BERKELEY, Calif. – What the No. 23 Oregon Ducks came to California looking for was another victory statement 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 that 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 an interception thrown by Cal’s Kevin Riley on the game’s first drive, but nearly every drive after that was a struggle for Oregon, who amassed only 290 yards total offense while it came into the game averaging more than 300 yards rushing alone.
Cal moved to 5-2 overall and 4-1 in the conference, staying tied with No. 7 USC atop the conference standings.
Despite Oregon’s inefficiencies on offense, 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 they recovered a fumble after Jahvid Best’s 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.
As the final quarter started, Jairus Byrd’s fumble on a punt return at Oregon’s own six-yard line was recovered by Cal’s Marcus Ezeff.
Running back Shane Vereen did the honors three plays later for a two-yard touchdown run, pushing Cal’s advantage by 10, making the score 26-16.
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.
In addition to playing with soaked footballs during the game, Masoli spent much of his day running – whether it was in the playbook or not.
As a result, Masoli’s passing line – 7-of-21 for 44 yards, zero touchdowns and two interceptions, including a crucial one before halftime – didn’t even reach 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,” 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.
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 of 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. Johnson ran for a game-high 117 yards.
Jahvid Best, who 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.
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