Cal Football Game Summary: Bears Lose to No. 8 Oregon
No. 8 Oregon won its seventh straight game by beating Cal.......on Saturday afternoon in Berkeley. The Ducks remain alone atop the Pac-12 standings and have scored more than 40 points in each of their past seven games.
Cal has lost four games in a row and is now 3-5 after a 3-1 start to the season. The Bears held a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter, but the Ducks dominated from there.
Oregon quarterback Bo Nix accounted for six touchdowns -- three on passes and three on runs..
Redshirt freshman quarterback Kai Millner played most of the fourth quarter for Cal, and he threw two touchdown passes -- one of 11 yards and one of 55 yards.
The game summary:
OREGON 42, CAL 24
RECORDS: CAL (3-5, 1-4 Pac-12), OREGON (7-1, 5-0 Pac-12)
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Oregon quarterback Bo Nix. Nix accounted for five touchdowns. He was 27-for-35 for 412 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Nix also ran for 59 yards and three touchdowns.
TURNING POINT: Oregon drove 63 yards in eight plays for a touchdown that put the Ducks ahead 14-10 with 4:14 left in the first half. On Cal's ensuing possession, Jack Plummer threw a pass that was intercepted by Trikweze Bridges, and Oregon turned that turnover into a touchdown and a 21-10 lead with 1:54 left in the first half.
INJURY NOTE: Cal was and without starting cornerback Lu-Magia Hearns III, starting inside linebacker Muelu Iosefa, inside linebacker Blake Antzoulatos and wide receiver Mason Starling because of injuries. Femi Oladejo started at one inside linebacker spot.
KEY PLAY 1: On a fourth-and-4 play from the Cal 14-yard line, Oregon quarterback Bo Nix threw an incomplete pass, turning the ball over to Cal with 8:10 left in the first quarter of a scoreless game.
KEY PLAY 2: On first down from the Oregon 14-yard line, Cal quarterback Jack Plummer threw a 35-yard completion to J.Michael Sturdivant, who made an outstanding catch. Later in that possession, Dario Longhetto kicked 28-yard field goal to put Cal ahead 3-0 with 4:01 left in the first quarter.
KEY PLAY 3: On a third-and-15 play from the Oregon 35-yard line, Bo Nix threw a perfect long pass to a wide-open Kris Hutson, but Hutson dropped the ball at the Cal 30-yard line. Had he caught the pass it would have been a touchdown with no Cal defenders near him with three minutes left in the first quarter.
KEY PLAY 4: Bo Nix ran 4 yards for an Oregon touchdown on a third-and-goal play, putting Oregon ahead 7-3 on the first play of the second quarter. That completed a 47-yard drive.
KEY PLAY 5: Jack Plummer completed a 57-yard pass to Jeremiah Hunter that moved the ball from the Cal 25-yard line to the Oregon 18-yard line. Four plays later Plummer completed a 6-yard touchdown pass to J.Michael Sturdivant to put Cal ahead 10-7 with 13:08 left in the first half.
KEY PLAY 6: On a second-and-goal play from the Cal 8-Yard line, Bo Nix threw a pass that bounced off the hands of Ducks receiver Troy Franklin, who was hit by Cal's Jackson Sirmon. Cal's Orin Patu grabbed the ball before it hit the ground for an interception at the Cal 4-yard line with 9:42 left in the first half.
KEY PLAY 7: Bo Nix completed a 22-yard pass to Terrance Ferguson, moving the ball to the Cal 24-yard line. Later in the drive, Nix scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to put Oregon ahead 14-10 with 4:14 left in the second quarter.
KEY PLAY 8: Jack Plummer's pass was intercepted by Oregon's Trikweze Bridges at the Cal 48-yard line with 2:29 remaining in the second quarter.
KEY PLAY 9: On Oregon's possession following the interception, Bo Nix threw a 25-yard completion to Kris Hutson. Two plays later, Nix threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Hutson to increase Oregon's lead to 21-10 with 1:54 left in the first half.
KEY PLAY 10: Bo Nix threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Noah Whittingham to the Ducks' opening possession of the second half to put the Ducks ahead 28-10.
STAT OF THE GAME: Cal had 8 rushing yards in the first half.
STAT OF THE GAME II: Oregon finished with 586 yards of offense. It began the day averaging 517.1 yards per game, which ranked fifth in the country.
INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE GAME: Cal wide receiver Jeremiah Hunter, who missed last week's game with an injury, had five catches for 96 yards against Oregon.
QUARTERBACK STATS: Cal's Jack Plummer was 20-for-33 for 214 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Kai Millner was 8-for-11 for 114 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He ran once for 13 yards. Millner's 11-yard touchdown pass to Monroe Young was the first TD pass of Millner's college career, and his 55-yard TD throw to Justin Richard Baker was his second career scoring pass..
Oregon’s Bo Nix was 27-for-35 for 412 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, with one of his interceptions coming on a Hail Mary pass at the end of the first half.. Nix also ran for 59 yards and three touchdowns.
WHAT IT MEANS: Cal must win its four remaining Pac-12 games to avoid having a losing conference record for the 13th consecutive season.
CAL'S BOWL BAROMETER: The Bears' bowl chances slipped to 15 percent. They must win three of their final four games against USC, Oregon State, Stanford and UCLA to become bowl eligible. The next two -- USC and Oregon State -- are on the road.
NEXT GAME: Cal (3-5, 1-4 Pac-12) at No. 10 USC (6-1, 4-1 Pac-12), Saturday, November 5. Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. TV: ESPN. USC played a road game against Arizona in a Saturday game that started at 4 p.m. Cal beat the Trojans 24-14 last year in Berkeley, but the USC head coach (Lincoln Riley) and quarterback (Caleb Williams) were at Oklahoma at the time.
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Cover photo of Jaydn Ott is by John Hefti, USA TODAY Sports
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