BERKELEY, Calif. — Sometimes it’s important to be lucky, and Oregon was very lucky Saturday night in Memorial Stadium.
The top-ranked Ducks beat a .500 California team, 15-13. But this easily could have been a loss.
The Bears’ defense was the best statistically in the Pacific-10 Conference heading into the game, and turned out to be as good as advertised.
Cal is the first team Oregon has played this year that was able to load the box against the Ducks’ running game and still hold up in the secondary. The Bears did a nice job of snuffing Oregon’s option game, while their defensive backs played lock-down man coverage.
On defense, the Ducks were lucky to be playing an offense using its No. 2 quarterback — it’s the third time in four games for Oregon — because Cal’s Brock Mansion could manage just 69 yards passing. As a result, the Bears were one-dimensional on offense, which allowed Oregon to stay in the game despite misfiring offensively.
It was a Cal turnover that led to what turned out to be Oregon’s game-winning touchdown, a 29-yard strike from Darron Thomas to Jeff Maehl on a crossing route that Maehl took into the end zone to give the Ducks a 15-7 lead.
Who knows what would have happened had Cal kicker Giorgio Tavecchio not stutter-stepped and been flagged for a motion penalty while making a 24-yard field goal on the first of the play of the fourth quarter.
Tavecchio’s kick would have put Cal up 16-15. Instead, he had to kick again from five yards further away, and pushed it wide of the goal posts.
But give the Ducks credit. They made the plays they had to make:
– Cliff Harris’ 64-yard punt return for the first Oregon touchdown. Is there a more dangerous kick returner in college football? I don’t think so.
– The two-point conversion after Harris’ scoring return — a run by Dion Jordan that was called by holder Jackson Rice at the line of scrimmage — was the difference in the game.
– The Thomas-to-Maehl pass was a lightning strike.
– And there was the game-clinching, 9-minute, 25-second drive through that rugged Cal defense to kill the clock and put away the victory.
As a result, Oregon still is unbeaten and on track for a berth in the national championship game.
The charmed season marches on.
OK, links:
BERKELEY, Calif. — Sometimes it’s important to be lucky, and Oregon was very lucky Saturday night in Memorial Stadium.
The top-ranked Ducks beat a .500 California team, 15-13. But this easily could have been a loss.
The Bears’ defense was the best statistically in the Pacific-10 Conference heading into the game, and turned out to be as good as advertised.
Cal is the first team Oregon has played this year that was able to load the box against the Ducks’ running game and still hold up in the secondary. The Bears did a nice job of snuffing Oregon’s option game, while their defensive backs played lock-down man coverage.
On defense, the Ducks were lucky to be playing an offense using its No. 2 quarterback — it’s the third time in four games for Oregon — because Cal’s Brock Mansion could manage just 69 yards passing. As a result, the Bears were one-dimensional on offense, which allowed Oregon to stay in the game despite misfiring offensively.
It was a Cal turnover that led to what turned out to be Oregon’s game-winning touchdown, a 29-yard strike from Darron Thomas to Jeff Maehl on a crossing route that Maehl took into the end zone to give the Ducks a 15-7 lead.
Who knows what would have happened had Cal kicker Giorgio Tavecchio not stutter-stepped and been flagged for a motion penalty while making a 24-yard field goal on the first of the play of the fourth quarter.
Tavecchio’s kick would have put Cal up 16-15. Instead, he had to kick again from five yards further away, and pushed it wide of the goal posts.
But give the Ducks credit. They made the plays they had to make:
– Cliff Harris’ 64-yard punt return for the first Oregon touchdown. Is there a more dangerous kick returner in college football? I don’t think so.
– The two-point conversion after Harris’ scoring return — a run by Dion Jordan that was called by holder Jackson Rice at the line of scrimmage — was the difference in the game.
– The Thomas-to-Maehl pass was a lightning strike.
– And there was the game-clinching, 9-minute, 25-second drive through that rugged Cal defense to kill the clock and put away the victory.
As a result, Oregon still is unbeaten and on track for a berth in the national championship game.
The charmed season marches on.
OK, links:
BERKELEY, Calif. — Sometimes it’s important to be lucky, and Oregon was very lucky Saturday night in Memorial Stadium.
The top-ranked Ducks beat a .500 California team, 15-13. But this easily could have been a loss.
The Bears’ defense was the best statistically in the Pacific-10 Conference heading into the game, and turned out to be as good as advertised.
Cal is the first team Oregon has played this year that was able to load the box against the Ducks’ running game and still hold up in the secondary. The Bears did a nice job of snuffing Oregon’s option game, while their defensive backs played lock-down man coverage.
On defense, the Ducks were lucky to be playing an offense using its No. 2 quarterback — it’s the third time in four games for Oregon — because Cal’s Brock Mansion could manage just 69 yards passing. As a result, the Bears were one-dimensional on offense, which allowed Oregon to stay in the game despite misfiring offensively.
It was a Cal turnover that led to what turned out to be Oregon’s game-winning touchdown, a 29-yard strike from Darron Thomas to Jeff Maehl on a crossing route that Maehl took into the end zone to give the Ducks a 15-7 lead.
Who knows what would have happened had Cal kicker Giorgio Tavecchio not stutter-stepped and been flagged for a motion penalty while making a 24-yard field goal on the first of the play of the fourth quarter.
Tavecchio’s kick would have put Cal up 16-15. Instead, he had to kick again from five yards further away, and pushed it wide of the goal posts.
But give the Ducks credit. They made the plays they had to make:
– Cliff Harris’ 64-yard punt return for the first Oregon touchdown. Is there a more dangerous kick returner in college football? I don’t think so.
– The two-point conversion after Harris’ scoring return — a run by Dion Jordan that was called by holder Jackson Rice at the line of scrimmage — was the difference in the game.
– The Thomas-to-Maehl pass was a lightning strike.
– And there was the game-clinching, 9-minute, 25-second drive through that rugged Cal defense to kill the clock and put away the victory.
As a result, Oregon still is unbeaten and on track for a berth in the national championship game.
The charmed season marches on.
OK, links:
