Monday, October 09, 2006

AP: Loss gives Ducks 'gut-check'

Maybe Oregon got a bit too confident, or maybe California was simply a better team, as one Duck suggested.  One thing is for certain. With Saturday's 45-24 loss to Cal, the Ducks dropped behind the Golden Bears and the USC Trojans in the race for the Pac-10 title. On Sunday, the Bears jumped from No. 16 to No. 10 in The Associated Press rankings, while the Ducks dropped from No. 11 to No. 18.  "They were the better team. They came out in the first quarter, and they were ready," Oregon running back Jonathan Stewart said. "We thought we were ready, but we just didn't come out to play. It seemed like they were right on top of our whole game plan."  The Bears (5-1, 3-0 Pac-10) took control almost from the moment they ran out of the Memorial Stadium locker room in bright yellow jerseys that looked more like something the Ducks (4-1, 2-1) would wear.

Tailback Justin Forsett ran for 163 yards and a touchdown in place of injured Marshawn Lynch for the Bears. Robert Jordan and tight end Craig Stevens also caught TD throws from Nate Longshore, who passed for 189 yards and rushed for a score in Cal's fifth win since its season-opening loss at Tennessee.   It was the Bears' second win over Oregon in the last 10 meetings. And it was Oregon's first loss in 12 regular season games.

"Cal lost a game on the road early, and people had written them off, and certainly they have revived themselves very well and played good football. I think we can do the same thing," Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said. "It's probably not a good gut-check, but it is a gut-check. What we take away from this is that you can't make mistakes and turn the ball over and expect to win on the road."

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