Chase Garbers is a rare bright spot for Berkeley’s Cal Bears
BERKELEY, Calif. — The city of Berkeley hasn’t had much to cheer for surrounding the 2021 California Golden Bears football season. The team has a 3-5 record and has struggled to try to become bowl eligible. But the team has one bright spot to note in senior quarterback Chase Garbers.
Garbers has been a dual threat for the Bears, as he has been effective as both a passing and running quarterback. Garbers recently broke the school’s record for most rushing yards by a quarterback. Garbers has more than a 1,000 rushing yards in his career with the school, breaking a record sent by Joe Kapp in 1958.
Garbers has 365 rushing yards and three touchdowns in eight games for the Bears this season. He is second behind Damien Moore for the most rushing yards for the team.
From a passing standpoint, Garbers has nearly 2,000 passing yards. He has 14 touchdowns and five interceptions in his eight games. His leading receiver is Trevon Clark, who has 469 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Garbers’ performance has been consistent throughout the year. During the Bears’ 26-3 victory over Colorado, Garbers had a 22-29 line with 225 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 96 rushing yards on 10 attempts. Garbers then went 17-26 with 262 yards and three touchdowns in a victory over Oregon State, plus he had 58 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground.
He was also one of the better spots for the team during some of the team’s losses. During the team’s 31-24 loss to Washington, Garbers went 30-41 with two touchdowns and 319 passing yards. He still had two interceptions during the game.
While the performance of Garbers has been very promising and strong, there are also concerns with how the Bears have been struggling to compete in the Pac-12 this year. The team has given up about 24 points on average this year, including 30 points to Sacramento State and 34 to TCU. The team is also struggling to finish off close games, with three losses coming within one possession.
The California Golden Bears have four games remaining, including one against 0-8 Arizona and games with underperforming USC and Stanford teams. The club will play against UCLA to end the season. The Bruins are 5-4 and are the only remaining team on the Bears’ schedule with a winning record.
Expect Chase Garbers to turn up the heat and be more competitive as the season progresses. Much of the Bears’ chances of reaching a bowl game will depend on how well Garbers can play and whether the team can start to win some of their closer games.
This is an unedited user writing submission. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Best Version Media or its employees.
