When sophomore Kellen Clemens went cold after six passes in the first quarter, senior Jason Fife took control of the Oregon offense and led the team on a second quarter scoring drive that tied the game at seven.
When Fife went cold after a five-play drive in the fourth quarter, Clemens came back in and worked miracles for the win.
Overall, the duo went 17 of 34 for 224 yards passing and two touchdowns.
“It was great,” Fife said. “I had his back coming in early and he had mine coming back late.”
When the Ducks won their first four games of the season, Clemens and Fife were considered the next best thing. They combined to throw for zero interceptions and led Oregon to an upset win over then-No. 3 Michigan.
But in the team’s last four losses in five games, they’ve gone cold and have received their fair share of flack for Oregon’s slump.
Saturday’s game may have revalidated head coach Mike Bellotti’s rotation of the two.
“Jason and I don’t think about it,” Clemens said. “We trust the coaches to make their decisions. I guess they’re the ones that lose sleep over it sometimes, not us.”

The night the lights went out
With 14:40 left to play at 9:21 p.m. in the fourth quarter, the Ducks and Golden Bears received quite a surprise.
Lights on the south side of the stadium turned off, leaving Autzen Stadium in partial darkness. Players from both teams went back into their locker rooms after they were told there would be a lengthy delay due to the time it takes to fully cool down the lights and repower them.
The game started 23 minutes after the lights initially flickered off.
“It’s a distraction,” California wide receiver Geoff McArthur said. “You hope it doesn’t distract your guys. You want to go out there and continue to play with intensity, but it’s unfortunate it happened. I don’t think it damaged anything for us.”
According to an Oregon official, the cause of the problem was a control failure, much like a computer shutting down the system due to a power surge.
Before the lights went out, the south concourse also went dark, as did the press box.
“We just wanted to get out there and play,” McArthur said of the delay. “Me, honestly, I didn’t care if we played with half the lights on and half the lights off. I thought it was a fair chance for both teams.”
California had the ball when the lights went out, but didn’t score. Two possessions later, though, the Golden Bears increased their lead to 17-7.
That’s when Clemens took over, leading Oregon to the victory.
“I knew it was going to be a special fourth quarter when the lights went out,” Bellotti said.

Random thoughts
The 57,511 in attendance at Autzen Stadium marked the 29th straight sellout for the Ducks. That streak predates the expansion of Autzen Stadium, which occurred prior to last season. The last time Oregon failed to sell out a game was on Sept. 25, 1999 when 45,660 watched the Ducks defeat USC, 33-30, in three overtimes.
Oregon linebacker Kevin Mitchell moved to sixth all-time in tackles for the Ducks. He had 10 against California, bumping his career total to 341. He passed Mark Kearns, Steve Rennie and Chad Cota. He needs 13 to tie Chris Cosgrove for fifth.
Keith Lewis’ fourth-quarter interception was his 11th career pick, moving him into a 10th-place tie on Oregon’s all-time list with Kenny Wheaton and Les Palm.