Cal Football: Bears Give Away 14th Straight Conference Road Game

Trying to snap a long losing streak on the road in conference games, Cal football came up short as they continually shot themselves in the foot.

The Cal football team entered their Saturday night contest against the Arizona Wildcats riding a long streak of futility on the road against conference opponents. They had lost 13 consecutive games when acting as the away team against a Pac-12 foe, dating back to Jared Goff’s last season at Cal. They hadn’t won since they beat Washington on September 26th, 2015.

They kept that streak alive with another porous offensive performance, handing away opportunity after opportunity against Arizona. Penalties and turnovers killed the Bears, even with their defense putting together a tremendous effort.

Cal’s offense had to consistently play from behind the sticks. They committed 12 penalties and six were false starts, including back-to-back false start flags early in the second quarter. They turned the ball over four times, all coming from quarterback Brandon McIlwain in the second half. He was intercepted three times, twice on overthrows down the field, and fumbled after an unblocked defender hit him for a sack.

Despite all of that, however, Cal still had a chance in the fourth quarter. The defense was able to make stop after stop, and the final one gave the Bears’ offense the ball with a three-point deficit and just over three minutes to play.

McIlwain, in his first start with the Bears, put the final nail in Cal’s coffin. On the first play of that drive, he made a terrible throw that was easily intercepted. Scottie Young Jr. ran untouched into the endzone, putting Arizona ahead by 10 and keeping Cal’s losing streak alive.

The Bears went with their third different starting quarterback in just five games, and early on, McIlwain looked great. He was the Bears’ offense in the first half, being responsible for 203 (123 passing, 80 rushing) of the team’s 217 total yards in the first 30 minutes. He scored both of their touchdowns, first on a 25-yard scoring run and later on a 23-yard carry.

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As the game wore on, though, McIlwain’s accuracy disappeared. Twice in the third quarter, the quarterback threw a ball way over his receiver’s head which turned into an interception. On the back-breaking third interception in the fourth quarter, he was nowhere near his target on the throw. McIlwain ran for 118 yards, his second straight game over the century mark, but it was his arm that cost the team.

The Bears were able to stay close because of their defense. After allowing an opening drive touchdown, during which Khalil Tate looked like the 2017 version of himself, they held Arizona’s offense to just three points. They forced a pair of turnovers, with Camryn Bynum coming up with his first interception of the year and Ashtyn Davis recovering a fumble forced by Luc Bequette. Jordan Kunaszyk recorded 11 tackles, and Malik Psalms picked up his first career sack. Overall, they allowed only 265 yards.

On paper, Cal dominated this game. They ruled time of possession nearly 35 minutes to Arizona’s 25 minutes. They picked up 25 first downs compared to the 13 they allowed. They outgained Arizona by over 200 yards. But they kept shooting themselves in the foot, and couldn’t overcome their own mistakes as they continued to pile up.

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Cal has now dropped two straight games within the conference after winning all three non-conference contests. Next up, they play hosts to the UCLA Bruins. UCLA hasn’t won a game, sitting 0-5 on the season, and Cal has an opportunity to break this two-game losing streak. They have to clean up their game, however. They can’t keep beating themselves, or they will come up short of a Bowl game for the third straight season.

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