By: Ian Sutliff

Eugene, OR - On Saturday, #8 Oregon (6-1, 4-0) will travel away from Eugene for the first time in three weeks to take on California (3-4, 1-3) in Berkeley. For the Ducks, this game should be just a stepping stone in what the team’s ultimate goal is: win out and make the College Football Playoff. On the other hand, the Golden Bears will be facing their toughest test yet against an Oregon team that is coming off an extremely convincing win over UCLA. With that being said, it could be a very long day for Cal who has lost three in a row and has failed to score more than 21 points in five of its seven games this season.

Oregon Offense: 

It’s been a wild season for Bo Nix and this Oregon offense. After six straight games with at least 40+ points, it’s almost impossible to imagine that this is the same group that wasn’t able to get into the endzone in Georgia during the season opener. While it’s easy to look towards Nix at why the offense has been firing on all cylinders, there’s a lot to be said about the job that Noah Whittington and Bucky Irving have done to keep pressure off the passing game. The two combined for 180 yards last weekend against the Bruins and haven’t ran for under 150 yards since week two. That has allowed Nix a ton of freedom on the ground and allowed the Ducks to air it out because of the constant threat the run game has posed. Troy Franklin also leads a very deep receiver core and paces all Oregon wideouts with 35 receptions and five touchdowns. 

Oregon Defense:

Tosh Lupoi’s unit is coming off of a solid defensive performance in which it held UCLA’s offense to 16 points before a couple of garbage time scores. Now it will face the 10th ranked rushing offense in the conference which will play to the strength of this defense, as it ranks 19th in the country in stopping the run. One area where Oregon’s defense could struggle is with the arm of Cal quarterback Jack Plummer who has thrown for over 1,700 yards and has only thrown three interceptions to his 12 touchdown passes this season. Jaydn Ott is another player the Ducks might have to watch out for out of the backfield, but if Cal goes down early it won’t have to worry about much else than the passing game. Jeremiah Hunter and J.Michael Sturdivant are the only real threats at receiver for the Golden Bears which should be no problem for top cornerbacks Christian Gonzalez and Trikweze Bridges who have shutdown some of the best receivers in the conference this season. 

Cal Offense: 

Senior quarterback Plummer usually throws the ball about 30 times a game, but could easily break his season-high 52 attempts on Saturday. With the amount Oregon has scored over the past six games and its ability to stop the run, Cal’s passing game will likely be relied on to eat up large chunks of yaradge in a short amount of time. If Cal is to stay in this game, Plummer will have to be more efficient (61.2% completion rate) and continue to take care of the football like he has done so well this season. Mavin Anderson is another player to watch on this Golden Bear offense, as he is the only other receiver on the team outside of Hunter and Sturdivant to rank in the conference’s top 50 in yards per game. This will certainly be a tough test for an offense that only put up 13 on Colorado and has only had real success offensively against Arizona (118th ranked defense in college football) and FCS opponent UC Davis. 

Cal Defense: 

This is easily the toughest test this Cal defense has faced this season and while it hasn’t allowed more than 31 points in a single game this season, that might change this weekend. If the Golden Bears can stop the pass, this game could get really interesting. With the third best rushing defense in the conference, Cal can easily force Oregon into a much more pass heavy day than it may want. The only issue is that this unit is the worst in the Pac-12 in pass defensive, meaning that it might allow for some big plays. If Cal can force Nix into some bad decisions and continue to pick the ball off (T-4th in conference), it could easily lead to enough momentum to fire up the home crowd and make it a ballgame. One thing to keep in mind is that this team is 3-1 at home with it’s lone loss coming to Washington by just a single touchdown. 

Prediction:

Oregon has seemed almost impossible to stop on the ground the last few weeks and Cal has never seen a rushing attack quite like the Ducks. Nix will have plenty of chances to air it out against a weak pass defense as well, so there shouldn’t be too much concern if Whittington and Irving can’t get it going early. Plummer has been really stong at keeping the ball safe, but that might not matter that much against an Oregon defense that has been able to win without forcing frequent turnovers. On Saturday, I think Cal will continue its struggle finding paydirt and Oregon will continue to carve up defenses as they’ve done throughout the season. Whittington and Irving rush for 120 yards combined and Nix throws for 285 as Oregon cruises to another convincing win against a Pac-12 foe.

Oregon 38 - Cal 13