5 Takeaways: Ducks recover from brutal start to blow out Golden Bears 42-24
For the first 15 minutes of game time, this seemed like it might be a frustrating afternoon down in Berkeley, California for the Oregon Ducks. After the first quarter, the scoreboard read 3-0 in favor of the Golden Bears, and the Ducks’ opening drives went punt, turnover on downs, punt. Mixed in there were some penalties that stalled drives, and a massive drop from WR Kris Hutson that would have been an easy touchdown.
That’s why you play all four quarters, though. Oregon went on to score touchdowns on six of their next 9 drives, ultimately blowing Cal out and sealing this victory long before the final whistle. It was QB Bo Nix who led the way once again for the Ducks, accounting for six total touchdowns on the day. The defense proved dominant at times and did well against a late rally from Cal, and Oregon will leave the Bay area with their seventh-straight victory, in prime position to continue their march towards the Pac-12 Championship.
We learned a lot during this game. Here are some of our biggest takeaways from the day:
Bo Nix solidifies Heisman campaign
John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports
Each week I leave the Oregon game thinking that we might have seen Bo Nix play the best four quarters of his career, but then he turns around the next week and does it all over again.
Nix was dominant on Saturday, but in a way that we haven’t seen from him yet. He was incredibly balanced, doing it both with his arms and his legs. He finished throwing 27-for-35 (77%) for 412 yards and 3 TD. On the ground, he added 59 yards and 3 more touchdowns, He became just the fourth Oregon QB to ever have 3 passing TD and 3 rushing TD in a game, joining Jeremiah Masoli, Kellen Clemens, and Joey Harrington, per Oregon Athletic Communications.
Of course, his stat sheet will also include a pair of interceptions, but if you watched this game, it’s easy to remove the blame from No. 10. The first came on a pass to Troy Franklin where it hit the WR in the chest and bounced into a defenders hands — should have been an easy catch. The second was on an end-of-half hail mary attempt that landed in the hands of a Cal defender.
On the year, Nix now has a TD:INT ratio of 20-5, while adding 11 touchdowns on the ground. Those aren’t the most impressive numbers in the nation, but they certainly belong in the conversation. If Oregon can keep winning, there’s a really good chance that Nix finds his way into New York for the award ceremony in December.
Empty red zone trips remain an issue
A total of three times in this game the Ducks drove deep into the California red zone and came up empty-handed. In the first quarter, the Ducks got down to the 14-yard-line and got a turnover on downs after getting stuffed on 4th and 2. A few drives later, Nix had his pass to Franklin intercepted with Oregon on the 8-yard-line. Later in the second half, the Ducks once again turned it over on downs when they had the ball on the Cal 5-yard-line.
So those 42 points that Oregon put on the scoreboard? Yea, it could have been a lot more. That impressive stat-line that Nix put into the books? Imagine what we would be saying if he added another pair of scores?
“It’s nice when you don’t perform at your best, miss a few opportunities in the red zone, and you still do what we did on offense,” Nix said after the game. “It’s a good thing, but we have to go back to work.”
Ultimately, the fact that the Ducks were able to remain so dominant in a game where they had so many mistakes should be taken as a positive. When this team is firing on all cylinders and staying out of its own way, they are truly something to behold. I’m sure when we talk to Dan Lanning on Monday night, he will say something along the lines of what he’s said all season long…
“We’ve got a lot to clean up, a lot to improve on. We’re getting better, but we’re still not even close to playing our best football just yet.”
3rd-down defense takes big step forward
John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports
My biggest area for Oregon to improve going into this game was on third-down defense. Before Saturday’s contest, the Ducks were allowing a 50% conversion rate, which ranked 129th out of 131 teams in the FBS. That’s not great.
Fortunately, it improved on Saturday in a massive way. The Ducks held Cal to just 4-for-15 on third-down conversions, consistently finding a way to get off of the field when it mattered. They forced 5 punts and one field goal attempt from the Golden Bears when all was said and done.
I’m interested to see where this ranks Oregon nationally after the week is over. Of course, it won’t move them up drastically in the rankings, but a 26% success rate is something to be proud of, especially when that’s been one of the biggest weaknesses for a defense that’s struggled to play up to its ceiling thus far.
Middle 8 dominance
John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports
Some people look at Middle 8 stats in college football and laugh, which I understand. These minutes are no different than any other in the game, so why do we treat them with more importance?
I see the Middle 8 and consider the opportunity for momentum swings. When it comes to that, there are few teams better than Oregon at capturing that momentum.
If you’re unaware, the “Middle 8” is considered the final 4 minutes of the first half, and the first 4 minutes of the second half. It’s an important stretch of the game where a team can potentially score going into the break, regroup, and come out of halftime with some real steam. For the Ducks, it’s a stretch of time that’s been the source of dominance this season. That continued on Saturday.
Oregon outscored Cal 14-0 in the Middle 8. So far this year, that pushes their advantage to 104-20 overall in the Middle 8, and an even more impressive 101-6 if you take away the season-opening game against Georgia.
Whether it’s halftime adjustments, luck, or a little bit of both, it’s clear that there are few teams in the nation who are better than the Ducks at taking advantage of late-clock situations and turning them into points. They then come out of the break and keep the pedal down, often blowing the game wide open. We saw it happen again on Saturday, and it further proves one of the aspects of this team that is so good.
Defensive Line showed up
John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports
With an opportunity to go up against a non-mobile quarterback in Jack Plummer, the Ducks’ defensive line was able to have some fun on Saturday, and they took advantage. The DL showed up in ways that we haven’t quite seen this year, proving dominant against the run and having an impact in the passing game. DJ Johnson finished the day with 2 sacks, while Brandon Dorlus also proved effective with a tackle for loss.
On the day, Cal’s rushing attack had less than 100 yards on the ground and was largely not a factor in the game. The Golden Bears threw the ball 44 times, which was expected, but Oregon’s secondary did a solid job of keeping them in check. Overall, it was an impressive day for the defense, despite giving up 24 points, 14 of which came in the closing minutes of the game.
