Thanks to injury, it’s next man up under center in Berkeley.
During Saturday night’s loss to Arizona State that knocked it from the ranks of the unbeaten, Cal quarterback Chase Garbers went down in the second quarter with what appeared to be some type of injury to his right (throwing) shoulder. Monday night, head coach Justin Wilcox acknowledged that the redshirt sophomore quarterback will be sidelined indefinitely because of the injury.
Wilcox wouldn’t get into the specifics of the injury, saying only that Garbers is dealing with an upper-body issue.
Garbers, who started 10 games for the Golden Bears last season, set career-highs with 357 yards and four touchdowns in the Week 4 win over Ole Miss in Oxford. Prior to the injury this past Saturday, he had completed 9-of-12-passes for 117 yards and a touchdown in a little over a quarter worth of work versus ASU.
With Garbers out indefinitely, the keys to the offense will be handed over to UCLA transfer Devon Modster.
The California native was a four-star member of the Bruins’ 2016 recruiting class. As the primary backup to Josh Rosen in 2017, Modster went 51-of-79 passing for 671 yards and four touchdowns. In that season’s finale, Modster came off the bench to replace an injured Rosen and led UCLA on a last-minute drive that ended with a game-winning field goal against... Cal.
Prior to announcing his decision to transfer from the Bruins in September of last year, Modster hadn’t thrown a pass in 2018. This season, he’s completed six of his 15 attempts for 39 yards and an interception. He struggled mightily after taking over for Garbers this past weekend, going 5-for-14 for 23 yards and the pick.
Cal, incidentally, will face UCLA in the regular-season finale in late November. Modster may not get the opportunity to face his former team, though, as it’s expected that Garbers will be back before then.
