Oregon Ducks Show Heart In Loss To Cal Bears
Oregon fought, showed a ton of heart, but fell to Cal in the Second Overtime.
The Oregon Ducks entered the game against Cal on a four game losing streak(three of those in the Pac-12). To get out of it they would need to run some tempo on Offense and get back to the ground game with Royce Freeman. On Defense, Troy Dye was on the travel squad to play in his first road game and Jalen Jelks returned as well after recovering from injury during the bye week.
The first Oregon Drive ended in a punt, but a long run by Tony Brooks-James was called back as he stepped out of bounds. Running Back Royce Freeman saw time on the first drive and saw minimal yardage. Cal would see a penalty on their first drive pushing to 3rd and 15. The drive resulted in a punt.
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There were some positives on the second Oregon drive as Freshman Quarterback Justin Herbert showed poise and had a nice pass that was almost pulled in by Charles Nelson. Oregon would punt again. Cal did not take long to score.
The Oregon Defense looked better, but Khalif Muhammed looked more like what Royce Freeman should look like. He used speed to pick up a key first down for the Golden Bears. Demetrus Robertson hauled in a pass from Davis Webb over the shoulder for the first touchdown of the game, 7-0 Cal
The Ducks found some momentum on their next drive, but penalties reared their ugly head once again and Justin Herbert was sacked. Taj Griffin broke free for a 50 yard touchdown that was called back. Oregon was again forced to punt at 4th and 21.
Cal would run all over Oregon on the next drive. The 118th ranked Rush Defense in the Nation allowed Mohammed to rush for 82 yards in the first quarter, the majority on the drive that gave the Bears a 14-0 lead. In a quarter of play, the Golden Bears ran for over 100 yards.
The Golden Bears would make it 21-0 with another drive mixing the run and the pass. The Ducks were being outplayed and the Oregon Defense were on the field for four minutes. Oregon needed a spark badly.
That spark would come with a long pass to Darren Carrington and three plays later Pharoah Brown taking the ball across the plane to give Oregon a Touchdown, down 21-7. The Golden Bears would add a field goal to make it 24-7 before the Ducks would get the ball back.
Charles Nelson would be on the back end of 56 yards and a 42 yard touchdown catch and run to tie the game at 42. Cal would have just over three minutes to respond. They would. Kicker Matt Anderson had a chance to kick a 41 yard field goal for the win, it was wide left and overtime in Berkley.
Jalen Brown picks up the first touchdown in Overtime for the Ducks and Aiden Schneider added the extra point, 49-42 Oregon. Cal was next. Davis Webb would slide into the endzone from the two yard line and Anderson would tie the game at 49. 2nd Overtime.
The Golden Bears started the second Overtime, which was penalty ridden for Cal forcing a field goal and a 52-49 lead. All Oregon needed was a Touchdown for the win, but Justin Herbert would throw an interception in the 2nd OT.
Cal won the game, Oregon was sent to their 5th straight loss, 4th in the Pac-12.