(Sports Network) - The sixth-ranked California Golden Bears begin
their quest for a Pac-10 title, when they travel to Eugene for a key
conference showdown with the Oregon Ducks.

Jeff Tedford's Bears moved to 3-0 on the young season with a 35-21 victory at
Minnesota last weekend. California has looked dominant in its three wins,
outscoring the opposition 146-41 thus far.

The Chip Kelly era didn't exactly get off on the right foot, as Oregon dropped
its season-opener at Boise State (19-8) in an ugly affair that was marred by
Oregon star tailback LeGarrette Blount being dismissed from the team. To
Kelly's credit, the Ducks have bounced back with back-to-back wins, edging out
Purdue (38-36) and then topping then 18th-ranked Utah last weekend, 31-24.

California has won four of the last five matchups in this series to take a
39-30-2 all-time advantage. Oregon however, holds a 9-6 edge in Autzen
Stadium. The last three contests in Eugene have been decided by a touchdown or
less.

The Golden Bears have one of the most explosive offenses in the nation,
averaging 48.7 ppg, on 488.0 ypg. The ground game is devastating at 249.7 ypg
and it all starts with Heisman candidate Jahvid Best. The talented tailback
certainly aided his bid for the coveted trophy with last week's performance
against Minnesota, rumbling for 132 yards and five touchdowns and being named
the Pac-10 Player of the Week. On the season, he is averaging a robust 7.8
yards per carry and has scored eight TDs.

Tedford knows he has something special in Best.

"People have to take notice of Jahvid and try and stop the running game. He's
got a tailor made running game. Anytime you can run the football effectively
and have the receivers catching their passes, you have the ability to be
pretty versatile on offense."

Best's ability to chew up yardage makes things easier for QB Kevin Riley, who
has completed almost 65 percent of his passes thus far, for 698 yards with
five TDs and no interceptions. Wideouts Marvin Jones (seven receptions, for
104 yards, one TD) and Verran Tucker (six receptions, for 128 yards) are the
top options on the outside, but Best (seven receptions, for 59 yards, one TD)
is a complete back with the ability to make plays coming out of the backfield
as well.

The receiving corps did take a hit in Minnesota, as senior Nyan Boateng, who
led the team in receptions a year ago, suffered a fractured foot and will be
out for 4-to-6 weeks.

The Golden Bears are impressive on the defensive side of the ball as well,
holding foes well under 300 yards of total offense (269.3 ypg). The rush
defense has been particularly strong (62.3 ypg), as has the pass rush (13
sacks).

Sophomore LB Mychal Kendricks has been all over the field, leading the team
with 30 tackles. Junior LB Mike Mohamed is a distant second (19 tackles), with
a team-high four TFLs, two sacks and two interceptions. The pass rush is
diverse, with eight different players combining for the 13 sacks, led by
senior All-Pac-10 tackle Tyson Alualu (13 tackles, 2.5 sacks).

The Ducks lost one of their key components to the ground game in the season-
opener, but that hasn't prevented Oregon from running the ball effectively.
The team is still putting up a solid 147.0 ypg. Redshirt freshman LaMichael
James has tried to fill the void and has been solid for the most part,
averaging 6.1 yards per carry, averaging 76.7 ypg. Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli
(48.3 ypg, team-high four TDs) is a vital contributor on the ground as well.

Throwing the ball has not been Masoli's strong suit though, as he has
completed just 45.3 percent of his passes, for only 379 yards. He has yet to
throw a touchdown pass and has two interceptions in the first three games.

Kelly knows there is room for improvement on the offensive side of things.

"We need to work on ball security. Our running game is positive, we need to
keep putting ourselves in positive situations."

The Oregon defense has had its ups and downs this season and the result is a
scoring average of 26.3 ppg for the opposition. The team has had some problems
stopping the run (151.0 ypg) and that isn't encouraging with Best coming to
town.

Still, this unit has done a nice job of taking advantage of miscues, with
eight takeaways in the first three games. Junior middle linebacker Casey
Matthews leads the team with 31 tackles, adding one sack and one INT. Freshman
free safety John Boyett has made an immediate impact this year, posting 22
tackles and one INT. Junior defensive end Kenny Rowe (12 tackles) has been the
team's top pass rusher thus far (2.5 sacks).






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