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Oregon Ducks @ California Golden Bears Football Preview

The California Golden Bears have been miserable on the road this year, but they've been excellent at home. Will this matter on Saturday against the Oregon Ducks?

Coach Chip Kelly's UO outfit was flat as a pancake this past weekend against the Washington Huskies. Midway through the third quarter, Oregon led by just five points, 18-13, before pulling away for a deceptively close 53-16 win. The Ducks had just played an emotional and highly-publicized game at USC, and they knew that they were playing a Washington team that was without its talented quarterback, senior field general Jake Locker. Oregon mentally realized that it was going to be difficult to lose to the Huskies. Therefore, the Ducks took what looked like a mental health break and coasted for almost three full quarters before finally devoting themselves to football in the fourth quarter. This team should be mentally fresh and ready to tackle what could be a potentially tricky road game. Oregon quarterback Darron Thomas is healthy, and this team seems to score at least 48 or 53 points even when it gets shut down for a full half.

The Ducks have displayed amazing potency and consistency this season, and against a Cal team that’s only 5-4 and 3-3 in the Pac-10, there’s no really strong reason to think that the Golden Bears – with second-string quarterback Brock Mansion under center in place of the injured Kevin Riley – will be able to keep up with Oregon for more than a half. Cal probably needed Riley in order to have a legitimate shot at winning this game. Mansion threw two interceptions last weekend at Washington State, in a clash with the worst team in the Pac-10. If Mansion can’t protect the ball against Washington State, why should he be expected to protect the ball against Oregon? There’s little logic behind the contention that Mansion is ready and prepared to win this duel against the Ducks. Cal isn’t strong enough at a few important positions on the field.

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There is only one reason to think California can make a game of this – it’s a good one, though.

The Bears – while awful away from Berkeley this season – have been fabulous at home in Memorial Stadium. Cal has won its four home games this year by a combined total of 155 points, for an average margin of 38.75 points per victory. Cal is simply a transformed team when it puts on its home uniforms and gets home cooking over the course of a week of practice. This is a Jekyll-and-Hyde club, but near Strawberry Canyon in the San Francisco Bay Area, Coach Jeff Tedford’s Golden Bears deliver the goods against their opponents. This game and the Stanford rivalry rumble represent the two biggest contests on Cal’s 2010 schedule. The Golden Bears will throw everything at Oregon and take lots of risks. Having nothing to lose, Cal is in position to play very aggressively, and that’s how a lot of college football upsets take place.

Will Oregon remain unbeaten and on course for the BCS National Championship Game? Will the Ducks come one step closer to defending their Pac-10 title? We’ll see if California’s home-field magic will weave a spell and cause chaos this weekend in Berkeley.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer