BERKELEY, Calif. — Overrated?
At one of the nation’s most acclaimed academic universities, it’s hard to imagine the student section confusing one of the most widely-known chants in all of college sports.
But the few brave brainiacs who opted to attend Oregon’s 48-7 blowout Saturday over the California Bears must not have done their homework before they chanted the word — the team with the most points wins, of course.
Maybe the Bears fans were just bewildered, considering the amount of support and attention the visiting team received.
Oregon fans packed the southeast corner of Memorial Stadium, seemingly accounting for half of the 34,152 fans in attendance, to watch the fifth ranked Ducks (6-0 overall, 3-0 Pacific-10 Conference) crush their second conference opponent on the road in as many weeks.
Off to their worst start in program history, the Bears are now 0-5 on the season (0-3 Pac-10).
“We felt like we were at home,” said Oregon defensive back Steve Smith, one of the first Ducks to thank the green and yellow faithful as the clock ran out. “Our fan support has always been great. They were so much louder than (the Cal) fans. It’s not supposed to be like that for the home team.”
After three weeks on the road, Oregon now returns to Eugene for the homecoming game Saturday at 12:30 p.m. At 6-0, the Ducks are off to their best start since 1964.
Oregon’s next opponent is Stanford, the same team that thwarted the Ducks’ 6-0 perfect start 37 years ago.
There would be no thwarting of Oregon in the Bay Area this Saturday, though.
Scoring on its first three possessions, the Joey Harrington-led offense jumped out to a 21-0 lead by the 3:37 mark of the first quarter. From there, the Ducks’ defense could do no wrong.
Quarterback Kyle Boller and running back Joe Igber, Cal’s two offensive threats, were held to just 139 yards in the first half. Oregon also forced three turnovers in the first half, including an interception by sophomore safety Keith Lewis.
“The defense is finally clicking,” Smith said. “We wanted to make a statement. We showed that the Oregon Ducks are for real.”
The Ducks converted two of the three Cal turnovers into touchdowns in the first half, and won the battle of turnovers, 5-2.
“Defensively, I thought this was our best performance of the year,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said. “Our goal every week is to improve and I’m pleased that we did that today. The turnover-to-take-away ratio, being on the plus side of that, the correlation of that to winning is incredible.”
On Oregon’s first drive, Harrington found a wide-open Maurice Morris down the middle who brought the ball to the Cal two-yard line. Harrington dove into the end zone two plays later to give the Ducks their first score.
Redshirt freshman Samie Parker, who had his first career touchdown reception in Oregon’s 63-28 rout of Arizona last week, scored on a 37-yard catch from Harrington to give Oregon a 14-0 lead. Also fresh off a career-game in Arizona, sophomore tailback Onterrio Smith took a pitch and trotted into the end zone to give Oregon its three-touchdown lead after the first quarter.
“It felt good. I had a lot of fun,” Harrington said after the game. “The key is we’re scoring early and putting them on their heels.”
The Ducks were held in check for the first 14 minutes of the second quarter, until Cal’s Ray Carmel fumbled a punt at the Bears’ 24-yard line.
Then, with 0:47 to play], on a crucial third-and-two, Harrington rifled a touchdown pass to tight end Justin Peelle, his seventh score of the season, as the Ducks went into the locker room with a comfortable 28-0 lead.
Except for official scoring purposes, the second half was essentially irrelevant. Harrington did not attempt a pass in the third quarter, finishing the day 13-of-20 for 181 yards. The Heisman Trophy candidate did, however, have his longest run of the season in the third quarter, a 41-yard sprint inside Cal territory.
Up 42-0 after Morris and receiver Keenan Howry each scored, backup quarterback Jason Fife entered the game late in the third quarter. Fife was 2-for-4 for 25 yards in his second straight week of reserve action.
Backup safety Marley Tucker had two interceptions in the fourth quarter for the Ducks.
Notes: With Florida (previously No. 2) losing, the Ducks moved up one spot to No. 5 in the ESPN/USA Today poll. In the Associated Press poll, Oregon stayed at No. 5, with UCLA (previously No. 7) jumping three spots to No. 4. … Safety Keith Lewis, Oregon’s leading tackler, left the game early in the fourth quarter with a right ankle sprain. Bellotti said Lewis and defensive back Seth McEwen (shoulder) are questionable for Saturday against Stanford. … With Florida State losing to No. 1 Miami at home, the Ducks now have the nation’s longest home winning streak in the country at 23.