BERKELEY – What the No. 23 Oregon Ducks came to California looking for was another statement victory in the race for the Pacific-10 Conference title.
By the time they left, the rain-drenched Ducks were trying to find answers for their uneven offensive performance whose failure to capitalize of Cal’s mistakes resulted in a 26-16 loss and put a major hole in their Rose Bowl dreams.
For the Ducks (6-3, 4-2 Pac-10), the story was their inability to take advantage of Cal’s mistakes. The Golden Bears, meanwhile, had no such trouble, scoring 14 points on crucial turnovers by Oregon.
“I think we’re a really good football team that beat itself today,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said.
The Ducks scored four plays after interception Cal’s Kevin Riley on the game’s first drive, but nearly every drive after it would be a struggle for Oregon, which amassed 290 yards of total offense when it came into the game averaging more than 300 yards rushing alone.
California moved to 5-2 overall and 4-1 in the conference, staying tied atop the conference standings.
Despite Oregon’s inefficiencies on offense, averaging 4.1 yards per rush and 7.6 yards per passing completion, its defense forced four Cal fumbles and an interception.
“I haven’t been more proud of a team in a loss in a long time,” defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti said.
Five of the Golden Bears’ first seven drives ended because of either a fumble or an interception, a stretch that lasted until just over eight minutes left in the second quarter. Oregon scored six points during that stretch and even gave up two more to Cal when a snap on a punt sailed over Josh Syria’s head and out the back of the endzone – four plays after recovering a Jahvid Best fumble after his 50 yard run.
“The turnover battle means nothing, it’s the response after the turnover battle that’s key,” offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said. “I felt like we let those guys down.”
As Oregon was driving to midfield with a minute left in the first half, Cal’s Worrell Williams picked off a Jeremiah Masoli pass and ran 50 yards to the Oregon three yard line, and the Bears scored less than 20 seconds later to lead 16-6.
Just more than a quarter later as the final period started, a Jairus Byrd fumble on a punt return at Oregon’s own six-yard line was recovered by Marcus Ezeff. Running back Shane Vereen did the honors three plays later for a two-yard touchdown run, pushing Cal’s advantage for 10, 26-16.
Oregon now plays Stanford next week in Eugene, while Cal plays against USC in its most important game of the season.
“The Pac-10 championships and the Rose Bowl are up for grabs,” Cal linebacker Mike Mohamed said.
A week after passing for 146 yards against Arizona State, Jeremiah Masoli’s passing attack was neutralized by a strong Cal defensive secondary that was able to rush three defenders and drop eight into pass coverage on numerous occasions. Coupled with having to play with soaked footballs during the game, Masoli spent much of his day running – whether designed or not.
As a result, Masoli’s passing line – 7-of-21 for 44 yards, zero touchdowns and two interceptions, a crucial one coming before halftime – didn’t even come to half of his 97 rushing yards.
“We did not do a good job recognizing zone and how to defeat zone (coverage) and the timing of our routes,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said. “In terms of getting rid of the football we were running too much today, running with the ball in our hands during pass plays.”
Cal benefited from veteran play from backup quarterback Nate Longshore, who was pressed into duty late in the first quarter when Kevin Riley suffered a concussion on a scramble when he was met by T.J. Ward and Patrick Chung. Longshore
“Sure, coming off the bench is a little bit new for him, but it was no big deal,” Tedford said.
Later in the same drive, the Oregon defense stuffed a scoring chance inside their own 10 yard line and Nick Reed recovered one of his three fumbles on the afternoon on a fumbled hold by Longshore for a field goal.
“That’s called good luck,” Reed said.
Oregon looked its best on offense in the third quarter, moving the ball 55 yards for a touchdown in just three plays as Jeremiah Johnson and Masoli alternated for runs of 17, 21 and 17 yards. On his touchdown run, Masoli darted to the right and found more room than he had all day by running behind two blockers to the score, which brought Oregon to 19-16. Johnson ran for a game-high 117 yards. Jahvid Best, which came in averaging 107.2 yards per game, finished with 93.
The Ducks had a chance to tie it at the start of the fourth but Matt Evensen pushed his 29-yard field goal attempt wide right. Cal had problems of its own on special teams, as Giorgio Tavecchio was 1-of-2 on his attempts, missing a 41-yarder in the second quarter.