The California Golden Bears must have the best defense in the entire country.
At first glance, a layman might have made this deduction by seeing that California held the Oregon’s NASCAR offense to its lowest scoring efforts in the recent past — the most important being when the Bears kept it close in a loss to the Ducks in 2010 at 15-13.
Alas, upon further review, Cal’s defense wasn’t that great in 2010, as they ranked 40th in the nation in points allowed. And this season, the Bears have struggled mightily to keep opponents off the scoreboard, giving up nearly 28 points per game, ranking them 63rd in America.
In the 26 games the Ducks have played since that close-fought battle on Nov. 13, 2010, Oregon has only scored fewer than 27 points in one game: the loss to Auburn in the 2010 title game, 22-19.
So what happened to Oregon’s No. 1-ranked offense when the they traveled to the Bay Area in 2010?
The Bears kept the Ducks out of the endzone, the latter managing only one offensive strike, a 29-yard touchdown pass from Darron Thomas to Jeff Maehl at the beginning of the second half. The only other time has happened during Chip Kelly’s tenure as head coach was his debut in the 2009 season opener, which was a loss to Boise State.
Cal’s defense also held megastar LaMichael James to 91 yards, his lowest tally to that point in the season.
Third down during this 2010 game was a nightmare for the Ducks, as they converted only eight times on 21 attempts, a 38 percent conversion rate. Oregon averaged a substantially better 45 percent rate for the entire season.
The home team also shot down the Ducks’ explosive plays, with Oregon’s biggest play from scrimmage being the 29-yard passing score. After that, the largest gain was a meager 15-yard completion from Thomas to D.J. Davis and a 13-yard rush from James.
The explanation for the surprise defensive effort from the Golden Bears on that day? Well, if there is one, it eludes the eye. Cal came into that game against Oregon at 5-4, having allowed lesser offenses’ tallies of 52, 48 and 35.
Surely the Bears hope to find the magic that stifled — but didn’t defeat — the nation’s best scoring team in 2010 again on Saturday when they face the Ducks (still America’s top offense), but all indicators point the opposite direction. Last October in Eugene, Cal was walloped 43-15, letting James rush for 239 yards — his second-best career effort.
But maybe there is something in the Strawberry Canyon air in November that doesn’t bode well for the Ducks.
In the 2008 UO v. Cal showdown in Memorial Stadium, the Bears were victorious, 26-16, taming the Ducks’ offense while forcing three turnovers.
On Saturday, it looks as though Cal will need that and much more to derail Oregon.