Game recap: No. 6 Oregon cruises to 63-19 win over Cal

RELATED: Everything Dan Lanning said after Saturday's win | WATCH: Oregon players reflect on lopsided victory over Cal

Well, the key to the game this week was to continue dominating the turnover margin. Tez Johnson’s drop-turned-interception on the first play of the game was instead how things began.

Steve Stephens IV’s interception less than 3 minutes later got things back on track. Casey Rogers followed with a strip sack later in the quarter and when things really started to feel normal again, more turnovers ensued.

A mistimed snap while Johnson was in motion, resulted in a Cal scoop and score. Four total turnovers in just the first quarter alone. Chaos was beginning to ensue, but it didn’t last very long.

After the two turnovers, both of which arguably caused by the weather conditions, the Ducks (8-1, 5-1 Pac-12) did a 180 in what ended as a 63-19 victory.

The final 5 minutes of the half included a 21-0 Oregon run led by three Bo Nix scores. Two carries and a perfect 50/50 ball to Troy Franklin helped the Ducks take a 35-13 lead with 30 minutes remaining.

"I think we put ourselves in some tough situations at times," Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. "Didn’t play to our standard of play in the first half, but I thought our guys came back and did a much better job from an execution standpoint in the second half and showed some flashes of what we really could be. I am really proud of some of the younger players in our program who got opportunities in this game to really highlight their talent."

The second half was much more of the same. Oregon continued to outscore a Cal (3-6, 1-5) offense that struggled to finish drives. Johnson made up for his mistake by a large margin by having his best game ever.

“Tez is a guy that battles every single moment he is on the field," Lanning said. "I know that he wants that first play back just like all of us do, but those moments happen in football. When you see adversity hit and see guys go out and respond and react to adversity, I think it’s really important. He certainly wants to be coached hard. He demands the best for himself, and we’ll continue to challenge him and see him grow as a player.

Oregon found the end zone nine times en route to its second-highest-scoring game of the season. Backups began checking in with plenty of time remaining in the fourth, and by the end of it, it would be hard to think that this game was ever close.

“It speaks to what kind of team we are capable of being," Lanning said. "Even though there were some things that were really positive, there are some things we can certainly get better at. We aren’t going to rest on the results. We aren’t a result-oriented team, we are a process-oriented team. I’m going to continue to focus on the process. Did a good job on third down, but doing a better job at third down is preventing third down. There are some things we can really improve on, and we will continue to focus on.”

First Quarter

7:00, Oregon: Bo Nix 48-yard pass to Tez Johnson (Camden Lewis PAT), 7-0 Oregon

4:40, Oregon: Bo Nix 1-yard run (Camden Lewis PAT), 14-0 Oregon

3:01, Cal: Mateen Bhaghani 43-yard field goal, 14-3 Oregon

1:32, Cal: Bo Nix fumbled snap, recovered by Nohl Williams (Bhaghani PAT), 14-10 Oregon

Second Quarter

11:28, Cal: Mateen Bhaghani 27-yard field goal, 14-13 Oregon

5:21, Oregon: Bo Nix 1-yard run (Camden Lewis PAT), 21-13 Oregon

1:39, Oregon: Bo Nix 14-yard pass to Tez Johnson (Camden Lewis PAT), 28-13 Oregon

0:06, Oregon: Bo Nix 7-yard pass to Troy Franklin (Camden Lewis PAT), 35-13 Oregon

Third Quarter

13:47, Cal: Jaydn Ott 20-yard run (2-point conversion No Good), 35-19 Oregon

8:30, Oregon: Bucky Irving 6-yard run (Camden Lewis PAT), 42-19 Oregon

Fourth Quarter

14:11, Oregon: Bo Nix 4-yard pass to Terrance Ferguson (Camden Lewis PAT), 49-19 Oregon

9:51, Oregon: Jordan James 16-yard run (Camden Lewis PAT), 56-19 Oregon

2:26, Oregon: Ty Thompson 6-yard pass to Traeshon Holden (Camden Lewis PAT), 63-19 Oregon

Despite trailing 22 at halftime, the Golden Bears were starting to lose their grip. That was until they marched down the field on their first drive of the third quarter capped off with their first offensive touchdown of the game. The 2-point conversion was unsuccessful, but even so, Cal was certainly still in the game. Oregon eventually found itself back in good field position and added its seventh touchdown of the game, and with the 3rd quarter continuing to tick down, it seemed like Cal’s chances were coming to an end. The Golden Bears fumbling at the goal line was just the icing on the cake.

During his three-year career at Troy, Tez Johnson only had a 100-yard receiving game three times. He was without one this season heading into Week 10 but found a completely different level of success against the Golden Bears.

Johnson finished the day with 180 receiving yards (career-high), 2 receiving touchdowns (tied for career-high), and a 47-yard punt return. He had 12 catches, also a career-high, which is the most by an Oregon receiver in a game this season.

The biggest turnover for the Ducks’ defense today came right after an uncharacteristic one of their own. Bo Nix’s first play of the game was intercepted and instantly gave Cal a chance to strike early. Stephens had a different plan. Less than 3 minutes after that initial play, Stephens secured an interception of his own to get the ball back to Oregon. He was also one of four Ducks to have at least 6 tackles.

On a night where he put up a total of 180 yards receiving, his best came in the first quarter. Bo Nix was able to find his adopted brother all game long, but on this play, he found him deep down the middle with nobody around him. The 48-yard score was just the start of a 63-point outing. The initial score was the longest on the day and came at a crucial time after the initial play resulted in an interception.

Oregon won the game because the offense continued its dominance and didn’t allow a slow start dictate the game. Oregon matched its total turnovers on the year in the first quarter of this game and had Cal on its tail for much longer than anticipated. Instead of falling down the rabbit hole, Bo Nix and the offense figured it out. It scored with the consistency that we’ve seen all year and was too much for the Golden Bears to deal with.

Passing

Bo Nix: 29-38, 386 yards, 4 TD’s, 1 Int

Ty Thompson: 6-8, 58 yards, 1 TD

Rushing

Bucky Irving: 18 carries, 89 yards, 1 TD

Jordan James: 7 carries, 44 yards, 1 TD

Jayden Limar: 3 carries, 20 yards

Dante Dowdell: 2 carries, 13 yards

Bo Nix: 5 carries, 3 yards, 2 TD’s

Receiving

Tez Johnson: 12 receptions, 180 yards, 2 TD’s

Troy Franklin: 6 receptions, 79 yards, 1 TD

Traeshon Holden: 5 receptions, 48 yards, 1 TD

Bucky Irving: 4 receptions, 28 yards

Terrance Ferguson: 3 receptions, 35 yards, 1 TD

Gary Bryant Jr.: 2 receptions, 38 yards

Jordan James: 2 receptions, 30 yards

Jayden Limar: 1 reception, 6 yards