It’s Duck season, folks.

Cal (3-4, 1-3 Pac-12) hosts the No. 8-ranked Oregon Ducks (6-1, 4-0) at 12:30 p.m. PST Saturday (on FS1) in a contest that has almost too many storylines to keep straight.

Right off the bat, Cal’s head coach and both coordinators on staff are graduates of the University of Oregon (Justin Wilcox and Peter Sirmon in ‘99 and Bill Musgrave in ‘90).

Additionally, it was widely reported that Wilcox was the top option in the Ducks’ 2021 search for a head coach, all for naught. Wilcox reportedly turned down their initial offer as well as a last second ‘Hail Mary’ offer before they went ahead and hired Dan Lanning (per John Canzano of the Oregonian).

Obviously, that hire seems to be working out well for the Ducks.

Wilcox is 1-4 with a -52 point differential against his alma mater, but the last three games in this series have been all decided by 10 points or fewer. If there’s one thing Wilcox can do, it’s drag Oregon down to Cal’s type of ballgame.

Oregon is favored by 17 points in this matchup and may very well cover that spread, but recent history suggests that the Ducks are going to have to sweat this one out against the Bears. Whether they like it or not.

Let's take a closer look at the challenge Oregon presents for Cal ...

Coach: Dan Lanning (1st season, 6-1)

Stats/national rank

Scoring Offense: 42.4 PPG (7th)

Scoring Defense: 29.0 (88th)

Total Offense: 517.1 YPG (5th)

Total Defense: 383.7 YAPG (77th)

What the Ducks do well: