It’s the inaugural collegiate football game at Levi’s Stadium, the home of the San Francisco 49ers, as the No. 6 Oregon Ducks face off against the California Golden Bears.
Here are some pregame notes for tonight’s game:
Update: Armstead, Tyner and Wogan didn’t make trip to play Cal
According to GoDucks.com’s Rob Moseley, Oregon defensive lineman Arik Armstead, running back Thomas Tyner and place kicker Matt Wogan did not make the trip with the team to Levi’s Stadium. Tyner left in the first half of last weekend’s victory over Washington. Armstead missed the win over UCLA two weeks ago with an ankle injury.
Broadcast information
Television: FOX Sports 1
Radio: Oregon IMG; Sports USA; Satellite Radio Sirius 91, XM 91
The matchup
Oregon has won five straight games against Cal by a combined score of 214-to-64.
Oregon (6-1, 3-1 in Pac-12) is coming off a 45-20 blowout victory against Washington last weekend. Freshman running back Royce Freeman ran for four touchdowns and 169 yards on 29 carries. It was the second week in a row that Freeman ran for over 100 yards. Freeman is leading the conference in rushing touchdowns with 11. Against the Huskies, the Oregon defense held the Washington running game in check. Starting running back Lavon Coleman carried the ball 12 times for 28 yards against the Ducks.
Cal (4-3, 2-3) is third in the nation in scoring averaging 41.6 points per game. Tonight’s game against Oregon marks the first time this season that Cal is facing a ranked opponent. Golden Bears starting quarterback Jared Goff is on pace to pass for over 4,000 yards and 40 touchdowns while leading the No. 3 passing attack in the nation. Defensively, Cal is giving up 525 yards and 38.4 points per game.
For further insight into the matchup, check out the Emerald’s roundtable from earlier this week.
Fabulous Freshmen
Of Oregon’s 42 touchdowns scored this season, freshmen have accounted for 19. Royce Freeman leads the group with 11. Redshirt freshmen wide receiver Devon Allen is second on the list with six. Charles Nelson and redshirt freshman running back Kani Benoit both have one touchdown this season.
Mark Helfrich’s coaching start
With a win last weekend, Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich notched his 17th victory in his first 20 games. That ties Chip Kelly for the second best coaching start in Pac-12 history. Former Cal head coach Pappy Waldorf (1947-1956) holds the record for the best 20 game start in Pac-12 history with a 19-1 record. Stanford head coach David Shaw was 16-4 in his first 20 games at Stanford.
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