Make no mistake about it, Autzen faithful – California will win on Saturday.
The rationale is a somewhat complicated one, but for starters, let’s throw this simple notion out there and let it stand on its own.
Making sense of the Cal football season up to this point is a trying task. Sure, there are sprinkles of brilliance, but lately they have seemed few and far between.
Evidence: A road loss to Arizona that counterfeited an unblemished Pac-10 record, or an underwhelming effort against UCLA filled with fluke plays and sputtering offenses that was a chore to sit through.
But in spite of two weeks of less-than-stellar football, there’s no denying the fact that this is the type of game the Bears win.
Perhaps the most relevant reason for why the Ducks will quack in Berkeley is history – Cal coach Jeff Tedford’s winning percentage at home is close to 80 percent.
And his coaching staff, for all its faults, has proven it knows how to contain, wrestle and box in the vaunted Oregon spread.
When Dennis Dixon and Jonathan Stewart came to Berkeley in 2006, they were obliterated. And when the Bears met that duo in Eugene last season, the end result was the same, albeit a bit more harrowing.
Sure, DeSean Jackson isn’t around to torch the Oregon secondary like he did in both those games to the tune of four touchdowns. And sure, Cal might not have won in 2007 had Marcus Ezeff not made the play of his life, forcing that fumble by Cameron Colvin.
Tomorrow, the Bears won’t need Jackson or an Ezeff miracle.
They have enough going for them already.
They’ll have the home crowd that, earlier this week, Tedford implored to evoke the 2006 Cal-Oregon game – an atmosphere he described as one of the loudest in his tenure.
They’ll have the weather on their side, as a likely forecast of rain will bog down each team. With a slippery ball, it’s a lot easier to give Jahvid Best or Shane Vereen a simple handoff. The same cannot be said about the spread-option reads between young Jeremiah Masoli and his stable of runners.
But most of all, Cal will win because this is exactly the kind of game it does win.
The Bears have no expectations to meet, no undefeated records to protect. They have nothing to lose, but know that a game against the Ducks is one they’ll get up for.
The duck stops here.
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