Oregon opened the game against Cal favored once again; there was much talk about a team meeting and more focus headed into the game, but the Ducks and Bears both seemed to be a bit rusty and lacked discipline early combining for 11 penalties for 77 yards.
Cal, who had struggled to score points in their first three games found their missing weapon in Nikki Remigio who came in with just for receptions for 9 yards through the first three games, but lit up in this game with 6 catches, 81 yards and a touchdown.
The Ducks struggled with consistency for much of the first half and could not seem to string together good plays without penalties. Four. That is the number of offensive plays it took the Ducks to change the context of the game against Cal.
Late in the first half, playing with no urgency, a lack of discipline, and trailing 14-3, the Ducks completed a 39-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Shough to Johnny Johnson to close the gap to 14-10; after getting the ball back with all three timeouts and 46 seconds left on the clock, offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead dialed up the perfect mismatch using a two tight end set to the left and slipping Travis Dye out of the backfield to the right for a 67-yard gain. The Ducks would score a touchdown two plays later to take a 17-14 lead into the half.
The Ducks were unable to build on that four-play momentum in the third quarter as Shough completed just 1 of 7 passes for 11 yards while the offense struggled to move the ball with just 48 total yards in the quarter.
The beleaguered run defense had a solid game for the Ducks holding the Bears to 1.9 yards per carry and controlling the rushing attack for most of the game. It was a good sign for the Oregon defense that they were able to turn the corner, but it was not enough as Cal converted a crucial fourth-down late in the game to keep the Duck offense off the field.
The game was a series of miscues, poor fundamentals, missed opportunities and a fourth-quarter turnover that ended another Oregon drive. Shough, who finished the game just 14 of 26 for 231 yards, made the costliest mistake of the game with a fumble at the 8:47 mark which ended a drive that had showed promise getting inside Cal territory for the second consecutive drive.
The Oregon running game once again struggled to find success as CJ Verdell carried the ball just 5 times for 9 yards. Dye had a good second half gaining 56 of his 71 yards in the final half, but the shifty back was not on the field for a crucial fourth-down play and was not able to make any headway down the stretch as the Ducks struggled with field position and protection from their offensive line.
Oregon came into the game with the top offense in the Pac-12, but it was Cal’s second rated pass defense that flexed its muscles during the second half of this game controlling the Oregon RPO scheme and shutting down scoring opportunities.
Oregon had one last opportunity with two-minutes left in the game and showed promise quickly moving the ball into Cal territory before a solid hit by Kuony Deng caused a fumble by Johnny Johnson that ended the Ducks hopes for a comeback.
Penalties and offensive ineptitude defined the game for Oregon. The Ducks finished the game with 9 penalties for 60 yards; many of those penalties had a bigger impact than just yardage as three extended Cal’s 19-play touchdown drive in the first half that was ultimately the difference.
The 21-17 loss was the Ducks worst offensive performance of the season and drops Oregon to 3-2 on the season. The Ducks will face Washington next week to complete their regular season and await their South Division counterpart for the seventh game the following week.
