CBS Sports: College basketball No. 1-358 rankings: Preseason countdown concludes with top 68 teams for 2021-22 season.

From the O:

“He (AB) came over, he told us, he said, ‘Look, finish our blocks. We’re close. We’re close to splitting them right now in the run game. Strain, finish your blocks and we’re going to split a couple here,’” center Ryan Walk said. “Ultimately, that’s what we saw on those two drives there; we started straining a little bit harder, we finished a few more blocks, the backs split a few and that’s when we really got rolling.”

Good leadership by Brown.

However.....why did it take the O Line almost 4 quarters to realize they had to finish their blocks?

My feeble mind is boggled. What is the O Line coach teaching? What did he say to the line at the half?

Ryan makes it sound like the light bulb just came on for them at the end of the game.

Obviously, this is just a guess on my part, but it sure seems like there is no leader on the line. Maybe Forsyth....but no Sewell or Lemieux or Throckmorton, etc.

To me, the line is the biggest problem..and it was last year too. Can be really good but no consistency. You put Shough or AB or anybody back there you are gonna have problems.

Two sacks to end the half aka Stoney Brook(!).

Puhleez,,,,

FRESHMAN: Noah Sewell, Fr., ILB, Oregon (Malaeimi, American Samoa)

• Led Oregon's defense in a 24-17 win over Cal with 12 tackles while adding a sack, 1.5 tackles for loss, a pass breakup and a QB hurry. QB hurry came on Cal's final offensive play of the game, a 4th-and-goal from the 2-yard line, helping force an incompletion to seal Oregon's win.
• Recorded a sack for the second straight game, and the fifth of his career. Reached double-digit tackles for the third straight home game, combining for 36 stops in those contests.
• Second Oregon player to win this award this season. LB Justin Flowe was awarded after Oregon's Week One win.

Also nominated for freshman: Brenden Rice, WR, Colorado; Faybian Marks, CB, Utah; Devin Kirkwood, DB, UCLA; LV Bunkley-Shelton, WR, Arizona State; Femi Oladejo, ILB, California

1. Look around, every team in college football is inconsistent. Weird losses everywhere. You ever think that the last year and a half has effected every team? Even Alabama. It's not just us folk, it's everywhere.
2. Injuries.... Need I say more? When you have a young team and the BS from covid, you get exactly what you are seeing. A team trying to hang on and hope for the best.
3. O-line play. I can't put my finger on this one. MC is supposed to be a great O-line coach. I give him one more year to prove us wrong. But, it is certainly disappointing.
4. We lose our Offensive Coordinator hours before a big game. Seriously., this was terrible for the team and it showed. Cursed ?
5. We are burning RED Shirts like crazy. What does that tell you ? Injuries and we are young. Hang in there sports fans. We are one year older next year and the odds of injuries like this year are very low.
6. Anthony Brown. He's not perfect but most blame him more than they should. Like Scott said, if we don't have the two penalties against CAL in the first half this would have been a different ball game. I bet we would have blown them out. That wasn't Brown's fault. Not even close. There have been other examples this season that are similar.
7. Penalties - We are young. I don't care how highly rated these recruits are, they are young and immature. And with the injuries, most shouldn't even be playing meaningful minutes. This will get corrected
8. "Mario plays to not lose" I call Bullshit. If you have a young team, with many injuries, you play the odds. It's that simple. It may not be sexy or Chip Kelly exciting but, if these young men execute their job, odds are we win. That's how Mario looks at a game in my opinion. He could care less about style points. He just wants a win at the end of the day.
9. Calling out who should play with conviction with ZERO insight into practice is just plain dumb.
10. Most on the board are spoiled. Mario's record through all the BULLSHIT from Willie, to Covid is amazing. If Moorhead doesn't go down before the Stanford game we are 6/0.... WTF is wrong with all of you ? Face it. There is some weird shitt going on this year for all teams. And, throw in a record year of injuries for a young team, You might just go 5/1... Hell, I will take it.

Very difficult. Half way through the season the Ducks have played one really good football game. The 2nd half schedule is much more difficult. This team has shown that they will ALWAYS play down to the level of competition. If they played Churchill or Alabama, it would probably be a close game at halftime. Its possible they turn it around, but not likely. In half a season they are most likely exactly what we see. With Utah, UCLA, Washington and OSU on the schedule and only one game they will be a big favorite in against Colorado, there are a lot of land mines. If I had to bet on it I would say 4-2. Will not be surprised at 3-3. 5-1 or 6-0, would be a quite a reach from what I see. Basically, they will have a 50-50% shot in every game except Colorado who is a horrible football team

I will get things kicked off with my prediction for this Friday's game. Bottom line with Cal is that they are not very good at football. They are scoring an average of 24 points, giving up 28 on their way to a 1-4 record. Their win was by 12 points over Sacramento State.

Oregon should have a better offense than anybody they have faced, unless Anthony Brown plays like he did against Stanford. If he does then they have about the same offensive power as Sac State. But I assume he won't have two 'F' games in a row.

Defensively the Ducks should also be better than the Bears first five opponents, so long as the offense doesn't repeatedly put them back on the field after three plays and a punt.

All that said:

Oregon 42 - Cal 17

was an absolute thing of beauty. I mean it was done to perfection timing wise! The OL got out and laid some great blocks and Dye did his thing for 39 yards, If you remember it came after an OL holding call putting us behind the chains at 1st and 20.
The game itself had plenty of "what the heck" moments and has most of us upset with what we are seeing on the field with the talent we have but go back and look at this play, it will put a smile on your face.......
For now, I am going to enjoy 5-1 and concentrate on that. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!

My headline was going to be " worst loss in Oregon history" , but they got lucky and won. This is the worst 5-1 football team I have ever seen. Horrible QB. Horrible front 7. Horrible pass defense with uncovered , wide open, Cal receivers all night long. They have played 6 games. They played a good, not great Ohio state team, and did a great job beating them . They played a mediocre Stanford team and got beat. The other 4 teams they beat were horrendous football teams yet outplayed Oregon most of the game. Fresno, Stonybrook, Arizona and Cal. All terrible football teams and all played Oregon even at worst. These freshman QB's should be ashamed of themselves for not beating out Brown. He is maddening. He made plays at the end, but he played like a JV high school QB the first 3 quarters. This is a team with about 45 four star recruits who consistently gets out played by teams with 3 or 4 four star recruits. They are bad. Been watching this crap for 57 years and this isn't the worst team by any means. It the most underachieving though, These guys will end up 9-4. I literally cannot stand watching this team. It's a clown show. I'm happy they were booed by the crowd . Never seen a team that deserved to get booed more that this bunch

My thoughts and prayers are with Casey after undergoing this very difficult procedure. He's always been such a great guy to me I wish him the best.

DJU filled in for Lawrence last year for a couple of games and he looked like he was about ready to pass up Lawrence. Not sure what's going on at Clemson, but I guess I'll watch a little and see what's going on. would he start over Brown?

Overall, this game was not as bad as it looked. A rewatch shows how quickly this game could have been a completely different story. Two fumbles. If the Ducks do not fumble twice in the first half, this is a completely different looking game. And that is not on coaching. Still some flaws there, but this game plan was solid. Do I think that the offensive line needs some different juice? Absolutely. They graded out very poorly (well, Walk and Bass graded okay).

Anyway, here we go:

Lots of amazing compliments for Herbert from today's opponent.

Good thing the East Coast was in bed when this game was played.....

I just watched the most painful post game press conference that I have ever seen. Justin struggled to talk with the press. He was visibly distressed. I found myself yelling at the tv to have them stop the presser.

Cal has lost some close games. I’m sure that he wanted nothing more than to come back to his Alma Mater and the area where he grew up and pull off a win. He is obviously feeling the pressure from the Cal fans.

Justin is our fellow Duck. He is from the first family of Oregon football. Justin Herbert was even named for Justin Wilcox. I am concerned about Justin Wilcox. I have never cheered for Cal, but I hope deep in my heart that Justin gets a win next week. He looked like he was on the verge of an emotional breakdown. It’s almost enough to make me hate college football.

Sark and the Longhorns blow a double digit lead again and lose to Okla State. Imagine the meltdown on those boards

1. The last play call was aggressive and decisive. Loved it and wish we could see more of it
2. Once our leader returned the defense was another animal and played in a much higher gear
3. A couple penalties cost us two scores. We have the ability to clean those up
4. The end zone throw to Red was high level. Can Brown get more consistent
5. Dye would lead the nation in all purpose yards if they targeted him more
6. A couple great catches by our receivers
7. Two drives late that looked like a top 5 team
8. Sewell is a beast and when he can play with Flowe it will be special

That's it. Just trying to be positive.

Scott Reed

Until the 2021 version of Oregon football proves otherwise, they play down to the level of their opponent and Cal has played poorly for much of the season; even their win is a suspect performance barely escaping FCS Sacramento State.

No matter which direction Oregon goes at quarterback, the absence of CJ Verdell is going to get Cal up to the line of scrimmage daring the Ducks to beat them through the air with deep passes. Cameron Goode is going to be one of the better defensive players Oregon faces the rest of the season and he is going to be relentless as Cal looks to put pressure on whoever is in at quarterback.

Offensively, Cal is not as bad as their points per game would suggest. They have a solid rushing attack averaging nearly 5.9 sack adjusted yards per carry and nearly 250 yards per game through the air. Oregon has struggled against the pass and this game does not set up well for Oregon to have a great defensive effort. They will be missing their best pass rusher in the first half, very thin at linebacker, and without Bennett Williams at safety.

None of these things shout a blowout victory; in fact, the flatness with which the Ducks have opened four of five games this season suggests a tough first half. The Ducks are the better team talent wise – even despite the injuries – but their tendency to play down to the opponent is going to leave them in a dogfight. The Ducks should win, but this one does not look like it will cover the spread.

Oregon over Cal 31-30.

Dale Newton

Cal comes to Autzen Stadium on Friday night as a two-touchdown underdog.

Their outside receivers, Travon Clark, 6-4, 195, and Kekoa Crawford, 6-1, 195, both seniors, average 20.1 and 18.3 yards a catch.

Fourth-year starter at quarterback Chase Garbers has regressed this season, throwing five interceptions to go along with 7 TDs, third in the conference at 249 yards passing a game. He completes 62.9%.

He's been sacked 11 times, and that's Oregon's challenge: the return of Bradyn Swinson, Mase Funa and Kayvon Thibodeaux (for the second half) must improve the pass rush.

Without adequate pressure, the Ducks have been too vulnerable to the intermediate passing game.

Easy chunk yards would allow Garbers to rediscover his rhythm and confidence.

Defensively, outside linebacker Cameron Goode (25 tackles) and safety Daniel Scott (3 INTs) that has held the Ducks to 17 points in each of the last two meetings.

Ducks come out with urgency before a festive late-night crowd, get a more settled performance from Anthony Brown.

Oregon 38, Cal 24.

45+ minutes to kick

Get in here