Cal QB Garbers isn’t thinking about the last time he played TCU

Quarterback Chase Garbers and his Cal teammates prepared for Saturday’s game at TCU with an eye toward fixing what went wrong last weekend, not three years ago.

With a victory in Fort Worth, they can square things on both counts.

The Golden Bears delivered a disappointing offensive showing in a 22-17 opening loss to Nevada. Cal scored touchdowns on its first two possessions, then managed just a field goal the rest of the way.

“I’ve got to do better personally and as a team, we’ve got to execute better,” Garbers said.

Rarely have the Bears been as helpless on offense as they were in the 2018 Cheez-it Bowl in Phoenix, where they lost 10-7 in overtime to TCU.

Cal offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, who was not with the Bears at that point but has watched the game on tape, likened it to last week’s top-5 matchup between Georgia and Clemson that produced a 10-3 victory by the Bulldogs.

Not everyone embraced that comparison. SB Nation called it “one of the most beautifully hideous bowls ever,” and the nine combined interceptions thrown in the game supports that conclusion.

“It was a great trip,” Garbers said this week, “but the game itself wasn’t too pretty.”

The 2018 starter as a redshirt freshman, Garbers scored the Bears’ only touchdown on a 4-yard run in the first quarter. Cal led 7-0 at halftime, but Garbers had three interceptions and coach Justin Wilcox replaced him with senior Chase Forrest, who hadn’t played in a game all season. He was not the answer, either, throwing two more picks.

“No. I don’t take it personally,” Garbers said, recalling his benching. “In the end, coach Wilcox made a coaching decision. That’s something you’ve got to live with as a redshirt freshman.

“It’s in the past . . . I don’t really think about it too much. I’ve played a lot of football from then to now and done a lot of good things for this program.”

While not bitter, Garbers acknowledges the experience fueled his desire to improve.

“To end the season getting bench at half definitely stings a little as a competitor,” he said. “So that offseason, just trying to focus on being a better player as a whole.”

Garbers was the starter in seven victories in 2019 as the Bears compiled an 8-5 record, capped by a victory over Illinois in the Redbox Bowl.

The TCU rematch will be a challenge. The Horned Frogs (1-0) opened their season with a 43-3 rout of FCS foe Duquesne in a game that was such a mismatch the coaches agreed at halftime to play 12-minute quarters the rest of the way.

Coach Gary Patterson, in his 21st season, utilizes a 4-2-5 defensive alignment that produces consistent results. TCU’S defense gave up the nation’s fewest yards per game each year from 200810 and topped the Big 12 from 2017-19.

Garbers said the Bears’ focus all week has been cleaning up issues that prevented them from carrying their first-quarter success against Nevada through the entire game, primarily thirddown conversions. Cal was 4-for-4 on third downs on its first two drives, then just 2-for-10 the rest of the night.

“We did it the first two drives. We’ve got to be able to overcome those,” he said.

Musgrave isn’t worried about where his quarterback’s head will be on Saturday afternoon.

“I think he’s looking forward to the next opponent. It just happens to be the Horned Frogs,” he said. “We’re all looking forward to the next game after not getting the outcome we wanted against Nevada.”