First Half Takeaways: Ducks flaws continue to haunt them in 10-7 half vs. Cal

The Ducks dealt with some very familiar flaws in the first half vs. California, with penalties and poor third-down defense allowing just a 10-7 lead.

After another slow start to the game — something that has hurt the Oregon Ducks all season long — things seemed to click into gear for Mario Cristobal and his squad in the second half against the California Golden Bears. The Ducks put together a scoring drive that gave them a 10-7 lead, but another chance to put points on the board was thwarted by the Golden Bears when Anthony Brown was sacked and fumbled with less than 30 seconds left in the half.

All in all, Oregon goes into the break with a three-point lead. Here are some major takeaways from the half:

  • Penalties continue to be an issue for the Ducks. They had a promising opening drive of the game but allowed two tough penalties to halt momentum and force them to settle for a field goal. Oregon later had an unsportsmanlike conduct after stopping Cal on 4th and 4. A block in the back on Mycah Pittman made it 1st and 20 from the Cal 27 instead of 1st and 10 from the 17. In the half, they have 4 penalties for 40 yards.
  • Anthony Brown has actually been pretty good in this game. Outside of a few mistakes and poor reads in the pocket, he is running the offense successfully and moving the ball. In the first half, he has 132 yards of 12-for-17 passing with 0 touchdowns.
  • Camden Lewis is a consistent weapon. He made a career-long 49-yard field goal on the opening drive of the game, and added at PAT as well.
  • Third down continues to be a miserable spot for the Oregon defense, with an inability to get off the field. Cal was 3-for-6 on 3rd-down in the first half, completing their first three straight.
  • Travis Dye is clearly the focal point of this offense now that CJ Verdell is out for the season. He racked up 109 yards and 1 TD in the first half and touched the ball 12 times.
  • Anthony Brown found a nice connection with WR Devon Williams in the first half, connecting 3 times for 57 yards, all of which went for more than 10-yards downfield. Oregon has struggled to develop any sort of a legitimate passing game that takes place more than 5-yards down the field, but it has been working so far in this game.