BYU Rallies Late But Falls to Cal

Sep 12, 2018, 5:54 PM | Updated: Sep 18, 2018, 6:51 pm

BYU quarterback Tanner Mangum awaits a snap in the Cougars' 21-18 loss to Cal.

KSL Sports

PROVO, Utah — After an exciting win over an opponent from the Pac-12 the week before, the BYU Cougars fell to another Pac-12 team, Cal, in a 21-18 loss Saturday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Trailing 21-10 with a minute remaining in the game, BYU scored a touchdown from Tanner Mangum to Brayden El-Bakri and then converted the two-point try to make it 21-18. The onside kick attempt was easily grabbed by Cal who held on for the win.

Cal implemented a two-headed monster approach at quarterback that was relatively successful. Chase Garbers, the conventional through-the-air quarterback went for 176 yards and 2 TDs while Brandon McIlwain, the threat on the ground, ran for a team-high 62 yards with a rushing touchdown.

Mangum threw for 196 yards on 22-of-41 attempts with a touchdown. Squally Canada was held to just 49 yards on 16 carries.

“You’ve got to give credit to Cal. They made the plays to win,” head coach Kalani Sitake said. “We made way too many mistakes and didn’t have time to fix them by the end of the game. We have to be better. Effort is not enough to win games. We need to be more efficient as an offense and more disruptive as a defense.”

BYU will next face another Power-5 opponent when they travel to face Wisconsin next Saturday.