CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – A highly competitive contest on the other side of the country marked the start of Justin Wilcox's tenure as head coach and the Cal football team turned the tables on a halftime deficit with 21 second-half points to kick off the 2017 season with a 35-30 victory over North Carolina at Kenan Stadium.

Ross Bowers made his first start as a Golden Bear and completed 24 of 38 passes for 363 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions to lead the Cal offense. Vic Wharton III emerged as Bowers' primary target and hauled in five passes for 156 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, Cal claimed three takeaways, including two interceptions, and held North Carolina to just 194 yards of total offense in the second half.

A series of key plays helped Cal (1-0) take the lead just a few minutes into the fourth quarter. Two conversions on fourth down, one coming on a play-action pass from Bowers to Malik McMorris for 18 yards, set the stage for a 20-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Duncan and the Bears took a 28-24 advantage with 12:58 to play.                           

After a defensive stop on fourth down gave the Bears the ball back on downs, Cal launched a massive 11-play, 70-yard drive that whittled over five minutes off the clock. A 43-yard pass from Bowers to Wharton pushed the ball inside the North Carolina 5-yard line and, after the clock ran inside two minutes, Vic Enwere finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to put Cal up 35-24 with 1:56 left. North Carolina added a touchdown as time expired but Cal left Chapel Hill with the win.

"Well, it's great to get a win. In the locker room, it's pretty special right now and I'm just really proud of our team and excited for those guys," Wilcox said. "Obviously, there's going to be a ton to learn from today on both sides of the ball, offense, defense, special teams and the coaches. But I think when you look at the big picture of the game, it was just the battling back that we had to constantly show in different ways, shapes and forms."

Cal took its first lead of the second half thanks to some creativity from its new quarterback. Forced out of the pocket by North Carolina defenders, Bowers spun left and threw on the run, finding Patrick Laird as an outlet in the flat. Laird took it from there, breaking up the sideline and between Tar Heel defenders as he dashed into the end zone for a 54-yard touchdown to make it 21-17 Cal.

A tip by Raymond Davison III allowed Derron Brown to grab Cal's second interception of the day but North Carolina (0-1) returned the favor with an Andre Smith interception and 73-yard return putting the ball inside the Cal 10-yard line. Two plays later, the Tar Heels re-took the lead on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Chazz Surratt to Thomas Jackson and Cal trailed 24-21 after three quarters.

A back and forth first half ended with momentum squarely in Cal's corner despite North Carolina holding a 17-14 lead. Trailing 17-7 after a short field produced a Tar Heel touchdown, a targeting penalty on North Carolina deep in Cal territory extended the Bears' drive and Bowers turned that opportunity into six points as, on the very next play, he found Wharton behind the defense after a perfectly run out-and-up pattern. The two connected in stride and Wharton broke away for a 67-yard touchdown to bring Cal within three with 1:08 left in the half.

North Carolina made its own bid to add points before the half but this time it was the defense's turn to make a big play for the Bears. With the Tar Heels already on the edge of field goal range, senior Devante Downs stepped in front of a Brandon Harris pass inside the 20-yard line, grabbing Cal's first interception of the year to send the Bears into the locker room on a decidedly positive note.

Cal's first touchdown of the season came in the first quarter and was another product of good timing in the passing game. A well-executed drive ended in the hands of Jordan Veasy as Bowers lofted a back shoulder fade over a North Carolina defensive back and Veasy did the rest, wrestling the ball away on the way to the ground for a 10-yard touchdown.

"There's going to be so much off the tape that was far from perfect, it's never going to be quite as good as you want it, but man it feels good in that locker room right now and I'm just really, really proud of our team, the players, our coaches, our university, our fans," Wilcox said. "It's just a great moment. Now it can't define us. We've got to go back and enjoy it tonight but get to work tomorrow and continue to grow as a team in all phases and I know they'll be excited once we hit practice again on Monday."

The Bears make their 2017 home debut on Sept. 9 when they take on Weber State at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast live by Pac-12 Networks. The game will be the first of three in a row at California Memorial Stadium as Ole Miss pays a visit on Sept. 16 and USC comes to Berkeley on Sept. 23.