It'd be a mistake to overlook or underestimate the Bears, even with number one quarterback Chase Garbers out indefinitely with an injured throwing shoulder.

Backup Devon Modster had a disastrous game coming in cold off the bench last weekend against Arizona State.

He took over in the middle of a promising drive in a 7-7 game just before halftime. The Bears were deep in Sun Devil territory, but Modster threw a pick into the right corner of the end zone to kill the momentum.

After the break Cal went deadly conservative, employing the Willie Taggart/Braxton Burmeister offense. They opened the second half handing the ball off twelve straight times on a 54-yard scoring drive, briefly taking a 14-7 lead.

The strategy didn't hold up. ASU clamped down on the run and pressured Modster, who tended to pull the ball down early rather than going through his reads. For the game he managed just 5-14 passing for 23 yards and the INT.

Garbers had started the game 9-12 for 117 yards and a TD, and two of the incompletions were drops.

On Monday after practice, Cal coach Justin Wilcox told reporters, "Chase, in his last game and at Ole Miss, was playing his best football since he's been here."

"There's a reason he's the starting quarterback, but this is part of college football and football in general."

With a week to prepare with first-team reps, expect Modster to be much better in his second outing. He's a junior, a transfer from UCLA who left when Chip Kelly chose true freshman Dorian Thompson-Robinson as the starter in the fall of 2018, stubbornly sticking with the younger QB even when he struggled abysmally in early games against Cincinnati and Fresno State.

The year before as a freshman under Jim Mora, Modster started two games at the end of the season. On the road at Utah (always a tough place to play) he was 8-12 passing for 103 yards and a touchdown. Against Cal in Pasadena he connected on 14-18 passes for 191 yards in a win over the Bears. He started a second time in the Cactus Bowl against Kansas State, throwing for 295 yards, 21-of-34 and two touchdowns in a 35-17 loss.

Modster is 6-2, 210, a 4-star dual threat quarterback coming out of high school in 2017. He has some weapons around him and a quick, stingy defense. Trust Wilcox to have a plan that better uses his strengths and masks his weaknesses with a full week to get him ready.

Junior receiver Trevon Clark has a long wingspan at 6-4, 180 and good speed. He's the field stretcher. ASU came into last week's game banged up at the corners; Clark got by them for a 45-yard completion and a 16-yard TD toss from Garbers.

The Bears have a pair of good running backs. Christopher Brown provides the power at 6-1, 230. Already he's rushed for 389 yards and three touchdowns in the young season while averaging 4.3 yards a carry. They switch it up with Marcel Dancy, a former walk-on from nearby Oakland who is very quick in the open field at 5-10, 195, a good pass receiver out of the backfield. He took a swing pass for 28 yards against ASU. In the upset win over Washington he scorched the Huskies for 72 yards on 7 carries.

But it's the defense that makes Cal a dangerous opponent. They stuffed and frustrated UW in Seattle to win 20-19. Two weeks later they went on the road to Ole Miss and beat an SEC team 28-20, sealing it with a goal line stand as time ran out.

Senior inside linebacker Evan Weaver is both the brains and soul of what is a very tenacious and relentless unit. He leads the nation in tackles with 78, racking up 22 against Ole Miss and 15 against the Sun Devils. He's 6-3, 235, and somehow wearing number 89 makes him look even bigger.

After practice Monday reporters asked Wilcox what makes Weaver such a good player. "Instincts, and passion for the game," the third-year head coach said. "He's a physically gifted guy, he's very strong. He really loves playing."

"He does have that motor and that drive. He's a physical guy. He loves contact."

Wilcox played defensive back at Oregon in the '90s alongside brother Josh Wilcox, a tight end. He was part of the famed Gang Green Defense, a smart and heady player who always seemed destined to wind up in coaching. His father Dave is an NFL Hall of Famer and an Oregon legend. The Herberts and the Wilcoxes are close family friends and Justin Wilcox has been a mentor and influence on the gifted passer from Sheldon.

Despite this, Wilcox brushed aside questions from reporters that suggested his first visit to Autzen as an opposing head coach had any special significance. "I grew up in Junction City and went to school at Oregon," he said, "I was really fortunate to have the opportunity to do that. It was a great experience in my life, but this is not about me, this is about the Cal Bears and we're going to play Oregon. I've done this before and it's been a long time."