Washington State football

Any hope of a slugfest was gone — the Bears and the visiting Cougars were locked into a pillow fight as nervous Cal parents in the stadium looked on.

Less than 24 hours until kickoff against Washington State, Cal football revealed its starting quarterback for the game: redshirt junior Devon Modster.

The following is a Q&A between Josh Yuen, football beat writer for The Daily Californian, and Sam Grant, football beat writer for the Daily Evergreen. The interview has been edited for clarity and length.

The Bears have been backed up quite a bit on second and third downs over their past four games, which won’t get the job done when the margin for error is razor-thin against Pac-12 competition.

Though Cal would get its chances to score, Garbers could not generate rhythm though the air, throwing several ugly passes in the game’s last few series. The game ended on another sour could-have-been, held down by Cal’s defense — the Bears are now 5-4, 2-4.

As the fight to destigmatize mental illness persists, the communities in Upland and Pullman are at the center of that fight — always reminded of what could have been and what to do moving forward.

With each of the top four teams in the Pac-12, which all happen to be in the North Division, facing significant challenges this week, it will soon be clear if the much-scrutinized conference is up to snuff.

Let’s not kid ourselves — the Pac-12 wet the bed in 2017. For those who remember vividly, the “conference of champions” was the runt of the litter for three straight months last season, failing to produce a top-10 team by year’s end, let alone a legitimate contender for the annual College Football Playoff.

It’d take a fool to be particularly confident in football projections for any one year: “I know it’s been a rough few years for me, but this is the time I go six-for-six.” But there’s still something peculiar about the Pac-12 North this year.