ERKELEY, Calif. — Oregon had a chance to upset No. 4 California Saturday at Memorial Stadium, but let the game 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 senior had the ball bounce off his 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.
Allen, who did not have a reception Saturday, said he started turning his head to look up field before securing the football.
“I just dropped it,” Allen said. “I beat the DB real 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 their primary downfield weapons during the second half.
Colvin dropped a pair of passes during the Ducks’ final drive, including one that was almost 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’s 43-yard run on the last play of the third quarter 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 as 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 with Oregon’s loss coming 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 nearly a 2 to 1 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 on 11 first-half carries, despite feeling weak after vomiting before kickoff.
Whitehead finished with 91 yards in 15 carries, while Clemens added 53 yards in 14 attempts.
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.

[email protected]