By Morris Phillips
BERKELEY, CA–It’s the story thus far of Cal’s season, and their four-game losing streak: spotty play, and the inability to sustain momentum.
“There’s some things that happened at the end of the first half and start of the second that if we would have performed a bit better, then we could have made that game very competitive,” coach Justin Wilcox said.
Cal’s 42-24 loss to Oregon saw Cal stop the high-scoring Ducks early, handing them their first, scoreless opening quarter in six games, but not backing that effort with a significant lead they could protect. Instead Cal’s brief 10-7 advantage evaporated and quarterback Bo Nix emerged.
Nix led the Ducks on a pair of touchdown drives before halftime, another in the third, and another to start the fourth quarter. Within that stretch, the Bears went without points on five, straight possessions and found themselves trailing 35-10 with 12:19 remaining.
Deflating? You bet, especially for Cal fans inside Memorial Stadium that gained a charge from Cal’s encouraging, first 25 minutes of play. But this was hardly surprising. The Ducks, winners of seven straight, are jelling under new coach Dan Lanning, and they own this series. Oregon has won 12 of 14 since 2009.
Lanning’s remarks after the game reflected the dominance. The former Georgia defensive coordinator didn’t expend a bunch of words crediting Cal. Instead, his focus was clearly on what his club needs to clean up with their unspoken goal of remaining in the National title hunt.
“At times we really had it and at times we didn’t,” Lanning said. “(We) struggled a little bit times at times in the red area, gave up some big pass plays that we don’t want to see on defense. I think all around there’s moments of improvement for our team. I think our guys are hungry to improve.”
Nix stood as the biggest difference between the clubs with his 27 of 35, 412-yard afternoon. The Auburn transfer had three touchdown passes and ran for three more scores. That combination of passing yardage and touchdowns put Nix in rare company with the deceased Dwayne Haskins and current 49er Brock Purdy as the only FBS quarterbacks to throw for at least 400 yards and three touchdowns along with three rushing touchdowns in the last ten seasons.
“I didn’t play my best today, but fortunately the guys around me played really good to still put up some points,” said Nix, with his mind on a pair of interceptions he threw that ultimately didn’t damage his team at all.
The Bears haven’t beaten a team ranked in the top ten nationally since 2017, and the numbers revealed the distance they’ll need to cover to again pull of that feat. No. 8 Oreon put up 586 yards in total offense and 42 points, which is two touchdowns more than Cal had allowed in the six, previous games this season.
Freshman Kai Millner replaced Jack Plummer in the fourth quarter, and the redshirt freshman led Cal to a pair of respectability-grabbing touchdowns in the game’s final five minutes. Plummer didn’t play poorly with 214 yards passing and the touchdown pass to J. Michael Sturdivant that gave Cal its lead. But with the game’s outcome decided, Wilcox opted to get Millner valuable experience.
Sturdivant and Jeremiah Hunter were Cal’s bright spots with a combined 11 catches, and their ability to outduel Oregon’s secondary for a pair of lengthy pass completions. Given their success, Hunter’s words after the game confirming that the Cal locker room remains unified holds significance. Hunter also echoed Wilcox regarding Cal’s inconsistent play.
“We have to have a game where–like coach said–both sides of the ball come together and play their best,” Hunter said. “We haven’t done that yet.”
The Bears visit USC on Saturday night with the No. 10 Trojans giving them a second, consecutive, top ten opponent.
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