Week 5: California at Oregon

Maybe the best way to decide this one is by lining up Dennis Dixon and DeSean Jackson in a winner-take-all foot race. One hundred? Two hundred? Any meters you want. On your marks, get set …

In Eugene, Ore., a quaint little community off Interstate 5 and affectionately referred to as “Track Town,” two of the Pac-10’s swiftest football teams will try to match each other stride for stride, if not beat each other over the heads with relay batons.

Both of these unbeaten entries boast so much raw speed and offensive explosiveness they’ve lapped usually fleet teams such as Tennessee and Michigan and had them clutching their chests and absolutely gasping and wheezing.

It’s the revitalized Ducks against the firmly established Golden Bears, and we’ve all been down this road before. Eleven months ago, these teams met head-on 500 miles south in Berkeley, Calif., each sporting a similar arsenal of players and four-game winning streak, and Cal finished several steps ahead, turning an early 28-3 lead into a 45-24 victory.

Dixon, Oregon’s slippery senior quarterback, and Jackson, the Golden Bears’ elusive junior wide receiver and punt returner, are home-run hitters, guys capable of scooting 60, 70 even 80 yards for a score at any time. The defenses appear adequate. Special teams are good. There is no shortage of swagger.

“I started thinking about Oregon in the fourth quarter,” said Lavelle Hawkins, Cal senior wide receiver as his team pushed aside Arizona 45-27 last Saturday.

These teams are so comparable in total firepower the Ducks average 48.5 points per game, the Golden Bears 41.5.

Oregon running back Jonathan Stewart and Cal’s Justin Forsett rank 1-2 in the Pac-10 in rushing, averaging 125.8 and 121 yards per game, respectively, while Forsett has more touchdowns, seven to Stewart’s four.

Dixon leads the league in total offense, averaging a hefty 305.8 yards per game, and in passing efficiency, with a 188.1 rating.

Ducks junior defensive end Nick Reed is tied for the Pac-10 lead in tackles for loss, with five for 24 yards, while teammate Jairus Byrd, a sophomore cornerback, tops the league in fumbles recovered with four.

Oregon senior free safety Matthew Harper is second in the league in tackles, with 10.5 per game, and Golden Bears junior linebacker Anthony Felder is fourth at 10.2.

Coming off last weekend, Dixon was named Pac-10 offensive player of the week for the second time this season, after a career-high 367-yard passing outburst in a 55-31 victory over Stanford, while the league’s defensive award went to Cal senior safety Thomas DeCoud, coming off a 10-tackle performance that was enhanced by an interception, recovered fumble and forced fumble against Arizona.

Oregon enjoyed the perfect storm when it went to Michigan and slapped the Wolverines around, 39-7. Cal is still searching for a dominant outing like that, though it really hasn’t been pressed yet.

“We’re one step from playing a complete game,” the Golden Bears’ Forsett said. “We’ve just got to put all of the pieces together.”

Defenders have purposely smothered Jackson his last two times out, daring others to beat them. Against Arizona, the marked man caught three passes for a mundane 39 yards and returned just one punt, losing a yard. He scored 23 times in his first 26 games at Cal, but hasn’t found the end zone in the past two. That trend may continue, so spooked are opponents in facing him.

“DeSean is the most explosive player in Division I football,” Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said. “He’s that good every time he touches the ball.”

Whether they can stop each other, these teams enter this epic with insider knowledge about each other. Bellotti employed Cal coach Jeff Tedford as his offensive coordinator from 1998 to 2001 and they remain friendly, though some suggest that Tedford largely was responsible for Oregon’s success while he was there. Namely, he gets credit for huge Fiesta Bowl and Holiday Bowl wins over Colorado and Texas, respectively. Oregon hasn’t won a bowl game since Tedford left. Bellotti gets a chance to put all that talk to rest.

If there are worries for either side, the Ducks have lost fifth-year senior wide receiver Brian Paysinger with a season-ending knee injury, while the Golden Bears likely will be without three usual defensive starters on this trip, senior defensive tackle Matt Malele (foot), junior defensive end Rulon Davis (foot) and junior linebacker Zack Follett (neck).

Paysinger, a 34-catch receiver in 2006 and highly popular teammate, suffered his disastrous setback last Thursday in practice, taking a hit while getting his cleats caught in the grass and leaving his team stunned as it headed to Stanford without him.

“It’s a horrible loss,” Oregon senior offensive tackle Geoff Schwartz said. “He’s a great player.”

While breaking in defensive replacements, the Golden Bears have had the benefit of playing no-huddle, spread offenses in three of their first four games, something Oregon likely does better than all of those opponents.

Cal leads this series 37-30-2. However, the Ducks have won eight of the past 10 meetings and haven’t been beaten by their Bay Area opponent at Autzen Stadium since 1987.

Oregon easily could get swept up in all the hype surrounding this match-up, with ESPN Game Day coming to Eugene for just the second time in seven years, leaving locals nearly as excited as the time John Belushi and cast stayed in town one summer to film that Hollywood campus classic “Animal House.”

Not much separates these Pac-10 contenders. It could be a photo finish in Track Town. Maybe the only difference is attitude. The Golden Bears might have just a little more snarl to them

“Oregon is an explosive team, but the only team that can beat Cal is Cal,” Golden Bears junior linebacker Worrell Williams promised.

Cal by 3