Oregon football, coming off a bye week, debuted a couple of new names this season on its depth chart in advance of its game against Cal.
Head coach Mario Cristobal spoke to the media on Monday, giving insight to some players that could be making their 2019 debuts on Saturday. Oregon will play its first Pac-12 home game against Cal, but the Golden Bears will be without starting quarterback Chase Garbers. Despite not having Garbers, Oregon will still have to worry about a solid defense coming into Autzen Stadium.
“[We] took advantage of the bye week, obviously, to work on a lot of fundamentals and technique and some stuff schematically we felt we could enhance and get better at,” Cristobal said.
Freshman Mycah Pittman, who suffered a shoulder injury during Oregon’s second scrimmage on Aug. 17, could be making his Oregon debut on Saturday against Cal.
Pittman has been limited in practice for the last two weeks while mending a right shoulder injury. Pittman, who was highly regarded by his teammates during camp, is now a “full-go.”
“Mycah is set to go full-go practice,” Cristobal said. “He practiced with us last week, practiced with us yesterday and looked really good. Feel really optimistic about him playing this weekend.”
Senior Brenden Schooler, who suffered a foot injury that required surgery, could be making his 2019 season debut against Cal.
Schooler, as a junior, had 21 catches for 203 yards and a touchdown. He also had seven tackles on special teams and was named First Team All-Pac-12 as a specialist last year.
“Brenden is right there as well,” Cristobal said. “I think both guys, as long as they continue to progress throughout the course of the week, we feel that they have a really good chance of playing.”
Graduate transfer Juwan Johnson has been a steady day-to-day since the beginning of the season. As of Monday, he has fallen to third at his position on the depth chart, which is the lowest he’s been all season. Johnson is dealing with a soft tissue injury in his right calf.
“Because Juwan’s [injury] has lingered for a while, I’m a little bit more cautious to say that he will be ready,” Cristobal said. “That being said, there’s been significant [progress] in his healing process as well.”
Cyrus Habibi-Likio, who suffered back spasms against Montana and did not play against Stanford, is now a “full-go.” Lance Wilhoite and JR Waters are not expected to play this weekend but are close to coming back. Austin Faoliu, who had minor injuries, was expected to play against Cal following limited snaps against Stanford.
Cal will also be without a key player on its offense.
Garbers, who suffered a right shoulder injury during the Golden Bears’ loss to Arizona State on Friday, will not play against the Ducks. Garbers is expected to be out indefinitely. He threw for 952 yards, along with eight touchdowns and two interceptions on the season.
Devon Modster, a transfer from UCLA, will be the starting quarterback on Saturday. Modster threw for a measly 23 yards and one touchdown following Garbers leaving the game. Cristobal and the Ducks have previous film of Modster to prepare for what he brings to the table.
“I know Garbers is a talented guy, but I have a pretty good memory, and I remember Modster at UCLA,” Cristobal said. “We’re looking at a team that has talent outside, that has big backs that get downhill in a hurry. Talented offensive line that gets after you. We have enough film on both of them to feel comfortable in preparing for them.”
Follow Gabriel on Twitter @gabe_ornelas
