EUGENE, Ore. -- For Verran Tucker, standing in the tunnel a few feet away from the field at Autzen Stadium, it hadn't quite sunk in yet.

"We were prepared," the senior receiver said. "I really don't know what happened. I'm still kind of shocked by it."

What happened was the re-emergence of Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli at the Cal football team's expense, and the complete meltdown of a Bears offense that started the day averaging almost 50 points a game. What happened was the worst loss by Cal in the Jeff Tedford era.

The Bears, who had climbed to No. 6 in the country, fell back to earth with a resounding thud on Saturday when they were humbled by the Ducks, 42-3, in front of 58,975 in Eugene, Ore.

Unlike the two teams' last meeting at Autzen in 2007, this game was over early, as chants of "Overrated" started raining down at the start of the fourth quarter. Oregon outgained Cal by a margin of 524 to 207, making a loud statement of its own in both teams' Pac-10 opener.

"We got beat by a better team today," Tedford said.

The Ducks' offense was clearly better, starting with a quarterback that looked more like the Jeremiah Masoli of late 2008 and less like the one who hadn't thrown for a touchdown yet this season. Masoli completed 21 of 25 passes against the Bears for 253 yards and three touchdowns, consistently marching his spread offense down the field.

Oregon's defense was better as well, holding Jahvid Best under 100 yards rushing for the first time since last November -- the Heisman Trophy candidate finished with 16 carries for 55 yards, one week removed from his five-touchdown outburst against Minnesota. And the Ducks' defensive front put pressure on quarterback Kevin Riley all afternoon, sacking him four times and contributing largely to his 12-for-31, 123-yard performance. A Vince D'Amato field goal with the game only one minute old accounted for all the points that the Bears could muster.

It all added up to what Riley called a "terrible" showing.

"We just took turns messing up, everybody on the team," Riley said.

"People saw us today and people have seen us play before. This isn't how we play."

How the game played out was the opposite of what many were expecting. Cal (3-1, 0-1 in the Pac-10) was thought to have the more balanced offense and stout defense, Oregon a passing attack weak enough to let opponents key on the run. Instead, it was the other way around.

Masoli threw as many incompletions (four) as he had completions against Utah last weekend. He was accurate on quick screens to the outside as well as throws down the field. All three of his touchdown passes were to tight end Ed Dickson, who tied a school record for catches by a tight end with 11. And tailback LaMichael James ran for 118 yards and a score on 21 carries.

That balance took the Bears' defense by surprise.

"They haven't really thrown the ball well, hadn't really thrown it at all," linebacker Mike Mohamed said. "So that kind of shocked us and we had a hard time adjusting. And they really brought the tight end into it. We just had a hard time accounting for him, just couldn't really adjust, and it got us into trouble."

As a result, the Ducks (3-1, 1-0) appeared to move the ball at will. Leading 25-3 out of halftime, Oregon marched 70 yards on 12 plays for a touchdown on its first possession of the third quarter. After Cal's offense stalled near midfield, Masoli orchestrated another 12-play touchdown drive, this time covering 96 yards and culminating with a 36-yard pass to Dickson in the end zone.

By that point, any chance of a Bears comeback was gone.

"They can move the ball against anybody," defensive coordinator Bob Gregory said. "Certainly we didn't think they would move the ball that well against us, but that's what this offense can do.

"We always expect to play better than we did today. Hats off to them. They did a great job; I did not do a good job."

The offense didn't live up to its own expectations, either.

"I expected to pick up 40 points like we've been doing," Riley said.

Although players maintained that they were ready for the Ducks to stack the box against them, they did not look prepared to handle it. According to Tedford, Oregon "manhandled" the Bears up front.

"The whole day we knew they were going to line eight, nine in the box and bring guys from all over the place," left tackle Mike Tepper said. "I think as an elder of the team I want to put a lot of it on myself and the offensive line. We couldn't open the holes up for Jahvid or Shane (Vereen) or any of the backs back there, couldn't really protect Riley."

Best said that the offense was ready for the pressure, but didn't execute its assignments properly due to mental mistakes that "we haven't made this year."

Asked what might have caused those mistakes, Best answered: "Honestly, I don't know."

Afterward, players and coaches alike tried to put the loss into perspective.

"We still have to believe in who we are," Tedford said. "This is just one loss. All it means is we're not going to go undefeated.

"I've got a lot of confidence in this team. I love this team, I love the kids. They prepare well, and it's one loss. It's a tough loss because we were beaten pretty soundly today. I think it'll get everybody's attention to make sure that we work extremely hard."

A quick recovery will be necessary with USC visiting Memorial Stadium next Saturday, although some of the luster of that matchup has rubbed off. Once predicted to be a showdown between contenders for the national championship, that game will now feature two teams that already have a loss in conference play.

Implications aside, however, it does give the Bears their first opportunity to erase this latest visit to Autzen Stadium from their minds.

"We've got to come back from this," left tackle Mike Tepper said. "We don't want another 2007 season, which we will not have."

Tags: JAHVID BEST, KEVIN RILEY, JEFF TEDFORD, CAL, CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS, OREGON, CAL FOOTBALL