Bye Week Brush-Up: Midseason MVP and other superlatives - Defense

Postgame Post Mortem: Takeaways from Oregon’s win over Cal

Team / Sunday, September 30th, 2018

It’s been nearly two years since the Ducks picked up their last Pac-12 road victory.

That drought is now officially over, as no. 19 Oregon cruised to a 42-24 win over no. 24 Cal Saturday night in Berkeley to move to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play.

Coming off last week’s heartbreaking loss to Stanford, the primary question enter this week’s game was whether the Ducks would be emotionally equipped to bounce back and take care of business on the road against a Golden Bears side that was 3-0 and coming off a bye. Those questions were promptly answered in the first half, as the Ducks used a quick strike offense and a defensive touchdown to jump out to 28-10 lead by halftime. The scoring onslaught would slow in the second half, but the Ducks would never look back, as Oregon forced a season-high five turnovers to keep Cal at arm’s length the rest of the way.

Below, WFOD dissects the details stemming from Oregon’s road victory over Cal.

1. An opportunistic Oregon defense surfaces in Berkeley

As we noted earlier in the week, Oregon’s ability to win the turnover battle against one of the nation’s top teams in forcing turnovers was expected to be a major key to victory. The only problem was, coming into Saturday’s game, the Ducks had yet to really have a breakthrough performance when it came to forcing opponent turnovers. In fact, entering the day, Oregon’s turnover margin was -3, ranking them tied for sixth in the Pac-12 in the category. However, that all changed for the Ducks in Berkeley, as Oregon forced a season-high five turnovers to keep the Golden Bears at bay en route to their 18-point victory. Safeties Ugo Amadi and Jevon Holland each nabbed a pair of interceptions, as Amadi’s second interception of the game was returned for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter to effectively seal the win for Oregon. Though that play put the victory on ice for the Ducks, perhaps the biggest momentum shifting play of the game came just before halftime, when Oregon’s La’Mar Winston recovered a Brandon McIlwain fumble and raced 61 yards for the score to give the Ducks a 28-10 lead heading into the break. On a night when the Oregon defense had itself fair share of low moments against one of the conference’s worst offenses, the opportunistic nature of the Duck defense was a welcomed sight.

2. Ducks show balanced, quick strike offensive attack

With a quarterback like Justin Herbert at the helm, points tend to come in bunches. That was precisely the case Saturday night versus Cal, as the Oregon offense demonstrated quick strike ability – particularly in the first half – both via the arm of Herbert and on the ground. The Ducks’ explosive offensive display started in late in the first quarter when Herbert found tight end Kano Dillon for a 30-yard score to give the Ducks a 7-3 advantage. Then, in the second frame, it was the running game’s turn, as Travis Dye’s 45-yard touchdown capped off a briskly-paced eight-play, 75-yard response drive that helped Oregon regain the lead at 14-10. An ensuing three-and-out by the Cal offense gave the Ducks the ball with less than four minutes to go in the first half and was quickly converted to points when Herbert found Dillon Mitchell for a 36-yard scoring strike. The offensive barrage slowed in the second half, but nevertheless, the Oregon offense was mostly sharp, carrying over their quality play from the previous week.

3. Vaunted rush defense struggles with Cal rushing attack

Through four games, arguably the most impressive thing about this Oregon football team was how stingy they were against against the run. Prior to Saturday, the Ducks led the Pac-12 in rush defense, limiting opponents to 75.5 yards per game and 2.1 yards per carry. Those staggering numbers will be a little less staggering come Sunday morning, as the Ducks surrendered a season-high 241 yards on the ground to the Golden Bears. Leading the charge was Cal quarterback Brandon McIlwain, who gained 123 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries and was particularly effective in gashing the Oregon defense on designed quarterback runs. Cal running back Patrick Laird also had one of his better games of the season thus far, gaining 92 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. Defensively, the Ducks appeared on their heels for most of the night, as adjusting to an unconventional Cal rushing attack proved to be a struggle. While it’s difficult to get too hung up on this performance considering what the Ducks have done against the run, it was an unexpected showing against an offense that has failed to impress this season.

4. Who’s “the man” in the Oregon backfield? Does it even matter?

For weeks, we’ve been wondering if/when a Duck running back will separate himself from the pack at the position. And for weeks, we’ve been left with little in the way of definitive answers. With five games now in the books for the Ducks, it may make more sense to stop asking who might be “the man” at running back for Oregon, and start instead asking, “Does it really matter?” That’s because against Cal Saturday night, the Ducks received not just one 100-yard rushing performance, but TWO 100-yard rushing performances courtesy of Dye (20 carries, 115 yards, one touchdown) and CJ Verdell (nine carries, 106 yards). Combined, the two freshman running backs rushed for 221 yards, as it appears now that a Dye-Verdell timeshare will be the approach for Oregon moving forward – especially after expected starter Tony Brooks-James received nary a carry despite being a regular on special teams.

5. Silly penalties make a cameo appearance

For the most part this season, the Ducks have been able to avoid some of the infuriating self-inflicted penalties that were a hallmark of last year’s team. However, against Cal, a handful of dumb penalties made an unceremonious return. The most notable was a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty called against Oregon cornerback Haki Woods after he was flagged for taunting a Cal receiver after an overthrown pass fell incomplete on third down. The penalty gave the Golden Bears an automatic first down, resuscitating a drive that ultimately saw McIlwain cap off an 11-play, 90-yard series with a 28-yard touchdown scamper. In total, Oregon’s seven penalties for 72 yards delivered their most penalized performance of the season.

News and notes:

  • Oregon defensive lineman Austin Faoliu and tight end Jacob Breeland each missed Saturday’s game with ankle injuries after being labeled as “50-50” by Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal heading into the game
  • Verdell was notably absent from the game late in the second half after reportedly tweaking his MCL, per Cristobal. While the injury isn’t expected to be serious, more details will be provided as the Ducks head into their upcoming bye week.
  • Oregon has scored 40-plus points in eight straight games against the Bears. The Ducks’ opening drive touchdown also marked the first points surrendered by Cal in the first quarter this season. In fact, Cal had given up just six total first half points on the season before Oregon scored 28 in the opening 30 minutes.
  • Oregon won its first Pac-12 road game since beating Utah on Nov. 19, 2016
  • Justin Herbert moved into ninth all-time at Oregon in career passing yards with 5,330, passing Dennis Dixon and Akili Smith

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