Oregon Ducks vs California Golden Bears: Three Things I’ll Be Watching
The Oregon Ducks take on the California Golden Bears in a Friday night game at Levi’s Stadium, the home of the San Francisco 49ers. It will be the first college football game played in the NFL Stadium as Cal hosts Oregon. Last weekend was good for the Oregon Ducks. The team found their Offensive momentum to take out the Washington Huskies with a strong performance on the ground by Running Back Royce Freeman who picked up four touchdowns on the night. It was a different story for Cal.
The game was against UCLA and came down to a Bruins interception in the endzone to complete the win for the away team. The bright spot on the season, Sophomore Quarterback Jared Goff has thrown for twenty-four touchdowns this season to nine interceptions. Goff starts off the lost of the three things I will be watching tonight.
Which Defense Will Defend Better?
As we know, the Oregon Ducks Defense at times this season has allowed both running and passing yards and also big plays they were unable to contain, including a third and twenty against Arizona that we all will remember. The team has found a way to seal some of the cracks on Defense, but which team will show up to play tonight?
Cal has a new Defensive Coordinator in Art Kaufman who will bring some new wrinkles to the Golden Bears Defense. Oregon is not sure what looks they will see as there are surely some packages the team has yet to show. Oregon has the talent to win, but as we have seen this season the parity in the conference is insane. Other teams have caught up to the level of the Oregon Ducks.
Momentum Game: Can Oregon Continue to Run on the Competition
Two weeks ago against UCLA the Oregon Ducks welcomed back Offensive Lineman Jake Fisher and what the team could do again was run the ball. Holes opened up for Running Back Royce Freeman and that continued at home against Washington. Can Oregon continue to keep Defenses off balance with a run game this week? Last weekend against Washington after the game Freeman was walking up the tunnel as people were saying congratulations on the win. He was asked about what he would do next week. His response, “We’ll do it again.”
Mariota vs Goff: Battle Through the Air is Likely
Oregon Ducks Quarterback Marcus Mariota has thrown nineteen touchdowns this season and no interceptions. Cal Bears QB Jared Goff has thrown twenty four touchdowns and four interceptions. Both offenses are built on the passing game. The Oregon Ducks Wide Receivers took great strides last week in the win over Washington. The question is, can Goff and Cal keep up?
AutzenZoo will have Live Coverage of the game starting at 7pm Pacific Time. Kickoff is set for 7:15pm. Feel free to check in throughout the game for a different take. You can also find coverage on Eugene Daily News Sports Page or on the #EDNSports on Facebook and Twitter.
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