Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
4/17Inside-5 share
4 of the team's 17 inside-the-5 carries (23.5%).
Brandon McIlwain
Last confirmed: California, 2018. No 2026 box-score games on record.
6′1″ · 190 lb · Newtown, PA
Brandon McIlwain: QB · California · #5.
Players he’s like
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Brandon McIlwain
Extends plays with his feet until something opens up. He has played for two head coaches at two programs in two seasons: Will Muschamp and Justin Wilcox. A game that shows it: 315 passing yards and 107 rushing yards against Arizona — Week 6, 2018.
How he plays
How he plays
Play style
Makes plays with feet when the pocket collapses. Efficiency still on the rise.
News and fans
No outlet on our list has written about him by name this season.
California in the news
- Two key Bears players out for Saturday
Sports Illustrated Oct 9 - Cal made OC switch at halftime
The Washington Post Oct 7
Where to follow him
Career stats
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | California | 77 | 120 | 64.2% | 741 | 6.2 | 2 | 8 | 108.2 | 44 |
| 2016 | South Carolina | 62 | 118 | 52.5% | 600 | 5.1 | 2 | 1 | 99.2 | 23 |
| Career | 139 | 238 | 58.4% | 1,341 | 5.6 | 4 | 9 | 103.7 | 33 |
| Season | Team | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | California | 76 | 408 | 5.4 | 4 |
| 2016 | South Carolina | 63 | 127 | 2.0 | 2 |
| Career | 139 | 535 | 3.8 | 6 |
Game log
Game log · Week-by-week
2018 season · 10 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | CMP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | YPA | QBR | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 24-17vs North Carolina | 1/2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 4.5 | — | |
| Wk 2 | W 21-18@ BYU | 5/7 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 5.4 | — | |
| Wk 3 | W 45-23vs Idaho State | 4/7 | 45 | 1 | 0 | 6.4 | — | |
| Wk 5 | L 24-42vs No. 19 Oregon | 11/21 | 128 | 1 | 2 | 6.1 | — | |
| Wk 6 | L 17-24@ Arizona | 32/43 | 315 | 0 | 3 | 7.3 | — | Season-high 315 yds · 3 INTs — rough day |
| Wk 7 | L 7-37vs UCLA | 20/32 | 156 | 0 | 2 | 4.9 | — | |
| Wk 8 | W 49-7@ Oregon State | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Wk 9 | W 12-10vs No. 15 Washington | 1/1 | -2 | 0 | 0 | -2.0 | — | |
| Wk 10 | L 13-19@ No. 10 Washington State | 3/7 | 52 | 0 | 1 | 7.4 | — | |
| Wk 13 | W 33-21vs Colorado | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Total | 77/120 | 741 | 2 | 8 | 6.2 | — |
Signature game
Week 5 · 2018
L 24-42
vs Oregon
128 yds · 1 TD · 2 INT · 123 rush yds (15 car) · 1 TD
With S. Coutts — 59 yards per punt · 2 punts · 2 inside the 20 · V. Wharton III — 6 rec · 68 yds
Signature plays
The plays that mattered most
- Week 5 · Oregon · 2nd and 3 · Q4 · EPA −8.01Brandon McIlwain pass intercepted for a TD Ugochukwu Amadi return for 32 yds for a TD (Adam Stack KICK)
- Week 6 · Arizona · 1st and 10 · Q4 · EPA −7.34Brandon McIlwain pass intercepted for a TD Scottie Young Jr. return for 24 yds for a TD (Josh Pollack KICK)
- Week 10 · Washington State · 1st and 10 · Q4 · EPA −4.47Brandon McIlwain pass intercepted, touchback. Skyler Thomas return for no gain
- Week 5 · Oregon · 2nd and 7 · Q4 · EPA −4.25Brandon McIlwain pass intercepted Jevon Holland return for 6 yds to the Oregn 11
- Week 5 · Oregon · 4th and 1 · Q4 · EPA −4.21Brandon McIlwain run for a loss of 2 yards to the Oregn 3
- Week 6 · Arizona · 4th and 1 · Q4 · EPA −4.18Brandon McIlwain run for no gain to the Ariz 3
4 more plays
- Week 3 · Idaho State · 2nd and 10 · Q2 · EPA −3.95Brandon McIlwain pass complete to Vic Wharton III for 17 yds Vic Wharton III fumbled, forced by Caleb Brown, recovered by IdaSt Christian McFarland
- Week 6 · Arizona · 3rd and 7 · Q4 · EPA +3.84Brandon McIlwain pass complete to Maurice Ways for 41 yds to the Ariz 20 for a
- Week 5 · Oregon · 3rd and 7 · Q2 · EPA +3.68Brandon McIlwain run for 28 yds for a TD (Greg Thomas KICK)
- Week 5 · Oregon · 3rd and 6 · Q2 · EPA +3.32Brandon McIlwain pass complete to Kanawai Noa for 24 yds to the Oregn 44 for a
Passing profile
Pass Profile · Completions by yards gained (PBP)
Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from
120 of 120 attempts matched to play-by-play
Adjusted ANY/A
3.06198 of 207 QBsSack rate
4.0%41 of 207 QBsRarely sacked (41 of 207), but Adjusted ANY/A hasn't followed (198 of 207).
Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.
Short
0–9 yds60%of completions
46 comp4.6 yds avg2 TD
Middle
10–19 yds31%of completions
24 comp13.1 yds avg
Deep
20+ yds9%of completions
7 comp30.7 yds avg
Overall 64.2% completion on 120 attempts · 60% of completions gained 0–9 yds.
Teams and coaches
2016South Carolina6-7HC: Will Muschamp · Run-leaning
2018California7-6HC: Justin Wilcox · Run-leaning
Our ratings
Splits
Home and road splits, scheme and staff
Splits · Per-game
2018 season · 10 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 56.0 | 0.3 | 4.0 | 0.7 |
| Road4g | 101 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 1.0 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 115 | 0.3 | 5.8 | 1.2 |
| Weeks 8+4g | 12.5 | 0.0 | 2.7 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Justin Wilcox
Pass share
46.4%
412 pass / 475 run
Plays / game
68.2
13 games
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Awards
Player standing · 2018
Starter
120 pass attempts, 76 carries and 1 catch in 10 games, fewer passes and runs a game than most FBS quarterbacks who play every week.
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Four seasons, two schools
- 2018 California WilcoxYear 4 · 10 games
- 2017 California WilcoxYear 3 · on the roster, no stat line
- 2016 South Carolina MuschampYear 2 · 8 games
- 2015 South Carolina SpurrierYear 1 · on the roster, no stat line
How it ended
Two seasons, at South Carolina and California, 1,341 passing yards — his college career is complete.
Coaching lineage · 2015–2018
4 coaches2015
Steve Spurrier, then Shawn Elliott
South Carolina
Played for 4 head coaches at 2 schools: Steve Spurrier, Shawn Elliott, Will Muschamp and Justin Wilcox.