Battle for Respect Turns Into Cal-amity

Take a big thick red marker and draw a line through California on the list of top Pac-10 football teams looking to gain some national respect this season.

Isn't that what you do to fraudulent programs that fail to show up in statement games?

Well, that's what happened to Cal, who entered the weekend undefeated and ranked sixth in the AP poll but got hammered by unranked Oregon, 42-3, in a game that wasn't even that close at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore.

While Cal blew a chance to step up in the national landscape, the Ducks took full advantage of their opportunity.

After basically being written off at the start of the season following a disappointing loss at Boise State, which was overshadowed by LeGarrette Blount's post-game punch and season-long suspension, Oregon has now won three games in a row, which include back-to-back wins over ranked teams (Utah and Cal).

"The rankings don't matter to us," Oregon coach Chip Kelly said after the Ducks accounted for 524 total yards and held Cal to 206. "We knew we were going to win this game, we just made it happen. It's all about preparation."

To say that the Ducks gave Cal coach Jeff Tedford's mysterious team a beat down would be a major understatement. It was the Bears' most lopsided defeat ever under Tedford and the program's worst since USC beat Cal, 55-14, in 2001.
"The rankings don't matter to us ... We knew we were going to win this game, we just made it happen. It's all about preparation."
-Chip Kelley
"It all came down to us executing," Cal offensive lineman Mike Tepper said. "We'll take a look at film and learn from it. I've never been shut out before. This is definitely a huge learning experience.

"[Oregon's] guys were lighter and faster. But in the end, we shot ourselves in the foot left and right ... we just got beat. We got beat bad."

The Bears, who dropped to 3-1, looked good early when they forced an Oregon fumble on the opening kickoff and capitalized on the turnover to take a 3-0 lead.

But then everything seemed to fall apart for Cal on both sides of the ball and the player who hurt the Bears the most was Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli.

Starting with his struggles at Boise State to open the season, Masoli's stock had dropped considerably heading into Saturday's game: the Ducks had the Pac-10's worst passing offense, averaging 128 yards per game, and Masoli had completed less than 50 percent of his passes without a touchdown this season.

Masoli and the Ducks' offense rediscovered their game against the Bears, who looked confused and unprepared for most of the contest.

Masoli completed 21 of 25 passes for 253 yards with three touchdowns going to tight end Ed Dickson, who finished with 11 catches for a career-high 148 yards. Oregon also ran the ball well with LaMichael James rushing for 118 of the team's 238 yards gained on the ground.

"On offense the sky's the limit for us," Masoli said after the game. "We're the only ones who can hurt us. These last couple of weeks we've been in a funk, but today we moved past that."

Getting the ball to Dickson early and often played a key role in Oregon's passing attack. Listed at 6-5 and 243 pounds with 4.5 speed in the 40, Dickson is a matchup headache for any defense. But until Saturday, Dickson had been missing in action this season.

That was not the case against Cal.

"I think he is the best tight end in the Pac-10," Kelly said about Dickson, who had only four catches in three games prior to Saturday. "He is a game-changer at that position."

Cal's game-changer, Heisman Trophy candidate Jahvid Best, was never a factor against the Ducks. After rushing for a career-high five touchdowns in Cal's win at Minnesota last week, Best was limited to 55 yards against Oregon, which limited him from any breakaway runs.

And with Best held in check, the Bears turned into an average team with a suspect quarterback in Kevin Riley, who completed only 12 of 31 passes for 123 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.

Fortunately for the Bears, they will not have to wait long to redeem themselves because they host USC next week in Berkeley.

"I still have confidence in our guys," Tedford said about his team. "We'll go back to work this week with a good attitude and a lot of focus. I love this team, and I love our kids. It's one loss. It's a tough loss so we'll make sure we work extremely hard next week."