utah were sandwiched around a loss to Arizona State.
THE DEFENSE DELIVERS >> WSU entered the game averaging 40.8 points and wound up with a season-low total, less than half its usual output. Minshew, who had thrown 18 touchdowns the previous five games, got his only one with 32 seconds left.
“Last drive, we had chances,” Wilcox said of Cal’s failure to stop WSU’s gamewinning march. “You’ve got to find another play in there. One more play.”
PRIME TIME PLAYERS >> Cal’s game at USC on Saturday will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast by ESPN, the Pac-12 announced Sunday morning.