Garbers out; Cal loses more than two dozen players to Covid

Quarterback Chase Garbers tops a long list players who have been ruled out due to COVID protocol and will not play today at Arizona.

Cal released an updated depth chart that also shows new starters at left tackle, left guard and center. Brayden Rohme will start at left tackle, where Will Craig was doubtful due to an injury suffered last week vs. Oregon State.

Evertt Johnson will start in place of Ben Coleman at left guard and Bastian Swinney is playing center for Matthew Cindric.

On defense, seventh-year senior defensive end Luc Bequette and inside linebacker Trey Paster also are both out. Placekicker Dario Longhetto also was kept at home.

Others on the shelf are linebacker Femi Oladejo, wide receiver Jeremiah Hunter and defensive back Collin Gamble.

Sophomore quarterback Zach Johnson, who would have been No. 2, is sidelined meaning that freshman Kai Millner is now the backup.

The Pac-12 Network and Cal’s pre-game radio show both reported that 24 players and 5 coaches and coaches will be unavailable.

Coach Justin Wilcox said players began to feel ill on Monday.

“There were a few cases of guys not feeling great — they had a few symptoms,” Wilcox said. “We lost a great deal of players and staff, but we’re able to field a team.”

Wilcox said a total of three dozen players, coaches and staff are impacted. He said most are asymptomatic.

The Pac-12 leader in total offense, Garbers has been at the top of his game in recent weeks.

Over the past three games,  the senior has seven touchdown passes and no interceptions.

Instead, graduate transfer Ryan Glover will see his first action today for the Bears. Glover played last spring at Western Carolina, going 1-5 in six starts. He completed 59 percent of his passes for 832 yards and three touchdowns.

Glover, originally from Atlanta, played from 2017 through 2019 at Penn in the Ivy League. He started all 10 games as a sophomore in 2018, passing for 1,482 yards with seven touchdowns and six interceptions. He also rushed for 300 yards and two scores.

He appeared in just five games in 2019, throwing 13 passes. The Ivy League suspended play in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting Glover to transfer to Western Carolina, which played a 2021 spring season.