Seven Keys For a California Victory Over Oregon

There are several keys to California beating the Oregon Ducks with relative ease. The game so far is the best matchup all year.

1. Cal cannot overlook the Ducks especially while playing in Autzen Stadium—which is by far the loudest stadium in the Pac-10.

2. The Bears needs to score early to get the crowd out of the game. This means using their best talents which means getting Jahvid Best, Shane Vereen, and Verran Tucker the ball early and often. 

3. Special teams needs some work especially on kickoff coverage and kickoffs in general. If the Bears give good field position to the Ducks it could be a much longer day than anticipated because Oregon like to score in a hurry.

4. Hard to believe, but the Bears need to shore up some of the issues in their secondary from last weeks game. Eric Decker was able to find holes in the secondary and at times there were even points where he was able to run a route and no defender was even near him.

5. Open up the passing game a little bit so Oregon isn't just stacking up the box or at least call a misdirection to get the defense going the wrong way.

6. In general, the defense needs to stay disciplined so that Jeremiah Masoli doesn't carve the Bears defense with his ability to run. If the Bears are able to keep him from running and force him to throw the Ducks are in for a long game because the Bears defense is excellent against the run.

7. This maybe the biggest key to the game: the Bears cannot get stagnant and go three and out. Meaning, once the Bears get the lead the team has to keep playing with the same intensity.

The reason why the Minnesota Gophers were able to stay in the game for so long is because during the third quarter and part of the fourth the Bears could not move the ball and played way too conservatively on offense.

In this game especially the Bears must go for the kill. They cannot allow Oregon to stay in the game for too long and build confidence.