The Pac-12 home opener for the 13th-ranked Oregon Ducks proved to be a full on S-T-R-U-G-G-L-E Saturday night inside Autzen Stadium.

In recent seasons, bouts with Cal have proven to be games in which the Oregon offense has exploded to life. In fact, in their previous eight games against the Bears, Oregon had scored 40 or more points in each of those contests.

That streak has ended, however, as the Oregon offense trudged its way to 17 points – all of which were unanswered – en route to a nerve-wracking 17-7 win over the visitors from Berkeley.

Turnovers, penalties, and shaky play from the normally reliable Justin Herbert will be notable talking points when looking back at this game, but the day’s biggest storyline was the one that has come to define this team all season, the Oregon defense, which once again turned in a thoroughly dominant performance to help lead the Ducks to victory.

Now 4-1 on the season and 2-0 in Pac-12 play, the Ducks have a quick turnaround before hosting Colorado this Friday. For now though, WFOD takes a closer look at Saturday’s win, offering up its biggest takeaways from Oregon’s 10th win in their last 11 meetings against the Bears.

1. Defense once again carries the day

They may have allowed their first touchdown in the last three games – which also marked their first surrendered first half touchdown this season – but the Oregon defense was lights out once again in a raggedy win over Cal Saturday. In fact, beyond the six-play, 63-yard touchdown drive on the Bears’ second possession of the game, the Ducks held Cal to 16 yards or less on nine of 12 possessions, which included seven three-and-outs. The third quarter was when the Duck defense particularly imposed its will, forcing four three-and-outs on four Cal possessions to help the Oregon offense claw their way back into the game.

In total, the Ducks held the Bears to 256 yards of total offense (their fourth straight game of holding a team to less than 300 yards of total offense), including just 190 yards through the air (the fourth time this season they’ve held an opponent to less than 200 yards passing) and a paltry 66 yards rushing (the third time in the last five the Ducks have held an opponent to less than 100 yards rushing). They also made good on their reputation for wreaking havoc, notching seven tackles for loss (including four sacks) and nabbing two interceptions courtesy of Jevon Holland and Troy Dye.

.@HollywoodVon with the tip and @Tdye15dbTroy with the pick! #GoDucks

📺 @CFBONFOX pic.twitter.com/o07ZehzOsX

— Oregon Football (@oregonfootball) October 6, 2019

Ballyhooed true freshman edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux was particularly impressive, turning in his best game yet as a collegian with two sacks to lead the Ducks Saturday night. After a string of relatively quiet performances over the first month of the season, Thibodeaux seems to be rounding into the form expected of out the nation’s no. 2 overall prospect from the 2019 class. He could be in line for an even bigger role too, as senior defensive end Gus Cumberlander was carted off the field in the fourth quarter with what appeared to be a significant leg injury.

2. Herbert, Oregon passing game was unsettled

Even with the return of Brenden Schooler, Mycah Pittman, and Juwan Johnson Saturday, the Ducks had a tough time finding success through the air against a terrific Cal secondary. It’s expected that there will be better days ahead for the trio, who combined for five catches for 64 yards on the night, though they were far from the only players who struggled to find their way in the passing game.

Chief among those involved was Herbert, who’s blistering play the last several weeks came to an end against the Bears. The Eugene native finished the day with 214 yards and one touchdown on 20-of-33 passing, including one interception – his first in 176 pass attempts, snapping the longest active streak in the country among FBS quarterbacks. Credit the Cal defense for disrupting Herbert’s timing and blanketing Oregon’s pass catchers, but in general, Herbert never appeared to settle in and find his rhythm. Aside from the play of the Cal secondary, perhaps some of that had to do with the offense’s commitment to establishing the run early in the game, or maybe even the influx of new faces impacted chemistry overall. Either way, Herbert’s performance Saturday was by far his rockiest of the season.

3. Running game gets back on track…kind of

After taking a beating the last few weeks in this space, and others, the Oregon ground game produced arguably its most impressive overall performance of the season against Cal. It was evident early in the game that the Ducks had not only worked on their running game during the bye week, but that they were dedicated to proving as much. In fact, 14 of their first 18 offensive plays took place on the ground, netting the Ducks 98 rushing yards in the first quarter alone. Oregon would go on to finish the night with 190 yards on 40 attempts (4.8 yards/carry), but it was encouraging nonetheless to see CJ Verdell and Travis Dye gain chunk yardage and announce themselves as capable rushers behind an offensive line that seemed determined to prove a point.

Unfortunately, Verdell’s night was cut short, as he left the game in the first quarter with an apparent ankle injury, finishing with 46 yards on 10 carries. Dye’s 81 yards on 15 carries led all rushers Saturday, but his two fumbles relegated him to the bench in the second quarter and could have him in a precarious position as Oregon’s starting running back should Verdell be forced to miss extended time.

4. Oregon wins, but with extra slop

A win is a win, and you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone inside the Oregon locker room that is upset with the final outcome vs. Cal. But man oh man was that an uncharacteristically sloppy outing from the Ducks. Not only was Justin Herbert off target, but the Ducks committed three turnovers in Cal territory (two of which came in the red zone), in addition to being whistled for eight penalties for 85 yards – a number that nearly doubled their average number of penalties coming into this game (4.3 penalties/game). Coming off a bye week, it’s reasonable to have expected a sharper all-around performance. With a short week on deck, the hope is that these particular inefficiencies are simply an outlier and not symptomatic of deeper issues.

5. Ducks convert their first field goal of the year, but not before suffering another miss

If you’re a Duck fan, you’re really hoping that there isn’t a game this season that gets decided by a field goal. Saturday’s game proved that once again, as true freshman kicker Camden Lewis missed a 45-yard field goal with roughly four minutes to go before halftime which kept the Ducks off the scoreboard in the first half. Lewis would redeem himself by converting a 28-yard attempt in the third quarter to cut Cal’s lead to 7-3, but it has been anything but an ideal start for the Cornelius, N.C. native who is now 1-for-4 on field goal attempts this season.

Items of note:

• Oregon has held four consecutive opponents to single-digits in points for the first time since 1960 (at California, at Washington, vs. Stanford, vs. West Virginia)
• The Ducks are 2-0 in conference play for the first time since 2013
• Oregon has an interception in 12 of the last 14 games, including seven straight dating back to 2018. The seven consecutive games with an interception is Oregon’s longest streak since 2012, when it intercepted a pass in 11 straight games.
• The Oregon defense forced a season-high seven three-and-outs on Cal’s 13 drives
• Justin Herbert matched the program record for touchdown passes through the first five games of a season with 15, tying Marcus Mariota (2014) and Akili Smith (1998). Herbert also moved into second at Oregon in career passing yards with 8,411 and is now behind only Marcus Mariota.
• Jaylon Redd caught a touchdown pass for the fourth straight game, the longest streak of his career