Cal Football Review and Preview: Quarterbacks

In the wake of Cal's 7-6 season in 2018, we're taking a look at every position group, looking at how they're stocked for the future, how they performed for the season, and the expectation level for each group. Today, we finish with the quarterbacks

The quarterback spot, thought to be somewhat stable heading into the 2018 season, changed abruptly in the first contest against North Carolina, as Chase Garbers came out in the first quarter, leading the Bears to their first touchdown in the place of Ross Bowers. Brandon McIlwain played as well, and that was the last time Bowers saw the field in 2018. Later in the year, it became apparent that Bowers suffered an injury to his throwing hand, but this wasn't entirely clear at the moment. Playing multiple QBs in the opener was the plan to begin with, starting Garbers in week two at BYU was not.

Garbers started two weeks in a row, both wins, but the staff wanted to see what they had in Brandon McIlwain, who played most of the second half against Oregon and started against Arizona and UCLA. It turned out to be turnovers, as while McIlwain had four rushing touchdowns over the three weeks, he only had one passing touchdown and had five turnovers returned for touchdowns. Cal went 0-3 over those three weeks, and turned back to Garbers, who played his best game against Oregon State, then doing just enough to get the Bears a win against Washington.

McIlwain saw a handful of disastrous snaps against Washington State, including an endzone interception, and Garbers took the majority of the reps for the remainder of the season, only being pulled in the Cheez-It Bowl for Chase Forrest after three first half interceptions. However, Garbers did lead the Bears to a win over USC, throwing a touchdown, running for one, and throwing the 'Fight Off' at the throng of USC fans in front of him.

Garbers struggled with pocket presence as the season went on. He scrambled 38 times, the most of any starter in the Pac-12. He was still in his first full year of starting, which does make a big difference, and no part of the offense looked good throughout the year. Garbers was graded by PFF as the best runner out of all the starters, but the production that he got in three of his first four starts against BYU, ISU, and OSU wasn't there. Garbers was a freshman, and will have the opportunity to acquit himself moving forward.

Who's Leaving: Ross Bowers, Chase Forrest

Bowers announced his intent to graduate transfer in December, though it became obvious when he stopped traveling for games and he was no longer practicing. He's still at Cal finishing his degree, and he'll have two years of eligibility wherever he goes.

Forrest left Cal without starting a game, but he was highly respected by the staff and other QBs for his preparation and dedication to his craft. He couldn't give the Bears the needed spark in the Cheez-It Bowl when he came in to spell Garbers, but he should garner respect for finishing his degree alongside teammates he'd been playing with since middle school, as he was one of five Mater Dei players to graduate this year.

Who's Staying: Chase Garbers, Robby Rowell (PWO)

With McIlwain moving to the RB/WR/Baseball spot, Garbers is the only scholarship QB back on the roster from the year prior. Rowell, a preferred walk-on from Acalanes, returns as well, from running the scout team in 2018.

Who's Coming In: Devon Modster, Spencer Brasch, Jack Newman (PWO)

Modster and Newman are coming in to compete with Garbers this spring, with Modster coming in with a bit more ballyhoo than Newman, as Modster kept the Bears from a bowl game in 2016. The former four-star is on campus, as is Newman, as Spring ball starts in a month.

Brasch comes in off a strong senior year at Higley, a 45-8 TD to INT ratio and over 3500 yards passing being the toppers to a long list of accomplishments. Brasch won't get to campus until the summer, with a likely redshirt being in his future, but with Beau Baldwin running the QB room this year, the competition at QB could easily include Brasch over the summer.

Projected Starter (???)

This is the question that needs to be solved if Cal is going to make the leap to the upper echelon of the Pac-12. Obviously there's more factors in play than just the quarterback spot as the offense has struggled as a whole, but getting a consistent QB who can run the offense and make the right reads more often is what needs to happen. Garbers is the most experienced of the group right now, but can he translate that experience into improvement?

Spring Storylines: Baldwin Factor

Cal did some staff shuffling, which led to Beau Baldwin running the QB room, something he did for most of his coaching career before getting to Cal. Now that he's in more of his natural habitat, what he does differently than Marques Tuiasosopo will be interesting to see.