Eugene, OR – Oregon's De'Anthony Thomas injured his ankle on the opening kickoff Saturday.
Somehow, the second-ranked Ducks didn't miss a beat without their dynamic tailback in a 55-16 throttling of the California Golden Bears in a Pac-12 rout.
Torrential rain wreaked havoc at Autzen Stadium, especially early on as Cal lost fumbles on their opening four possessions, paving the way for Oregon to jump out to an insurmountable lead.
The Ducks were ahead 41-0 before the Bears finally got on the board on Vincenzo D'Amato's 46-yard field goal on the final play of the first half.
Oregon (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) benched its starters after reaching the 50-point plateau for a school record fourth straight game.
Bralon Addison returned two punts for touchdowns, Marcus Mariota had 114 passing yards and three total touchdowns -- two through the air -- and Byron Marshall took over for Thomas and ran for 130 yards and a pair of scores.
Cal's Jared Goff, who threw for 1,306 yards in his first three games, was quickly benched after losing two fumbles and throwing an interception. Zach Kline, in his first action as a redshirt freshman, threw for 165 yards with a touchdown and an interception on 18-of-37 attempts.
The Bears (1-3, 0-1) have allowed an average of 45.3 points per game in its slow start to the season, but their previous two losses were not as ugly as Saturday's beatdown.
Marshall went in from 14 yards out just 1:33 into the game, and great field position following a slew of fumbles allowed the Ducks to pad their cushion.
Josh Huff caught a 19-yard touchdown pass, then sprung Daryle Hawkins for a 14-yard TD off another screen with 7:16 remaining in the opening quarter.
Marshall took a handoff to the left and went untouched for a 25-yard TD, and Mariota made it 34-0 with a 2-yard sneak early in the second frame.
Addison capped the dominant first half with a 75-yard punt return, then took one back 67 yards 1:46 into the second half to become just the fourth player in Pac-12 history with two punt return touchdowns in the same game.
Thomas Tyner got in on the act with a 21-yard touchdown to highlight his 94- yard rushing day.
Cal crossed the goal line for the first time via Jeffrey Coprich's 1-yard plunge midway through the third quarter, and Kline threw a 7-yard TD pass to James Grisom for the only points in the final stanza.
Game Notes
There were 10 fumbles in the rain-soaked affair. The Bears lost all four of theirs five while the Ducks recovered four of their six fumbles ... Oregon had 264 rushing yards to Cal's 149 ... The Ducks have won five straight against Cal ... Seven of Oregon's touchdown drives lasted less than two minutes, giving them 28-of-33 in less than two minutes this season.
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