BERKELEY, Calif. — Oregon had a chance to upset No. 4 California Saturday at Memorial Stadium but let the opportunity slip through its fingers.
Literally.
With the Golden Bears leading 28-27, the Ducks faced a fourth and 11 on the Cal 41-yard line with less than two minutes remaining. Oregon quarterback Kellen Clemens fired a strike to wide receiver Keith Allen — who was standing wide open on the Cal 23-yard line — but the ball bounced off the senior’s hands near the Oregon sideline, ending any hope of a Duck victory.
The one-point win propelled Cal (7-1 overall, 5-1 Pacific-10 Conference) into sole possession of second place in the Pac-10, while Oregon (5-4, 4-2) was left wondering what might have been.
“There are no moral victories,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said. “It doesn’t get us to where we want to go.”
Allen, who did not have a reception Saturday, said he started turning his head to look upfield before securing the football on Oregon’s final offensive play.
“I just dropped it,” Allen said. “I beat the DB really bad, so I was thinking about going to the end zone with my first touchdown in a big game.”
Allen’s miscue was one of several by a depleted Oregon receiving corps late in the second half. With wide receiver Demetrius Williams and tight end Tim Day slowed by injury, the Ducks were forced to rely on true freshman Cameron Colvin, sophomore Kyle Weatherspoon and Allen as primary downfield weapons for the second half. Colvin dropped a pair of passes during the Ducks’ final drive, including one that was nearly intercepted by Cal cornerback Harrison Smith.
The inability of Oregon receivers to make plays spoiled an impressive day by Clemens. The junior completed 19 of 33 passes for 218 yards and four touchdowns and was doing everything he could to lead the Ducks to victory on their final drive.
“Kellen had an awesome day,” Colvin said. “He’s a great quarterback. We need to help him. He’s out there trying his hardest, so we have to help him a lot because we’re his guys. He needs to have confidence in his receivers and all the guys he goes to.
“I think I let him down personally.”
Day caught five passes for 46 yards and two touchdowns before leaving the game with an ankle injury. Williams, who has battled a turf toe injury for most of the season, stepped onto the field for only one play and dropped a pass.
After trailing 27-21 at the half, the Golden Bears came out of the locker room determined to run the football. Senior J.J. Arrington’s 119 second-half yards helped wear down the Oregon defensive line and kept the Duck offense off the field. Cal limited Oregon to only eight offensive plays in the third quarter and held a 230-57 advantage in total yards during the second half.
Arrington exploded for a 43-yard run on the last play of the third quarter to set up Cal’s go-ahead touchdown on a 19-yard pass from quarterback Aaron Rodgers to wide receiver Geoff McArthur.
Arrington finished the game with 26 carries for 188 yards and a touchdown.
“I don’t expect us to kill everyone we play,” Arrington said. “We knew we’d have to be patient against these guys. I hoped we could wear them down if we were patient.”
Oregon came out strong early, taking a 20-14 lead late in the first quarter on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Clemens to Day. It was Clemens’ third touchdown pass of the quarter, and the Ducks’ offense looked unstoppable. Kicker Jared Siegel missed the ensuing extra point, however, bouncing it off the right upright.
Siegel’s miss — his second of the season — proved costly as Oregon went on to lose by a single point.
“Football is a game of inches,” Siegel said. “If you ever had a do-over, I would have used my college do-over on that play.”
Oregon’s first half was likely the best it had played all season. The Ducks held a nearly two to one advantage in time of possession and were able to run the ball at will against the vaunted Golden Bear defense. Running back Terrence Whitehead gained 77 yards in 11 first-half carries, despite feeling weak and getting sick before kickoff.
The Ducks increased their lead to 27-14 with a little more than two minutes remaining in the second quarter when Clemens lobbed a pass to wide receiver Marcus Maxwell in the back left corner of the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown. The pass culminated a 12-play, 73-yard drive that took six minutes and 30 seconds off the clock.
Cal answered quickly, however, moving 75 yards in six plays to cut Oregon’s lead to 27-21 before the half on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to McArthur.
The Cal defense used the score as momentum in the second half and didn’t allow another Oregon point. The Ducks penetrated the Golden Bear side of the field only once during the final two quarters but came up short on Allen’s fourth-down drop.
“I’m extremely proud of our kids and the character they showed in the second half,” Cal head coach Jeff Tedford said. “In the first half, we had a little bit of trouble slowing them down. But there was never any doubt. We came out and moved the ball very well in the second half.”
Whitehead finished with 91 yards in 15 carries, while Clemens added 53 yards in 14 attempts for Oregon. Maxwell led the Ducks with five receptions for 53 yards and a touchdown.
Rodgers finished 21 of 32 for 275 yards and three touchdowns for Cal. His top target was McArthur, who caught eight passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
Oregon has two games remaining on its schedule and needs to win one to become bowl eligible. The Ducks face UCLA Saturday at Autzen Stadium and finish the regular season at Oregon State the following weekend.
“I’m excited to go home and prepare for UCLA,” Clemens said. “We’re feeling good.”

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