Oregon Football: Preseason game-by-game predictions for 2017 season

California last won in Eugene back in 2007, the sixth-ranked Golden Bears surviving the Autzen trap against 11th-ranked Oregon. Since that game, though, the two teams have taken divergent trajectories. After a bye week, Cal lost six of its next seven games to tumble out of Pac-10 contention and have not had a 10-win season since. Oregon suffered their own setbacks in 2007 but have played in two national championship games over the past decade.

With Davis Webb off to the NFL, Chase Forrest is probably going to be getting the start at quarterback. He has attempted all of 18 passes in his first two seasons after redshirting in 2014. The offense will also be breaking in a new receiving corps, and Cal’s offensive line is one of the least experienced in all FBS. Thus, entering 2017, California faces uncertainty with a drastically different offense.

Meanwhile, they return most key parts of a defense that was among the nation’s worst in 2016. These are hardly the ingredients to pull off an upset at Autzen Stadium over a Ducks team that was better than its 4-8 record in 2016.

Like their showdown a decade ago, Oregon will probably be undefeated when they face Cal. Unlike that game, though, the Ducks will remain undefeated after the final whistle. The Golden Bears won’t be shut out in Eugene, but the game will be out of reach well before halftime.

FINAL: Oregon 41, California 13 (5-0)