Cal Football: UW Game-Day Breakdown by Golden Bears Coordinators
Cal fans have been waiting for the Bill Musgrave Offense to blossom. After the Bears scored 42 points last week in their win over Sacramento State, the second-year offensive coordinator made sure the credit goes where it belongs.
"It's the Golden Bear offense, and these guys are putting their own stamp on all these plays that somehow get in the huddle . . . and they go with it," Musgrave says in the video above. "So the players are making it all happen."
As Cal (1-2) prepares to face Washington (1-2) in the 100th all-time meeting between the programs on Saturday evening at Husky Stadium, they'll need another full team effort but also continued strong play from quarterback Chase Garbers.
"When he uses his legs, that's when the fun begins," Musgrave said. "He's making nice throws but when he takes off running we're all fired up about that."
Garbers had 68 rushing yards last week against the Hornets -- the most he's had in a game since 72 in the Bears' 2019 Big Game victory at Stanford.
In the video below, Musgrave talks further about Garbers' improved ability to throw the ball from different situations.
Of course, it's the Cal pass game is flourishing because he's got a deeper and more productive group of receivers. Besides senior Nikko Remigio, a possession receiver, Garbers is having success throwing downfield to sophomore Jeremiah Hunter and seniors Trevon Clark and Kekoa Crawford, whom the Bears expect back this week after sitting the Sac State game with an undisclosed injury.
Hunter, Clark and Crawford have combined to average 21.4 yards per catch this season. And that doesn't even take into account tight end Jake Tonges, producing 19.8 on each of his six catches.
Musgrave has praise for the Bears wideout crew in the video below:
Meanwhile, the Cal defense will be looking for a better effort against the Huskies than a week ago, when Sac State passed for more than 400 yards and drew four pass interference penalties.
Defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon talks in the video below about what the Bears did in practice this week to help remedy the problems in the secondary:
The Bears made a lineup change in the secondary last week, giving true freshman Lu-Magia Hearns III from De La Salle High School his first career start at cornerback.
"I thought he played competitive," Sirmon says in the video below. "For the most part, he was tight on his coverages when the coverage asked him to be."
On 11 passes targeting the player he was defending, Hearns allowed two completions and had one pass interference penalty. "That's a solid start for a player really getting his first experience doing that," Sirmon says.
Cover photo of Chase Garbers scoring a touchdown against Sacramento State by Darren Yamashita, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
