Oregon vs. Cal: Score and Twitter Reaction

The No. 6 Oregon Ducks (7-1 overall, 4-1 Pac-12) overcame a sluggish first quarter to knock off the California Golden Bears (4-4 overall, 2-4 Pac-12) 59-41 Friday night at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

The story of the night was defense—or lack thereof. The two teams combined for 1,150 yards. It was the third time this year that Cal has surrendered 50 or more points.

The game's open nature allowed Marcus Mariota to bolster his Heisman Trophy campaign. The junior quarterback went 18-of-30 through the air with 326 yards, five touchdowns and an interception. Mariota added 36 yards on the ground on six attempts.

Oregon also had a lot of success with its running game.

Freshman running back Royce Freeman broke the century mark, rushing for 112 yards and two touchdowns. During the game, he set the school record for most yards on the ground for a freshman, per Andy McNamara, assistant athletic director for communication at Oregon:

Junior running back Byron Marshall also had a big game, with most of his damage coming through the air. He led the Ducks in receiving yards, with 133, and a touchdown on four receptions, adding 57 yards on the ground.

Although Cal entered the game at 4-3, few expected the matchup to be a cakewalk for Oregon.

The Golden Bears have the fourth-best passing offense in the country, according to NCAA.com, whereas Oregon ranks 107th in pass defense. Ducks defensive coordinator Don Pellum knew that Friday's game wouldn't come easy with a quarterback like Jared Goff under center for Cal.

"He gets rid of the ball in time, he's not going to let you get to him much," Pellum said of the sophomore QB, per Andrew Greif of The Oregonian. "He reads the field really well does a nice job with pre-snap. When the ball is snapped, he knows where he's going to go with the ball."

Goff wound up with 360 yards and two touchdowns through the air on 32-of-52 passing.

On Cal's first drive of the game, Goff was overshadowed by his backup, freshman Luke Rubenzer. Perhaps taking note of how successful dual-threat QBs have been against Oregon this year, Cal head coach Sonny Dykes used Rubenzer in the Wildcat to devastating effect.

Rubenzer finished the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run through the heart of the Ducks defense:

Oregon tied the game a7-7 on the ensuing drive with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Mariota to sophomore wide receiver Dwayne Stanford. The Ducks only needed 2:06 to go 67 yards, exhibiting how quickly they can strike.

Cal didn't back down, however, with freshman running back Vic Enwere finding the end zone on a 19-yard run to give the Golden Bears a 14-7 lead. Greif felt that the tackling from the Oregon defenders on the play was extremely poor:

Fortunately for the Ducks, Cal's defense had little answer for the Oregon offense. Freshman kick returner Devon Allen provided a helping hand with a 45-yard return to the Cal 46-yard line, giving the Ducks a short field. Freeman punched it in from four yards out, stumbling backward into the end zone (via Pac-12 Networks):

The offensive fireworks didn't end after the first quarter, with Oregon dropping 17 more unanswered points on the Golden Bears.

Freshman walk-on Aidan Schneider hit a 23-yard field goal to give Oregon its first lead of the game, 17-14. Mariota increased the advantage to 10 points after a nine-yard touchdown pass to junior tight end Pharaoh Brown.

Cal stalled on its second drive of the second quarter and punted the ball away. Freshman returner Charles Nelson fielded the punt on his own 42-yard line and delivered an electrifying 58-yard return to paydirt. Many, including Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman, evoked the name De'Anthony Thomas after watching Nelson weave his way through the Cal coverage:

The Golden Bears offense responded in kind, dropping 14 unanswered points to cut the deficit to three points, 31-28. Goff hit junior wide receiver Stephen Anderson for Cal's first score, and then junior running back Daniel Lasco capitalized on a Freeman fumble to score on a one-yard touchdown run.

Oregon turned the ball over on its next drive as well, with Mariota throwing his first interception of the 2014 season. CBSSports.com's Tom Fornelli joked that Mariota threw his Heisman hopes out the window with the pick:

"

Well now I have to remove Mariota from my Heisman ballot.

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) October 25, 2014"

Cal couldn't make the most of the opportunity, going three-and-out to hand the ball back to the Oregon offense.

The Ducks wasted little time, using 30 seconds to take a 10-point lead, 38-28, with 41 seconds left until halftime. Mariota and Stanford connected in the end zone for the second time on the score.

The second half began as the first ended, with Mariota grabbing his fourth passing touchdown of the night. He found Marshall for a 54-yard pitch-and-catch on a 3rd-and-21. Oregon tweeted out an infographic for the scoring drive:

The Ducks' lead grew to 24 points, 52-28, in the third quarter, with Freeman picking up his second rushing touchdown of the game.

Goff found junior wideout Maurice Harris in the end zone from five yards out to trim the deficit to 52-35 with 3:54 left in the third. But Cal's comeback was thwarted for good in the fourth quarter after Bryce Treggs muffed a punt on his own 21-yard line.

Oregon recovered and scored on its first play from scrimmage, effectively finishing off the game:

Rubenzer added a late touchdown with 4:21 to go in the game.

The schedule doesn't get much easier for Cal over the next few weeks. The Golden Bears get Oregon State and No. 20 USC on the road in their next two games. Home contests versus Stanford and BYU await after that.

Oregon plays the Cardinal next week at home, which has been a tricky game for the Ducks in the past. They also get No. 19 Utah on Nov. 8 on the road. If Oregon's going to trip up between now and the Pac-12 Championship Game, it will likely be in one of those two matchups. The season ends versus Colorado and at Oregon State.