Cal QB Devon Modster gets the start against Washington State

The California Golden Bears will not get Chase Garbers back this weekend—although he has started throwing in practice—but they will return Devon Modster to the starting role this Saturday against Washington State. Cal made the announcement late this afternoon. Modster suffered an undisclosed injury that kept him out of Cal’s last game against Utah, but he was cleared to practice his week and is back to throwing in action.

Cal will likely try their best to ride Modster out the rest of the season and avoid burning the redshirt of Spencer Brasch. At 4-4, Cal is looking to edge back toward bowl eligbility, and a win Saturday is very critical to that gameplan. Modster has struggled in his two starts, completing under 50% of his passes and not surpassing 200 passing yards in either loss against the Oregon schools, but if he can piece it together and get some other big starters back (like center Michael Saffell and a few wide receivers like Kekoa Crawford, who remain on the week-to-week injury list), then the Bears might have a chance at a turnaround.