BERKELEY, Calif. - A wild Cal comeback ended on the Oregon four-yard-line in the final minute of the game and the Ducks escaped with a 24-19 victory. The win moved Oregon to 7-3 on the season while Cal fell to 4-6.

For a long time, it looked like Oregon would cruise to an easy victory, but a Hail Mary pass for a TD on the last play of the first half gave the Golden Bears some hope and Cal dominated the second half but couldn't deliver the knockout punch.

Oregon got the first score of the day thanks to a 45-yard drive that was keyed by a pair of fourth-down conversions. Facing a fourth-and-eight early in the drive, Oregon called for a fake punt and Kurtis Doerr took a pitch from the up back and he rambled 15 yards down the sideline to the Cal 28-yard-line. Four plays later, Oregon had a fourth-and-one at the Cal 19. The Bears bit on a play action and Joey Harrington completed a 19-yard pass to Chad Chance who ran down the sideline and into the end zone.

An interception of a Kyle Boller pass late in the first quarter gave Oregon the ball at the Cal 30-yard-line. Cal's defense stiffened, but Oregon extended its lead to 10-0 in the first few seconds of the second quarter on a 30-yard field goal by Josh Frankel.

It was another Cal interception that gave the Ducks a new opportunity midway through the second quarter. The Ducks intercepted Boller's pass at the Cal 20 and scored on their first offensive play, a 20-yard pass to LaCorey Collins to take a 16-0 lead.

The lead began to look insurmountable when Oregon took advantage of a 37-yard punt return to the Cal 28-yard-line by Michael Fletcher. The Ducks scored again with 2:42 remaining in the half behind the running of Reuben Droughns who accounted for 31 yards in the drive. The touchdown came when Harrington pitched the ball out to Jason Cooper who scrambled two yards into the end zone for a 24-0 lead.

The Bears managed to cut into the lead with no time left on the clock, scoring a touchdown on a 48-yard Hail Mary from Boller. Cal's kick for the extra point hit the left upright to leave the score at 24-6. That miss came back to haunt the Bears late in the game as it eliminated a chance to go for a tying field goal down the stretch.

The Bears lost Boller to an injured shoulder on the first drive of the second half when he scrambled out of the pocket searching for a first-down run. He was hit hard by Fletcher and retired to the sidelines with a separated shoulder that ended his season. He will be evaluated in more detail over the next two days, but the medical staff said it was a serious injury.

He was replaced by Wes Dalton, a walk-on quarterback who was a third teamer at the start of the season. He proved to be a gamer, leading the Bears during their exciting comeback attempt.

With four and a half minutes left in the third quarter, Deltha O'Neal grabbed his eighth interception of the season and returned it 100 yards for the touchdown to cut the lead to 24-12. The interception was O'Neal's fourth that he returned for a touchdown this season, a new NCAA record. The Bears were unable to score on a two-point conversion attempt.

The Bears got within five points on their first possession of the fourth quarter after Dalton threw the first touchdown pass of his career, a 58-yarder to make the score 24-19.

The Bear defense kept the Oregon offense in check throughout the fourth quarter, keeping the Ducks to three plays on the first two possessions. On the third Oregon possession, the Bears got an interception by Chidi Iwuoma and Cal had the ball at the Cal 42-yard-line with 7:10 left in the game. Cal got as far as the Oregon 41-yard-line, but the Bears were pushed back and had to punt with just over four minutes left in the game.

The Cal defense stuffed Oregon on the next two plays and LaShaun Ward gave the Bears a huge opportunity when he stepped in front of a A.J. Feeley pass and returned it one yard to the Oregon 35 with 3:43 left in the game.

Linescore

			1	2	3	4		F
Oregon			7	17	0	0		24
California		0	6	6	7		19

Game Statistics

	Qtr	Time	Play							Score
O	1	7:02	C. Chance 19-yard pass from Harrington (Frankel kick)	0-7
			Scoring Drive: 45 yards, eight plays
O	2	14:56	J. Frankel 30-yard field goal				0-10
O	2	7:36	L.Collins 20 yard pass from Harrington (Frankel kick)	0-17
			Scoring drive: 20 yards, one play
O	2	0:40	H. Ho-Ching 2-yard run (Frankel kick)			0-24
			Scoring Drive: 72 yards, seven plays
C	2	0:00	48-yard pass from Boller	             		6-24
			Scoring Drive: 28 yards in six plays
C	3	4:30	D. O'Neal 100 yard interception return			12-24
C	4	13:16	58-yard pass from Dalton (Jensen kick)	                19-24
			Scoring Drive: 80 yards, five plays
Individual Statistics Leaders
Rushing
CAL:
Igber		16-56
Fields		6-6
Boller		2-4

Oregon:
Droughns	32-86
Doerr		1-15
Latimer		2-7

Passing
CAL:
Boller 		9-25-134
		3 Int/1 TD
Dalton		5-13-108
		2 Int./1 TD

Oregon:
Harrington	12-30-153
		3 Int./2 TD

Receiving
CAL:
Currin		2-35

Oregon:
Latimer		2-39
Collins		2-38
Chance		2-30

Team Statistics				Oregon				CAL

First Downs (Rush-Pass-Pen)		5-8-2				1-11-2
Rushing (Att-Net Yds.)			108				47
Passing (PC-PA-Int.)			12-30-3				15-40-6
Passing Yards				153				266
Total Offensive Plays			72				68
Punts-Average				7-44.7				5-47.0
Penalties-Yards				10-75				9-73
Fumbles-Lost				0-0				0-0
Time of Possession			31:08				28:52