Quarterback C.J. Beathard frequently mentions his faith.
And he did so Saturday after a performance that felt like it involved divine intervention.
Beathard, making his first start in two years in a game that was played one year and five days after the death of his younger brother, Clay, 22, helped lead the 49ers to a 20-12 upset win over the Cardinals in Glendale, Ariz.
Beathard threw three touchdown passes and had a 125.4 passer rating, both of which were career highs. He entered Saturday with a 1-9 career record.
“It means more than I can really put into words,” Beathard said. “Just everything that I’ve been through in the last year and it being the one-year anniversary of my brother’s passing. … You can’t write a script. … I couldn’t handpick this to go the way it did.”
Beathard did a bit of everything in a gritty effort. He served as a lead blocker on a 16-yard run by wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. And he declined to slide at the end of a 17-yard run in which he took a massive hit from safety Budda Baker.
“Just his leadership out there, the way the guys gravitated to him,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said. “You could feel it during the week at practice. He came in Wednesday when he first got his reps just so ready to go. I think you could tell how hard they played for him, too. I was impressed with C.J. and very happy for him today.”
Career day: Running back Jeff Wilson had 183 yards on 22 carries, which were career highs for the 2018 undrafted who had topped 50 yards just four times in his first 26 career games.
Wilson, who also had a 21-yard receiving touchdown, had the most rushing yards by a 49er since Carlos Hyde had 193 on Dec. 11, 2016. It was the fifth most by a 49er since 2000.
“I haven’t seen it because I haven’t watched the tape yet, obviously,” Wilson said. “But I could just feel it. I know those guys blocked their tails off today for me. I could feel it. Now I’m just ready to watch it.”
Wilson’s touchdown catch came on a play that should have looked familiar to the Cardinals.
Wilson looped out of the backfield and ran an angle route across the middle on which he juked a linebacker and was untouched en route to the end zone. It was the same route running back Raheem Mostert ran on his 76-yard touchdown catch against Arizona in the season opener.
Said Mostert, who is injured reserve, a few minutes after Wilson’s score, via Twitter: “I remember that play in Week 1.”
QB Kyle: A week after Cowboys tight end Blake Bell, a former QB at Oklahoma, lined up behind center for a play against the 49ers, fullback Kyle Juszczyk did the same.
Juszczyk, who regaled reporters last week about playing QB as a high school freshman on the JV team, took the snap on 3rd-and-1 from Arizona’s 26-yard line in the first quarter and gained 3 yards on a sneak.
“That was a fun play to run,” Juszczyk said. “We saw the Cowboys do it last week with Blake Bell and I was stoked when I came in for install and we had it up for myself. I knew that was something I could handle. Like I told you guys, I played some quarterback back in the day in middle school and high school.”
Juszczyk sounded more excited about his sneak than his other two touches in the game: touchdown catches of 9 and 1 yards.
Eric Branch covers the 49ers for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: ebranch@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Eric_Branch
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C.J. Beathard steps up for 49ers in start - San Francisco Chronicle
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