Two Yards Short, Cal Falls to Oregon 24-17

After a crazy Chase Garbers shovel pass to get the Bears down to the 3, Cal could not get into the endzone for a tie or a touchdown to go for two, as Oregon sent an all-out blitz, rushing Garbers, and the Cal QB couldn't find a receiver on the final 4th and goal from the 2. Cal dropped to 1-5 after the 24-17 loss, one which saw the Bears come back to take a brief 4th quarter lead, but Travis Dye's 218 yards of total offense proved to be too much for the Bears.

Cal's solid first quarters would continue in the early going against the Ducks, though they would allow a 49 yard field goal on their first defensive possession. Cal would do what they've done on their first drives throughout the season. Cal converted three third downs, and finished a 13 play drive with a Chase Garbers touchdown to Jake Tonges.

Cal's defense would come up big on the next drive, as Oregon got inside the Cal 40, but Anthony Brown would miss on a couple throws, and Femi Oladejo would tackle Travis Dye short of the line to gain on 4th and 6.

Cal did not have a play over 10 yards in the first half, and only gained 68 yards after their first touchdown drive, as the Bears turned it over on downs with a sack by Noah Sewell, but Cal would swing the turnover margin in their favor thanks to Elijah Hicks forcing a fumble in the redzone, recovering and ending another Oregon threat. Cal would punt on their next drive, and Brown would find Devon Williams for 40 yards of completions, while Dye would continue his hot stretch with an 11 yard run to give Oregon a 10-7 lead. A Cal drive would stall before the half, but Marqez Bimage came up with a big play before the half, with a strip sack and fumble recovery to keep it a one score game going into the tunnel.

Second Half

Cal and Oregon would trade punts to start the half, but the Bears got downfield in a hurry thanks to a 26 yard reception by Jeremiah Hunter, then a 17 yarder to Kekoa Crawford. Cal's drive would stall thanks to a Will Craig holding, with star OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux in the game in the second half. Dario Longhetto, with Matt Cindric snapping on field goals, would hit a 45 yarder to tie things up.

Cal forced another stop, thanks to an Oregon false start, then would march downfield thanks to another Hunter catch and run, followed by some strong runs by Chris Brooks and a redzone play to Jake Tonges down to the 3. Gavin Reinwald would give the Bears a 17-10 lead with a 4 yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The strong defensive play would end there, with Kris Hutson making up for his early fumble with a good kickoff return, Dye busting a 20 yard run up the gut, and Anthony Brown finding Jaylon Redd down the seam for a score for the tie. Thibodeaux would do more damage to the Cal offensive line, with two holding calls drawn, a sack, and a couple pressures to boot.

Dye would have a couple other first down runs, along with a 39 yard screen play on 1st and 20, with Brown scrambling for 11 yards to finish the drive and put Oregon up 24-17 with under five minutes to go.

Then the Bears put together a final drive, kept alive by a defensive holding on Oregon, with two on that final drive. Garbers who had run for a first down on a QB counter, kept the Bears alive while escaping from Thibodeaux, with a shovel pass to the 4 yard line.

Cal would spike the ball on first down to save a timeout and potentially catch Oregon offsides, but a throw to Remigio at the goal line went out of the receiver's hands, a QB counter by Garbers got down to the 2, and the all out Oregon blitz would force a Garbers incompletion, sealing the game for the Bears.

- Cal had opportunities throughout the final frame, with Garbers overthrowing an open Kekoa Crawford on a deep shot, miscommunicating with Jake Tonges on a goal to go play, then Remigio not making an admittedly tough play on 2nd and goal. It's never one thing with this Cal team.

- For the third straight game, Ethan Saunders had a strip sack. Cal won the turnover battle against the Ducks, thanks to the two forced fumbles, but also committed 10 penalties for 78 yards.

- There's a slight chance Thibodeaux was offsides on the 1st down spike at the 4.

- Jeremiah Hunter did not have a target in the first half, but excelled with 3 receptions for 78 yards in the second half.

- Cal, for the second consecutive game, ran with a young ILB group, as Mo Iosefa, Femi Oladejo, Nate Rutchena, and Trey Paster took all the reps.

- McKade Mettauer went down with an injury in the second half, and Brian Driscoll spelled him for the remainder of the game at right guard.

- Collin Gamble had a career high 11 tackles, as Lu-Magia Hearns didn't play for the Bears on defense. Chigozie Anusiem returned to the starting lineup at corner

- This is the fourth game of the year where Cal has lost by a single score or less.