Halftime Thoughts: No. 9 Oregon vs. California

The No. 9 Oregon Ducks have yet to look like a top 10 team once again as they battle the California Golden Bears at Autzen Stadium, leading 10-7 at the intermission.

Joe Moorhead is back calling plays for the Ducks, and early on he was giving the ball plenty of times to Travis Dye in the run game and the pass game. On the first couple of drives, Dye had 89 rushing yards on four carries and caught three passes.

Great things have happened when he gets the ball, but not much else had gone the Ducks' way. Anthony Brown has thrown the ball down the field in the first half more than he did the whole game against Stanford, completing 12 of 17 passes for 132 yards.

Ducks fans were quite unhappy with the offense on the second drive as the Ducks turned it over on downs, but the offense picked up after a Cal touchdown.

The Ducks went 56 yards and moved into the red zone, but Kris Hutson fumbled after a highlight-reel juke to cause a missed tackle. Oregon's offense has flowed nicely after that turnover on downs on the second drive, but points must be put on the board.

Oregon has turned the ball over twice in Cal territory.

Devon Williams is back with a vengeance, showing that he can still produce as he did last year when he was one of the top receivers in the Pac-12 in terms of yards per reception. He has been the go-to receiver tonight with three catches for 57 yards.

Oregon's offense has moved much quicker through play calls than usual, but it hasn't seemed to affect their communication. The offensive line was solid up until the final couple of drives when Brown was under pressure from all around.

Defensively, the Ducks have been phenomenal since the Golden Bears' touchdown drive on their first series of the game. Tim DeRuyter's defense has forced two punts and a turnover on downs after the touchdown against his former team.

If the offense can keep firing down the field and turn yards into points while the defense gets stops, Oregon should be able to blow this one open in the second half. 10 points in the first half is not good enough, but the defense is doing its job, holding the Cal offense to no points after the first drive is impressive.

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