Cal Football: Can the Bears survive without Chase Garbers?

The Cal Football program lost its quarterback and its Week 6 matchup on Friday in heartbreaking fashion. Can the Bears survive long-term without Chase Garbers?

If there’s anything that Cal football fans know, it’s never to get too optimistic. Disappointment and letdown are always around the corner lurking in the shadows, just waiting to strike at the most opportune time.

After a 4-0 start to the 2019 season, the Cal Bears looked to be on their way to one of their best seasons in years. After all, this was a program that had struggled to remain relevant over the better part of the last decade.

But suddenly, Cal found themselves as the only undefeated team in the Pac-12 left standing and with a No. 15 ranking in the AP polls — their highest such ranking since 2009.

Even with a difficult upcoming schedule, there was still hope that the team could push through and remain atop the Pac-12 or at least in the mix for a Rose Bowl appearance.

But alas hope is a dangerous thing when it comes to Cal football.

The Bears fell in a meeting with Arizona State on Friday by a final score of 24-17. Despite being unranked, the Sun Devils were still a good team coming off an upset loss to Colorado the prior week and already holding a road victory over Michigan State earlier in the season.

The loss of the game stings, but it was far from the team’s biggest loss of the day.

With just under two minutes remaining in the first half, Cal quarterback Chase Garbers landed awkwardly on his right shoulder following a four-yard scramble near midfield. The fall looked ugly and his ensuing trip to the locker room didn’t garner much hope for the team.

Garbers would return, but not to the field. Instead, the 20-year-old would return only to watch from the sidelines with his right arm hanging in a sling.

The nature of his injury is unknown at the moment but from the looks of things, it could be very serious. And if that is the case, the Bears are certainly in trouble.

Garbers was just beginning to come into his own after a breakout performance the previous week in the team’s thrilling, yet controversial victory over Ole Miss. The offense was clicking and Cal seemed to have found a rhythm moving the ball down the field.

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But with Chase Garbers out, that rhythm and effectiveness that was really just getting started all but faded away.

In his place stepped in UCLA transfer Devon Modster. Modster was put into a tough situation and he reacted by struggling mightily. The junior signal-caller completed just 35.7% of his 14 passes for a whopping 23 yards.

And his first drive that resulted in an interception just prior to halftime didn’t exactly inspire confidence either.

With a difficult schedule ahead, things are looking bleak for Cal football — especially if Garbers is forced to miss a significant period of time. Next week the Bears will travel to Eugene to take on the No. 13 ranked Oregon Ducks in a game that already looked challenging.