Cal Football: Modster Was a Monster

I suppose you could talk about Cal's defensive effort in holding a Washington State team that was averaging 41.8 points to just 14 points (actually 20 points, but that last meaningless touchdown came with five second left) in the Bears' 33-20 victory on Saturday.

You could harp on the outstanding individual plays nickel back Josh Drayden made with his six solo tackles, including two for losses, all in the open field.

And you could probably cite the signficance of the return of wide receiver Kekoa Crawford (four receptions, 58 yards) after a four-game absence or the presence of veteran center Michael Saffell after missing the past two games.

You might even focus on Christopher Brown Jr. rushing for 95 yards and averaging 5.0 yards per carry after averaging just 2.7 yards per attempt over his previous five games.

All that would be true. But let's be honest here. The reason Cal beat Washington State 33-20, scoring nine more points in one game than the Bears had managed in the entire month of October, was one guy -- Devon Modster.

The Bears had been 0-3 in games in which he had played more than one half this season, and his first two starts -- against Oregon and Oregon State -- were mediocre at best. He came into Saturday's game having completed 46.05 percent of his passes with two touchdown passes and three interceptions. Cal had scored just 24 points in those two games combined, and his passer rating for the season was around 90.

Then, against Washington State he was 16-for-24 for 230 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. It gave him a passer rating of 188.4 for the game. For the folks out there who don't know what a good passer rating looks like, let me assure you, 188.4 is pretty darn good.

Consider this: Utah quarterback Tyler Huntley leads the Pac-12 in passer rating and is fifth in the country in that category, and his passer rating for 2019 is 182.5.

Modster also ran for 43 yards, including a 13-yard scoring run for Cal's final touchdown to clinch the upset win.

OK, Modster missed a couple of passes, including a badly overthown ball to Trevon Clark, who was wide open in the end zone. And Washington State is not an outstanding defensive team.

But still.

Modster called his performance "average," noting the missed opportunities. But you could tell by the energy in his voice in the video above that he was pleased with what took place as Cal ended its four-game losing streak.

"I love the fact that he thinks that way," Cal coach Justin Wilcox said of Modster's tough self-grading. "He's a competitive guy. He was pretty efficient with the ball. I think probably he's thinking of a few players where we had some home runs that we didn't we didn't quite connect on and one that was dropped. But I'm proud of how he handled it and competed.".

"I thought he did a good job. I'm proud of him for battling through it. He practiced with a chip on his shoulder last week and this week, and it showed up."

Modster had played well for UCLA two years ago, including going 14-for-18 for 191 yards in the Bruins' 30-27 win over Cal in 2017.

He finally flashed that form again on Saturday.

That's often the way it works for quarterbacks. They go along looking lost for a number of games, then suddenly discover how to play the position as if a switch had been pulled. It happened to Chase Garbers in the game against Mississippi, and it may have happened to Modster on Saturday.

How many more games Modster will start is uncertain. Garbers has started to practice on a limited basis, and Cal coaches still hope he can return before the season is over. But Modster showed on Saturday that Cal's offense is not hopeless if Garbers is absent.