Junior cornerback Chigozie Anusiem (above), who was a starter early this year, announced via Twitter on Wednesday that he intended to enter the transfer portal.
Anusiem started the first two games this year against Nevada and TCU. Freshman Lu-Magia Hearns III became the starter in Game 3 against Sac State. Anusiem played in that one and the xt two. He returned to the starting lineup against Oregon when Hearns was unavailable. His playing time was limited the next week and he did not get off the bench in Cal’s most recent three games. In his seven appearances, Anusiem had 13 tackles and two pass break-ups,
He discussed his decision with both head coach Justin Wilcox and defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon.
“The transfer portal is part of everybody’s program and affects each and every team throughout the country,” Wilcox said. “I had a good talk with Chigi this morning. We want what’s best for him. He felt like this was best for him and we support him.
“We will help Chigi in any way we can, moving forward. We appreciate what Chigi did here.”
Sirmon’s feelings were much the same.
“We fully support his decision to utilize the transfer portal. I think that is what the transfer portal has come to be, an avenue for players to find other places to play,” Sirmon said. “We wish him nothing but the best. Really proud of how he has handled himself here and the type of young man he is. He has the Cal diploma and I wish him nothing but the best.
“Chigi has been in great standing with the program. He’s been a hard worker for us. He has been with us for four years now. He had a place moving forward. That was not part of any discussion we have had with Chigi. He came to us, to coach Wilcox and communicated his intention to enter the transfer portal.”
Cal fans were still talking about the Bears’ use of so-called “trick plays”, against Stanford. Offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave said that those plays were in the repertoire all along, just waiting for the right spot. And he reminded that as exotic as those plays were, the Bears' long gainers came on more familiar plays.
“Conventional plays were the big ones,” he said. “We hit a couple of conventional runs, a G-scheme a power-scheme and then we hit a slant. I liked those really the best, those were big chunks for us. The guys made them come to life.”
Musgrave said he might have borrowed some of his ideas from other coaches. “We are always drawing inspiration from other offenses both this year years past. Keeping up with the Joneses and the current trends, that’s for sure,” he said. “We work on a number of our exotics and trick plays throughout the season. It just so happens some defenses are more susceptible to them than others. So it worked out OK. Wish that it had worked out a little bit better.”
Garbers said he enjoyed being close to such “razzle-dazzle” plays.
“They’re fun,” he said. “It’s fun to look at the wristband and see that’s what we’re calling. It’s even more exciting when they actually work out. We ran a couple of trick plays, a lot of them ended up in our favor except maybe the halfback pass.
“It’s always fun to spice it up on the field a little bit. It gets the players excited and obviously, the defense doesn't know it’s coming so it’s pretty hard to defend.”
Garbers’ brother Ethan is a backup quarterback at UCLA. Chase said that he and Ethan tend to keep their distance – figuratively and literally – during the season.
“We don’t talk during the year,” he said. “We talked briefly after his first start but we are both kind of busy with our respective teams.”
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