Late Saturday Night Oregon was able to beat Cal 17-7. This win put Oregon at 2-0 in conference play. It also featured one of the least productive offensive first halves at Autzen Stadium that any Oregon team has had in quite some time. Nonetheless, Oregon is 2-0 in Pac-12 play and currently holds at least a two-game lead in the Pac-12 North over everyone besides Oregon State.
Oregon Beats Cal: Takeaways
The Running Game Showed Promise
The running game has been a concern all season. Coming into the game it was one of my keys. Well Saturday night, it showed signs of life. In total the team ran for 190 yards on 40 carries, good for an average of 4.8 yards per carry.
That attack was led by C.J. Verdell in the first half, as Verdell put up 46 yards on 10 carries before leaving the game with an ankle injury. Mario Cristobal noted following the game that Verdell’s x-ray’s on his ankle came back negative and that he didn’t believe it to be serious. That’s good news following this in-game tweet by Bruce Feldman:
Following the injury to Verdell, Travis Dye was asked to step up. Stepping up is not what he did at first as Dye lost two fumbles. The first one was on him trying to make an extra effort on fourth and short, while the other was stripped by Trey Turner, giving Dye two fumbles on two possessions.
However, after that Dye was able to put together a solid game, going for 81 yards on 15 carries.
Another player that stepped up big-time was Cyrus Habibi-Likio. Not only did he tackle a fan that ran on the field, but he ran for 37 yards on nine carries, and scored the lone rushing touchdown the offense put together.
Not to be lost was Justin Herbert being a factor in the running game. Now he only had 32 yards on four carries, 26 of which being on one scramble, but he also pulled the ball on an option play for a nice gain, and if sacks are taken out, Herbert finished the night with three carries for 38 yards. Many people have wanted Herbert to become a part of the offense on the ground. Those people got that last night to a bigger extent than they have, and it was clearly effective.
Mycah Pittman is a Player
The four-star wide receiver has received a lot of hype but had yet to play in a game. Saturday the true freshman got his first chance, and he did not disappoint.
As expected, Pittman didn’t play the bulk of the snaps. However, he did pull in four catches for 43 yards.
A couple of those were very impressive catches in traffic. Pittman was expected to be able to make those difficult catches in traffic, and against Cal, he showed what he’s capable of.
It’s clear after that short action that he’s one of the best wide receivers on this team, and he will play a bigger role as the season progresses.
Oregon vs Cal: Takeaways Continued
Justin Herbert Needs to Be More Consistent
It’s no secret that Justin Herbert will be a top draft pick this Spring. However, he needs to be more consistent as the season. Yes, Cal boasts one of the top secondaries in college football, but he was missing throws on Saturday that he should be making.
His interception on the first possession, also his first of the season, was thrown into triple coverage. It was a throw that should have never been made, but it wasn’t his first questionable throw of the night.
Other throws that he missed are ones that arguably should’ve been caught, but Herbert still didn’t put them on target.
Also, his habit of throwing short of the sticks on third and medium to long reared its ugly head on Saturday.
It’s hard to criticize Herbert. He’s a great player, he will be a top draft pick and it’s easy to see why. However, everyone who consistently watches Oregon knows that he’s capable of, and if Oregon is going to reach its goals this season, Herbert needs to find more consistency. Not just from week-to-week, but from possession-to-possession.
Pass-Rush Could Become a Concern
If you watched this game, you know Oregon was able to get push against the Bears offensive line.
However, that didn’t result in as many sacks as it should’ve. The defense was able to produce four sacks. However, Devon Modster is a backup quarterback and Cal was depleted along the line.
There were countless times the defensive line looked like they were going to have a sack, but lost contain. That’s a smaller detail that leads to bigger results that need to be corrected.
A reason the pass-rush could become a concern as well is Gus Cumbelander had to be carted off late in the game. Cumberlander developed into a nice piece on the defense late last season. So far this season he had 1.5 sacks.
When an air cast gets brought out for an injury it’s never a good sign. That was the case with Cumberlander’s injury.
Cumberlander had won over the coaching staff so much that he’s been starting. That might not seem significant, but he’s been holding off five-star freshman defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Now Thibodeaux, coming off of a two-sack performance, will be slated for an even bigger role. It will be big for the highest-rated recruit in school history to step up in his true freshman season.
Up Next:
A Friday Night kickoff against Colorado
