How appropriate that Saturday of all days, there would be stormy weather. Ducks love water don't they? Well, the Ducks from Oregon would probably disagree with that premise, especially after their contest with Cal. On a day of hard-hitting and unexpected miscues, the California Golden Bears upset the mighty Oregon Ducks 26-16 in front of a sparse rain-soaked crowd at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley. They even did it with their backup/starter/backup quarterback and their backup running back leading the way.
I think a couple times the ball came out because people got hit really hard. It was a bad day to play football. It was a bad field to play football. There was standing water on the field and in this day and age that's unheard of.
- Oregon head coach Mike Belotti on the playing conditions
| FINAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | T |
| 23 Oregon | 6 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
16
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| 27 California | 9 | 7 | 3 | 7 |
26
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Nate Longshore, who had been relegated to the bench following the Arizona loss two weeks ago, got another chance to show his worth after starter Kevin Riley was knocked out of the game with a slight concussion. The Bears had just taken a three point lead on a safety when Riley was driving them back for more. On a first and 15 play, Riley scrambled from the pocket and had gotten about 10 yards down field when a trio of Oregon defenders converged on him. One of the defenders inadvertently got in a helmet-to-helmet hit causing Riley to question where he was.
He was scrambling, there was nowhere he (Riley) could go. We were closing in on him. It was kind of a triangle between me, Patrick (Chung) and Jairus Byrd. I just tried to give him everything I could. I wasn't trying to take him out of the game. I hit him with my shoulder, we may have had a little helmet, but I use my shoulder most of the time.
- Oregon safety T.J. Ward on the play that took Riley out of the game
Due to a hold on the same play that Riley was injured on, Longshore stepped in with little time to warm up and facing a first and 25 situation - he promptly threw for an incompletion making it second and 25. After a completion to Shane Vereen for 11 yards and another incompletion, Cal had the ball at the Oregon 34-yard line with a fourth down decision. With the down and distance being fourth and 14, the Bears chose to go for it after a time out. Longshore promptly threw a 16 yard strike for a first down.
After that play, there was no noticeable drop-off in the offense with Longshore at the helm. Ironically, the statline between the two quarterbacks seemed to be mistaken for the other. The normally efficient and less accurate Riley threw 12 times, completed seven passes, had one touchdown and one interception. The normally accurate and turnover prone Longshore completed 13 passes out of 27 attempts and one touchdown - no interceptions.
He's come off the bench before this year, at Washington State, but under totally different conditions. The first play today, he was in a position where he had to throw the ball down the field. But he's a veteran; he's been in a lot of games before. Sure, coming off the bench is a little bit new for him, but it was no big deal. He got in there and had great focus. He always prepares. They both prepare very well, so it's not like he wasn't prepared mentally or with the game plan.
- Cal head coach Jeff Tedford on going back to Longshore after the Riley injury
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Eight turnovers were the product of the stormy wet weather. Cal lost four fumbles and gave up one interception while Oregon was intercepted twice and lost one costly fumble that led to a Bears touchdown.
Could the Bears be looking at a top-25
ranking again? (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
In the third quarter, the Ducks began to dominate the Bears and mount a serious comeback. Oregon had the ball four times within the quarter scoring twice on a field goal and a touchdown for 10 points in the quarter while allowing three to Cal. On the fourth drive, they were at Cal's 13-yard line when the quarter ended. Soon after all of their gained momentum would disappear.
That drive yielded zero points after a missed 29-yard field goal and the Bears would get the ball back. When the Bears' drive stumbled at the Cal 45, Bryan Anger punted to Byrd. Byrd, the 10th-ranked punt return specialist in the nation, couldn't handle the ball and the fumble was recovered by Cal at Oregon's six-yard line. Two plays later, the Bears would score the final touchdown of the game on a two-yard run by tailback Vereen.
On Cal's first drive of the game, the Bears started with a couple of runs by Jahvid Best, leaving them with a third and four play at their own 42. Riley went back to pass, but the vaunted Oregon pass rush caused him to force a lob pass over the line to nobody, except for Ducks' linebacker Spencer Paysinger.
The Ducks followed that interception with a display of why they are/were nationally ranked. A six-yard pass, a 13-yard rush, a 10-yard pass, and a 17-yard run by quarterback Jeremiah Masoli for a touchdown gave the Ducks a quick four-play six point drive and lead. A botched snap led to a failed PAT.
After both the offense and defense began the game poorly, Cal snapped out of their funk on their second offensive drive of the game. On the drive, Riley led the Bears from their own 23 and drove 77 yards for a touchdown. The Bears defense then figured out how to stop the Oregon spread-option offense. Allowing only one first down on the Ducks' second drive, they were able to stop them and force a punt. After that, the Bears rolled for the rest of the half, going into the locker room with a 16-6 lead.
Oregon, most notable for their myriad of uniforms and their association with Nike showed up wearing all white. The last time the Bears faced the Ducks at home, they broke out their gold jerseys for the first time. On Saturday, they one-upped that by wearing gold jerseys and gold pants, also made by Nike. With all of the difficulty both teams had doing fairly natural things in the stormy weather, seeing Cal players on the field wasn't one of them.
Cal next travels to Pac-10 powerhouse, USC. Going into this week, Cal was 27th and 29th in the polls, but after beating a very good and ranked Oregon, they may meet USC as a ranked team.
It's definitely going to be a big game. They have one loss and we have one loss in the Pac-10, so the Pac-10 championship and the Rose Bowl are up for grabs.
- Cal LB Mike Mohamed on next week's game in Los Angeles
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