Thursday Night Football: Cal at Oregon, Western Kentucky at MTSU

In the decade after Bruce Snyder left Cal football, the Golden Bears were at the bottom of the Pacific 10 Conference. Berkeley athletic officials sought within the league to find salvation, and discovered it in Oregon offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford. Perhaps because of his Duck lineage, Tedford’s Golden Bears have become something of a rival for the Ducks. The programs jockeyed for that second position behind powerhouse USC through the Aughties.

But after a classic Cal win at Autzen Stadium in 2007, something strange happened. Cal began to lag behind as Oregon ascended to heights that have eluded the Golden Bears, beginning with UO’s 2009 Rose Bowl season that used a 42-3 beatdown of Berkeley as a launching point. Last season’s 15-13 finish in Strawberry Canyon returned the series to the competitive nature this rivalry had been known for, but at a high cost. Golden Bear players faked injury, prompting ridicule of Tedford like this Gregg Doyel column.

Last season’s dubious subplot intensifies the spotlight on this nationally televised pairing.

The injury scandal aside, Cal used what was a deceptively tough defense to slow the otherwise unstoppable UO offense. The 15 points the Ducks scored were their lowest of the season, and the Golden Bears were a missed Giorgio Tavecchio field goal from beating UO and potentially sending TCU to the BCS Championship.

Oregon’s offense is once again a high-powered machine, and thus far the Golden Bear defense isn’t as stout as last season’s. Currently, Cal is giving up 24.3 point per game, including 31 most recently in a loss at Washington. That average is up two points per from last season.

But Cal is 3-1, two wins away from matching the lowest win total of Tedford’s career. That’s because the Golden Bear offense is significantly improved under new coordiantor Jim Michalczik. Michalczik was on the Golden Bear staff during its successful run from 2002 to 2008. Quarterback Zach Maynard has adjusted sufficiently to his starting role, and the two-pronged running back attack of C.J. Anderson and Isi Sofele has produced seven touchdowns. Sofele has over 400 yards through four games, appearing poised to jump into that oh-so-familiar role of 1000-plus-yard Cal backs. Tedford has had one every season since 2004, from J.J. Arrington, to Marshawn Lynch, Justin Forsett, Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen.

What’s more, the Oregon defense hasn’t been great. LSU used its own two-running back scheme to overwhelm the young defensive front, and in victory the Ducks gave up big yardage and points to Nick Foles and Arizona’s vertical attack. Either facet of the Duck defense can be exploited, and the Golden Bears have shown the ability to go either route so far in the young campaign.

However, getting into a shootout does Cal no favors. The Duck defense may surrender points, but Chip Kelly’s offense will almost assuredly score more than the D yields. That leaves burden on the Bear defense.

The engine Tedford tried so nefariously and ultimately futilely to slow is still present, and that’s LaMichael James. James is coming off his best outing of the campaign, decimating Arizona to reinvigorate a formerly listless Heisman candidacy. James leads the Bowl Subdivision in rushing yards per game.

Last time out, Cal faced a UW team boasting what is arguably the conference’s second best back, Chris Polk. The Golden Bears did an admirable job on Polk, holding him to just 63 yards on 20 carries. But where he hurt them was catching out of the backfield, namely on the decisive 70-yard strike with just over a minute left in a tied fourth quarter. James is a danger receiving from Darron Thomas, evidenced by the running back’s 11 receptions. Those are good for second most on the team.

Cal’s greatest defensive weakness is its secondary. Keith Price attacked Cal to the tune of three touchdowns and just under 300 yards on 19-of-25 passing. Thomas has not played to the same level as last year, but with the right openings can reignite that passing attack to complement the high powered running game.

If the challenge of stifling one of, if not the nation’s best offense isn’t arduous enough, Cal must also handle the hostile Autzen crowd. One of this program’s defining moments was knocking off UO in Autzen four years ago. That was a day game; Autzen at night is a whole new level of insanity, like a West Coast version of LSU’s Death Valley.

The capacity crowd will have that venue rocking for the Ducks’ home conference opener.

WKU at MTSU

Thursday’s other game features two Sun Belt Conference teams with a combined 1-7 record, and the one came just last week against Memphis. The NCAA and BCS considering counting defeats of Memphis as just a half-win cannot be confirmed — it hasn’t been unconfirmed yet, either.

Still, MTSU’s one win is more impressive than anything Western Kentucky has done since its near-miss Week 1 vs. Kentucky. The Hilltoppers took the fight to the SEC-based Wildcats, prompting the first great meme of the season.

Since, WKU was blasted in consecutive outings, first against Navy by 26 points, then an embarrassing 28-point loss vs. Championship Subdivision Indiana State. A bye week set up the Hilltoppers for the Sun Belt opener with Arkansas State, but WKU failed to pull off the upset and lost, 26-22.

While MTSU was nothing more than a rube Georgia Tech’s traveling triple option caravan of points, the Blue Raiders’ other two defeats were each three-point heartbreakers. MTSU had an opportunity to win late at Purdue in Week 1, but a mile-long field goal attempt to tie was blocked. Then two weeks ago, the Raiders took reigning Sun Belt champion Troy to the brink when Logan Kilgore led a touchdown drive in the waning minutes. MTSU failed to recover an onside kick attempt though and lost.

Their records are close, but that’s about it. Kilgore has put up lofty numbers replacing Dwight Dasher at quarterback. He has 10 touchdowns and his 284 yards passing per game rank him No. 20 among FBS quarterbacks. Against a Hilltopper defense giving up 31 points a game, Kilgore should be able to settle into a groove — that is, assuming the decent WKU secondary allows that.

The Hilltoppers’ defensive woes stem from rush defense, so expect a Blue Raider ground game producing more than 160 yards per game to pad that figure early, setting up Kilgore for the kill shots in the second and early third quarters.