Quack Fix: Reviewing California, Week 8 in College Football

Football Roundup

• While fans are hoping for the return of the Mighty Ducks, they’ll take the fighting Ducks over the lame ones any day. Oregon continued to fight despite what its less-than-inspiring record may say, as a slow start developed into a double-overtime thriller on Friday. California (4-3, 2-2) sealed the 52-49 win with an interception, but a huge takeaway for Oregon (2-5, 0-4) is true freshman Justin Herbert threw for six touchdowns in just his second start. The Ducks may have lost their fifth straight for the first time in 20 years, but their age-old fight persists.
• Next Saturday, the Ducks return to Eugene, where they’ll host Arizona State (5-3, 2-3). The Sun Devils are fresh off a 37-32 loss at the hands of the Washington State Cougars (5-2, 4-0). The Cougars turned up the heat in an already heated competition to remain undefeated in conference play.
• Looking around at the rest of the Pac-12, Colorado-Stanford did its best to impersonate last night’s MLB action, posting a baseball-esque score of its own. No one’s going to the Fall Classic for the first time since 1945, but the Buffaloes (6-2, 4-1) became bowl eligible for the first time in nine years with a 10-5 win over the Cardinal (4-3, 2-3)… One month after retiring from football, running back Joe Williams now holds an all-time school record with 332 rushing yards, as he helped No. 19 Utah 7-1, 4-1) take down UCLA (3-5, 1-4), 52-45… No. 5 Washington (7-0, 4-0) rolled over Oregon State (2-5, 1-3), 41-17, to remain undefeated.
• Across the country… Even on an “off night,” No. 1 Alabama looked dominant, scoring the final 20 points to topple No. 6 Texas A&M, 33-14…. Remember in Week 1 when Houston upset the third-ranked team in Oklahoma? Seems like a distant memory as the No. 11 Cougars continue to spiral into irrelevancy, most recently falling to SMU, 36-16… On a historic night filled with plenty of records, No. 16 Oklahoma beat Texas Tech on the road, 66-59… He’s baaaack. Running back Leonard Fournette flushed away any doubts in his return, rushing for a program-best 284 yards to help No. 25 LSU beat No. 23 Ole Miss, 38-21… Grant Haley returned a blocked field goal 60 yards to give Penn State a 24-21 win over No. 2 Ohio State, it’s biggest victory yet in the post-Joe Paterno era.

• Jim Harbaugh and No. 3 Michigan added another dub to the win column, routing Illinois, 41-8, and remaining undefeated in sport, swag and creativity.

It worked for a TD this time! #SupportThePede

All Things Ducks

• No. 23 Oregon women’s volleyball (14-5, 7-3) picked up a pair of weekend wins, topping Utah 3-2 on Friday and Colorado 3-1 on Saturday. Most recently against the Buffaloes, Lauren Page had a spectacular showing, setting career-highs in kills (12) and blocks (12), while Lindsey Vander Weide was two blocks shy of a triple-double (12 kills, 15 digs).
• Women’s soccer (7-8-1, 1-6-0) snapped a seven-game skid, shutting out Arizona in Eugene on Thursday, 1-0. Maryn Beutler notched the game’s only goal in the 31st minute to give Oregon its first win in Pac-12 play.
• Men’s tennis doubles duo Jayson Amos and Simon Stevens fell 6-0, 6-7 (2), 0-1 (8) to Stanford in the final round of the USTA/ITA Northwest Regional Championships on Monday, just missing a trip to the ITA National Indoor Championships.
• Women’s golf shot 72-over to finish ninth of 16 teams at the Greenville Regional Preview in North Carolina on Monday.

Before I say goodbye, say hello to HI-LIGHTS!