Cal (finally) lives up to billing in win over Oregon
Mostly whole for the first time this season, the Cal football team showed what it could be in a 21-17 victory over No. 21 Oregon on Saturday evening at Memorial Stadium.
Handicapped for three weeks by issues related to COVID-19, the Bears made timely plays on offense, game-changing plays on defense and no bonehead plays on special teams to win for the first time.
“It feels great to win. That’s why we all do this, for this feeling right here,” Cal coach Justin Wilcox said.
Picked to finish second in the Pac-12 North, Cal (1-3) was impacted in each of its first three games by the coronavirus. The Bears had their opening game scratched because they had no available defensive linemen. The past two weeks, they were without three starters on the offensive.
Senior linebacker Kuony Deng, who forced two fourth- quarter fumbles by the Ducks that clinched the victory, said the Bears never lost faith.
“There has been so much stuff, so many circumstances that have made things tough for us, but we understood that we have a really good football team,” he said. GOODE IS GREAT >> Cal’s defense pitched a second-half shutout against the Ducks (3-2), who led 17-14 at the break and entered the game leading the Pac-12 in scoring at 38.5 points per game.
There were a lot of significant contributors on defense, including Deng, who created the two late takeaways and linebacker Braxten Croteau, who missed the previous two games while in quarantine. Croteau threw running back CJ Verdell for a one-yard loss on a fourth-and-1 play from the Cal 18 early in the fourth quarter.
No one was more impactful than Cameron Goode, the senior outside linebacker who had 3 1/2 tackles for loss among his seven tackles, recovered a fumble and nearly picked off a pass.
“He makes my job easier I only have to set the edge for a second because Cam already tackled the guy,” Croteau said.