Oregon Football: Ducks Defense Digs In As Offense Struggles In Win Over California
Oregon Football found their ground game but struggled on offense vs Cal, but the Defense helped preserve a 17-7 win.
Oregon looked to extend their winning streak to four games vs California. The Ducks have won five straight games against California and the Golden Bears started the game on offense.
The Oregon Defense had a solid start forcing a three and out as Jordon Scott put and end to the drive on a stop on third down forcing a punt. Oregon found an 11 yard gain right out of the gate with a pass to CJ Verdell. He followed that with a 12 yard run. The drive was a solid dose of running for both Verdell and Travis Dye. Following a 15-yard penalty, Cal intercepted Herbert. It was his first intercepted throw this season as Cal took over at the 37-yard line.
On the California opening drive, Devon Modster threw a 23 yar touchdown to Chris Brown Junior to give the Golden Bears a 7-0 lead. Cal seemed to be a step ahead of the Oregon Defense on the drive and found success to get 63 yards in six plays to take the early lead.
Despite being down a touchdown, Oregon started their next drive primarily on the ground and found success with Travis Dye. Midway through the drive the Ducks passed their rushing output from two weeks ago at Stanford. The Ducks had just 61 yards against the Cardinal.
CJ Verdell went out with an injury after grabbing his ankle. Travis Dye would get the ball as Oregon was looking at 4th down and about a foot. He was stuffed as Cal took over at their 9 yard line. The first quarter came to an end with Cal up 7-0.
The Oregon Defense was asked to stop the Cal Offense and they did, forcing a three and out.
Mycah Pittman started his Oregon career with a catch from Justin Herbert, but the drive was stalled as Travis Dye fumbled the ball and Cal recovered at their 38-yard line.
The Golden Bears moved the ball to the Oregon 15 yard line. Greg Thomas missed a 32-yard field goal giving the ball back to the Ducks with the score still 7-0 Cal.
Oregon was unable to do move the ball on their next drive with Justin Herbert being sacked for six yards. The Ducks were forced to punt after a pass to Mycah Pittman came up short. The next Duck drive ended with a Camden Lewis missed field goal as the Oregon Defense was again asked to keep Cal off the scoreboard. The Golden Bears worked their way to the Oregon 35 before a Cal punt on fourth down.
Oregon went into halftime down 7-0.
More from Autzen Zoo
- Oregon football: Ducks and Coach Prime playing it cordial leading up to Saturday
- Oregon Basketball: Non-conference slate features Michigan coming to Eugene
- Oregon football: Ducks find complete game effort in win vs Hawaii
- Oregon Ducks must get run game going against Hawaii
- 8 Pac-12 teams represented in Associated Press Top 25 after Week 2
The Ducks would go 3 and out on their first series of the second half with a 43-yard punt to the Cal 25 yard line where the Golden Bears would take over. Oregon would turn to Camden Lewis again to try a chip shot 23-yard field goal. Oregon did not score until 7:32 left in the third quarter as Cal led 7-3 over the Ducks.
On the next Cal drive, the first snap went long and the end result was a 3 and out to go along with a bad punt giving Oregon good field position at their own 45 yard line and again have a three and out. It seemed to be the storyline of the night until Oregon broke through. The Ducks would score their first touchdown of the night with 1:38 left in the third quarter to take a 10-7 lead on California
The Oregon Defense and Troy Dye intercepted Devon Modster with 9:20 left in the fourth quarter giving the Ducks the ball on the Cal 49 yard line. Justin Herbert broke away with a long run and Cal had a late hit out of bounds. Three plays later Herbert threw a short touchdown pass to Jaylon Redd keeping his passing streak alive and extending the Ducks lead to 17-7.
The Oregon Defense was leaned on and came through in the final five minutes of the game as Cal had several chances to score. While Oregon was not consistent on offense for 60 minutes with numerous turnovers, the Oregon defense stood tall for 60 minutes allowing just a touchdown to the Golden Bears.
It is a quick turnaround for Oregon this week as the Ducks host Colorado, who lost to Arizona on Saturday night. Kickoff is set for 7 pm on Friday night. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1.