Quick Thoughts on Oregon

[Note: I will try to have more detailed thoughts some time this weekend, but I wanted to get my overall feelings out there while they were still somewhat fresh.]

Despite taking a 15-14 lead into halftime, the Bears were run out of Autzen Stadium in the second half and fell to the Ducks by a score of 43-15.

The first half likely came as a shock to many, but the Bears were doing so many good things on both sides of the ball. Other than their failure to contain the edges which led to some huge runs by LaMichael James, the Bears controlled the line of scrimmage and forced Darron Thomas to be a non-factor early on. Offensively, the offensive line dominated and opened up a productive running game, though the passing offense failed to find a rhythm, mainly because of Zach Maynard's struggles with accuracy. It was the starting QB's worst performance of the season.

The second half however was all Oregon. I've read a few quotes from some smart football minds that state that games are won or lost in the third quarter. That was most certainly the case here as the Ducks rolled 22 unanswered points and kept Cal's offense off the field, forcing Cal's defense to simply run out of gas.

So while the Bears were unequivocally routed last night, they made it a game for the first half. I'm not one for moral victories, but I will say that it's much different when you let a game get away from you in the second half after keeping it close, rather than being thrown through the meat grinder through the getgo.

Cal showed flashes of promise, but also showed how behind they are in key areas. The Bears' defense is still very young and green in key spots, and the secondary will struggle all year. Cal's offense needs to find better consistency in the passing game and more urgently in the red zone.

Finally, while yesterday's loss was tough, let's not lose sight of our initial expectations.

My perspective of this team doesn't change at all after this loss, and it probably won't after next week's game against USC. We knew this was going to be a young and inconsistent squad and we knew they were going to take their lumps this year. Bowl eligibility was going to have to be earned, and there was going to be some major growing pains. But this season was always about finding answers and trying to get better. I believe it's most disappointing when you see a particular aspect of the Bears take a step back.

Last night's game showed that Cal has promise, but until they mature in certain key areas, will simply be a mediocre but competitive team this year. Am I content with "settling" for just that? No, but I'd rather be real about the situation than setting myself up with unrealistic expectations and emotionally throwing myself off a cliff because the team lets a game against the 9th ranked team get away from them in the second half.

More to come this weekend.