The California Golden Bears had two early impressive offensive drives against the Oregon Ducks defense, but couldn't punch it in the red zone. Isi Sofele (with an especially impressive 34 yard rush on the second drive) and C.J. Anderson got the rushing game going, and Zach Maynard found Keenan Allen on a short strike to the outside. The Cal passing game has struggled to get going though, particularly on 3rd down. Maynard has missed some throws, particularly on third down. Maynard overthrew Sofele in the end zone on the opening drive, then threw a ball too low to Keenan Allen on the second drive. Cal has had to settle for two Giorgio Tavecchio field goals.
Meanwhile, there'll be no repeat of the Cal defensive performance from a year ago. The Golden Bears abandoned their man-to-man defense when LaMichael James burned them early for a 53 yard touchdown by going outside to the left and the Bears had no outside contain there to hold him. Oregon again created a running lane to the outside to give James a 47 yard rush, which set up a De'Anthony Thomas end-around 17 yard touchdown run. Oregon's offense has been boom or bust, but it's enough to give the Ducks an early lead.
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