Cal Preview
Rick Morgan
Oski and the Duck might sound like the title of a children's book but that's what is in store Thursday night at Autzen Stadium when 9th ranked Oregon hosts the California Bears.
After seventy three meetings, this will be the first as Northern Division rivals within the Pac-12. It is somewhat fitting that honor falls to the Bears. With Oregon State as the most proximate northern rival, Cal would be the ying to that yang, not to mention a cultural perspective Eugene and Berkeley share. There good reason to sell "University of California at Eugene" sweatshirts at the bookstore.
While Cal leads the overall series 39-32 with a pair of no-decisions, Oregon has held a decided upper hand of late - particularly at Autzen - winning 10 of the last 15 overall and eight of the last nine at home.
Complicating that reality for head coach Jeff Tedford is the startling fact California has lost seven of their last nine games on the road. That's a tough way to break into the upper division of the conference and Bay Area fans seem to be getting a touch restless.
A dose of reality is in order. remember Tom Holmoe??? But with long promised facilities improvements underway in Strawberry Canyon, the pressure on Tedford isn't going to diminish anytime soon.
Tedford earned his chops as a quarterback coach and offensive coordinator but it was the other side of the ball, Oregon head coach Chip Kelly spoke to first when asked about this year's Bears.
". they run a thee-four defense since (Defensive Coordinator) Spence Pendergrass came in a year ago," he said. "Active. Four real good linebackers, put a lot of pressure on the quarterback."
One of those linebackers - Mychal Kendricks - leads the team in tackles with 35 and tied a career high with 15 last week against Washington. D.J. Holt is second with 29. Both are wizened seniors and figure to attract much of Oregon's attention if the Ducks hope to unleash LaMichael James and protect Darron Thomas.
There is more experience in the secondary.
"Some secondary guys with skills that came back from last year," said Kelly. "Marc Anthony is back, (Sean) Cattouse is back, Steve Williams is back, guys that have played against us and are solid."
Since Aaron Rodgers graduated, consistent play at quarterback has been the Bear's Achilles heel. Transfer Zach Maynard was handed the keys to the Bear offense after winning the job last spring, replacing Brock Mansion.
Breaking in a new signal caller in the Pac-12 has historically been a dicey proposition although to date Maynard has been solid if not spectacular, throwing for 1073 yards on 72-138 with three picks.
Kelly noted Maynard's ability to make plays when he surveyed the California offense.
"On the offensive side of the ball they have an athletic quarterback," he said. "Two outstanding receivers in Marvin Jones and Keenan Allen."
Allen - a 6-3, 205 pound sophomore leads the team with 30 receptions and 498 yards with Jones - a 6-3 202 pound senior - right behind with 23 catches and 375 yards. Both are big enough to outmuscle defensive backs going up for the ball and quick enough to be difficult to jam at the line of scrimmage.
"They are an "I" formation team but they're multiple in what they do," Kelly continued. "Two real good running backs. They are a balanced offense."
5"8", 190 pound Isi Sofele has the bulk of the carries, 79 for 380 yards and 4 touchdowns with C.J. Anderson adding 97 yards and three scores on 19 touches.
And balanced the Bears are, throwing 151 times and rushing 151 times.
Last year's clash in Berkeley turned Oregon's way when field goal kicker Georgio Tavecchio was first guilty of a false start that took three points off the board then missed the retry from five yards back. Tavecchio is five for five on threes so far this year, but he has missed three extra point attempts. .
"There is a lot of familiarity once you are back in the league," said Kelly of playing the Bears. "We've played Cal and they've had the same coach for the last couple of years and they've played us and we've had the same staff for the last couple of years so we're pretty familiar with each other."
Unless Oregon is looking past the Bears to next weekend's showdown with ASU, California's prospects of stealing away with a victory aren't encouraging. The lack of recent success on the road, a quarterback new to Autzen and an iffy place kicker all add up to look more like the fifth place team the Bears were projected to be than a team ready to end Oregon's 18 home game winning streak.
