BUY TICKETS - OREGON vs. WASHINGTON

Kickoff time and TV information for the game could be determined as early as Monday.

Justin Herbert

Progress starts in practice. Winning habits aren't always inherent. Most of the time, they need to be taught.A week after the Oregon football team failed to finish off Stanford, the Ducks made key plays down the stretch to beat a ranked team on the road, knocking off No. 24 California on Saturday, 42-24. And the Ducks showed they'd learned a few things from the previous week's experience — the previous week's game, and the previous week's practices.Saturday's victory was finished off by an interception from freshman safety. After punching the ball out from a receiver, then snaring it out of the air for his second interception of the game, Holland made a move upfield but then smartly fell to the turf to avoid turning the ball back over.It was a different story just nine days earlier, in Oregon's practice the Wednesday before the Stanford game. In a two-minute drill between the first-team offense and first-team defense,had to try a desperation throw downfield on fourth down, and Holland picked it off. The ballhawking freshman showed off his playmaking instincts, but then couldn't rein them in, setting off on a long return."I didn't really think about the situation," Holland recalled Saturday night in Oregon's locker room at Cal's Memorial Stadium. "I just saw open field. I was celebrating, and then I see Coach Cristobal and he was like, 'Come here.' He was furious.' "What if Holland had been caught, and the ball had been punched out? What if the offense then regained possession, and returned the fumble all the way for a touchdown? What if Holland's interception to win the drill for the defense instead turned into a win for the offense?Only nine days later, Holland was presented with the same situation in Saturday's game. Cal was operating its two-minute offense, hoping to pull off a miracle comeback. Holland ruined those hopes with an interception — and then sealed Cal's fate by showing he'd learned a winning habit from his mistake the week before."I was about to run it back," he said. "I realized in that instant, game's over. Go down. The rest is history."on Sunday, now enters its bye week before hosting Washington on Oct. 13 in Autzen Stadium., tied for first in the Pac-12 with two other players — one of them his teammate, senior safetyAmadi is proving to be one of the most explosive playmakers in the nation this season. He's one of only three players in the entire Football Bowl Subdivision with two interceptions for touchdowns already this fall, and the only one from a Power 5 team. Also Oregon's primary punt returner, Amadi has four all-purpose gains of 30 yards or longer, the most of any defensive player in the country.In the second half Saturday, California was mounting a comeback when Amadi ended the surge by returning an interception 32 yards for a touchdown with 3:02 left in the game."There's no bigger momentum swing than a pick-six, anything of that nature," Cristobal said. "It's a 14-point swing, especially when they're marching. Can't say enough about Ugo."The interception was Amadi's second of the game, and he broke up a third pass earlier. The senior safety finished second on the team with seven tackles, and returned the only punt he fielded four yards.a win over the Golden Bears with his teammates, after two painful results over the previous two years.As a freshman in 2016, Herbert tied the UO record with six touchdown passes in Berkeley, but his interception in double overtime ended the game. A year later as a sophomore, Oregon avenged the loss and Herbert accounted for two touchdowns, but the second was a rushing TD on which he suffered a broken collarbone, sidelining him for the next month.On Saturday, Herbert put all that behind him with a 16-of-22 passing performance, for 225 yards with two touchdowns.The first was a pinpoint pass to tight end, and the second ledperfectly as the receiver raced passed a Cal defender in a dead sprint."There was no part of me that was worried about last year," said Herbert, who leads the Pac-12 in passing touchdowns (15) and efficiency rating (180.91). "I was just worried about winning this game. Guys were focused. We had a good week of practice and played pretty well."Herbert and Mitchell have been the best connection in the Pac-12 so far in conference play this season. They've combined on 21 receptions for 344 yards over the past two weeks; Mitchell is third in the conference with 88.4 receiving yards per game overall, and first with nine receptions of 20 yards or more.of two Ducks rushing for 100 yards in the same game. Still,andmanaged to make a little history against the Golden Bears.Dye and Verdell became the second UO tandem to rush for 100 yards each in the same game this season, making them the 29th duo to do so overall in school history. But they're the first pair of Oregon freshmen to each rush for 100 yards in the same game.Dye led the Ducks with 20 carries for 115 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown during Oregon's 21-point surge heading into halftime. Verdell added 106 yards on nine carries, including a 74-yard burst to the 1-yard line in the third quarter, which set up a touchdown run by yet another freshman back,Verdell started the game in place of senior, who was limited to special teams duty by an ankle injury suffered against Stanford. Verdell "tweaked his MCL" in the game, Cristobal said, leaving Dye as the workhorse in the second half., another guy who suffered an ankle injury against Stanford, sophomore defensive end, was unable to travel or play.Juniorstarted in Faoliu's place, andplayed key snaps as well. Carlberg got it on two sacks during the game, forcing a fumble on one thatreturned for a fumble just before halftime.That said, the Ducks may have missed Faoliu in the run game. Oregon entered the Cal game ranked third in the FBS with just 2.13 yards per carry allowed, but the Golden Bears averaged 5.88 yards per rush, nearly twice as many as any other UO opponent so far in 2018.Cal had played three quarterbacks over its first three games but on Saturday came to rely on the dual-threat abilities of Brandon McIlwain, who ran 15 times for 123 yards and a touchdown. That said, the Ducks were markedly better in pass coverage against the Golden Bears than a week earlier against Stanford, intercepting four passes to give the UO defense eight total interceptions this season, most in the Pac-12.. Of the Ducks' season-high seven Saturday, two were delay of game flags incurred purposely to milk the clock late in the game prior to punts.The Ducks are averaging five penalties per game, which is in the top 25 nationally. That said, those they are incurring have been painful — Oregon is one of just 19 teams in the FBS averaging at least 10 yards per penalty.None stood out more than an unsportsmanlike conduct flag on senior cornerbackin the second quarter, when the Ducks appeared to have forced a three-and-out. The penalty extended a drive that ended with a Cal touchdown.in four games while still preserving redshirt status, but seven Oregon freshmen already have played in all five games this season and won't redshirt.The seven are Holland, Dye, starting left tackle, punter, long snapper, cornerbackand linebacker. The NCAA provides a five-year window in which to play four full season, so each still could redshirt a future season if necessary.