Cal Football: Chase Garbers Finding a Way These Days With His Arm and His Legs

Coaches have added more designed QB runs to add to concerns of opposing defenses.

Cal quarterback Chase Garbers has always been able to run.

“Have you ever seen him get caught?” Cal offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave asked. “I’ve not ever seen anybody catch him. He can move.”

What Garbers does so much better as a senior than he did earlier in his college career is understand the value of the next play. He no longer risks injury by trying to get an extra yard or two. He now heads to the sidelines or to the turf.

“As a young guy you kind of want to prove your toughness, try and take on contact.” Garbers told me during an interview over the summer. “But the older you get, the more games you play, you realize you can go a game and not get hit at all, which is what you need as a quarterback because any freak hit can knock you out.”

Chase Garbers dashes into the end zone at Washington / Photo by Stephen Brashears, USA Today

Garbers understands that all too well after missing four games and parts of two others in 2019 because of shoulder and head injuries. The Bears were 1-5 in those games, but 7-0 that season when Garbers played start-to-finish.

“As long as you run smart and play smart, you’ll be fine,” he said.

Musgrave, who was an accomplished quarterback but not much of a runner during his days at Oregon, now has confidence that Garbers has embraced the notion of survival.

As a result, the Bears have begun to more often use Garbers’ running ability as an additional weapon in their offense. Garbers has always had improvisational running skills, as he showed while scrambling 16 yards for the winning touchdown in the 2019 Big Game at Stanford.

Musgrave, talking in the video above, and the coaching staff are giving Garbers a few more designed running plays this season. During a 62-yard game-tying drive in the fourth quarter at Washington, Garbers had a 23-yard dash up the middle and a 7-yard touchdown on a play-fake keeper.

“When a guy can throw it and run it, the math doesn’t always work right (on defense),” Cal coach Justin Wilcox said. “We’re not going to turn into a triple-option team overnight, but one of Chase’s strengths is using his legs.”

Over the past two games, the 6-foot-2 senior from Newport Beach has passed for 607 yards and run for 139 more. Both are career bests over a two-game stretch. He also accounted for six touchdowns — four by air, two by land.

“I think Chase is playing the best football of his career,” Wilcox said, “and I think he can play even better.”

Garbers is on the cusp of a couple statistical milestones:

— With 37 yards, he will eclipse Joe Kapp’s 63-year-old Cal record for career rushing yards by a quarterback. Kapp ran for 931 yards. Garbers has 895.

— He needs 328 yards to move into Cal’s top-10 for career passing. With 5,142 yards, Garbers is looking next to move ahead of Aaron Rodgers, who totaled 5,469 in 2003 and ’04.

Garbers is concerned more with finding ways to win.

“I’m just doing whatever makes the offense successful, whether it’s a designed quarterback run or broken-play scrambling,” he said.

Here are Cal’s five most productive running quarterbacks:

CAL QUARTERBACK CAREER RUSHING TOTALS

931 yards: Joe Kapp (1956-58) 30 games, 274 rushes, 3.4 ypc, 5 TD

895 yards: Chase Garbers (2018-20) 29 games, 260 rushes, 3.4 ypc, 9 TD

336 yards: Aaron Rodgers (2003-04) 25 games, 160 rushes, 2.1 ypc, 8 TD

146 yards: Zach Maynard (2011-12) 23 games, 182 rushes, 0.8 ypc, 7 TD

110 yards: Troy Taylor (1986-89) 44 games, 328 rushes, 0.3 ypc, 2 TD

Cover photo of Chase Garbers by Stephen Brashears, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo