Written By: Ben Schoenfield
EUGENE, OR– On Saturday afternoon the Oregon Ducks Football team played at Autzen Stadium versus the Cal Berkeley Golden Bears in a Pac-12 matchup. The Ducks beat the Golden Bears 63-19 with a combined air and run attack. Bo Nix and Tez Johnson lead this team with big games for each of them. Bo Nix threw 29/38 for 386 yards and 4 touchdowns. Tez had 12 receptions for 180 yards and had 3 punt returns for 75 yards. Nix has 25 passing touchdowns and 5 rushing touchdowns, including 2 today, to only two interceptions.
The first quarter was very sloppy on both sides. There were four turnovers in the quarter alone, including on the first play where Bo Nix threw a slant to Tez Johnson, and it slipped out of his hands and got picked off. The Oregon defense returned the favor on Cal’s first drive, when Steve Stephens IV got the ball back with a redzone pick. Stephens interception came after a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown and got called back for multiple penalties on the defense. The Ducks and the Bears both fumbled later on in the quarter. Bo Nix had a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown in the quarter, having the quarter end with a score of 14-10.
During the second quarter the Ducks caught rhythm, in the three drives that they started in the second quarter ended in touchdowns. In the quarter Bucky Irving was able to do what he wanted whenever he wanted, which allowed the passing offense to flourish. Bo Nix started off the quarter with his second rushing touchdown of the half. In the next two drives they had four rushing plays and eight passing plays, both touchdowns were passes, one to Tez Johnson and another to Troy Franklin. This quarter was dominated by Oregon’s defense forcing two 3-and-outs after giving up a field goal at the beginning of the quarter. The score at halftime was 35-13.
The third quarter started off with a great drive by the Golden Bears, they drove 75 yards in 6 plays, but then missed the two point conversion. Each team had three drives this quarter with both teams only scoring a touchdown each. Oregon’s punter had a great punt that went 64 yards and went out of bounds at Cal’s 3-yard line. This led the Bears to a 3-and-out and the punt landed on Cal’s 49-yard line. With the short field the Oregon offense started off with three passes to get them into a goal and go situation, they finished off the drive with two Bucky Irving 6-yd TD. After that touchdown the Golden Bears were assembling a great drive and were down knocking on Oregon’s door. But the Ducks defense forced a fumble on their own 1-yd line. The quarter ended with a score of 42-19 and Oregon on offense.
Oregon was driving to start the fourth and final quarter. From starting at the 1-yd line they at the Cal 18 looking to add onto the score. In two plays Bo Nix linked up with Terrance Ferguson for a 14-yd pass and a 4-yd TD pass. The Oregon defense forced yet another 3-and-out and got the ball at their own 44. The pass to Ferguson was Bo Nix’s last of the game, Ty Thompson got into the game and led the Ducks down the field in five plays ending in a Jordan James 16-yd rushing touchdown. Thompson got the ball for a second drive and helped Oregon go 41 yards that ended with a touchdown pass to Traeshon Holden with 2:26 left in the game. The Golden Bears ran out the clock on their last drive to close out the game. The Final Score was 63-19.
All in all the Oregon Ducks played an all around game, although sloppy from time to time. They never got down on themselves and had the confidence to keep going. Oregon scored five touchdowns through the air and four on the ground. The defense held Cal to only 12 offensive points and kept them from scoring in the final 28:47 of the game. The Ducks return to Autzen Stadium next Saturday vs the USC Trojans at 7:30 p.m. You will be able to tune in on KWVA 88.1 FM next weekend to hear the Ducks second to last home game of the season.