Harris Helps Oregon Roll Past Cal, 37-17 : Pacific 10: Receiver’s touchdown catch and two punt returns are among the big plays for the Ducks.

The Oregon Ducks are coming together and the California Bears are falling apart.

So it was Oregon that took advantage of a series of big plays Saturday to beat Cal, 37-17, in a Pacific 10 game at Autzen Stadium.

Ronnie Harris caught a 56-yard touchdown pass and returned punts of 19 and 64 yards to set up two other scores as Oregon kept its bowl hopes alive.

Ricky Whittle had an 80-yard touchdown run and Herman O’Berry intercepted three passes, one in the end zone to stop a Cal threat, as the Ducks improved to 5-4 overall, 3-3 in the Pac-10.

The victory left Oregon in good position for a bowl bid with games remaining against UCLA and Oregon State, the Pac-10’s worst teams.

“We want to keep hanging around in November,” Oregon Coach Rich Brooks said. “We keep talking about that and we’re still hanging around.”

Russell White rushed 29 times for 192 yards, including touchdown runs of nine and 17 yards, but the Bears lost for the fourth time in five games to drop to 4-5 and 2-4.

“We thought we could go to a New Year’s Day bowl,” Cal’s Wolf Barber said. “Now we’re not going to any bowl.”

The loss left Coach Keith Gilbertson fuming.

“I’m not taking anything away from Oregon, but I’m disappointed,” he said. “It wasn’t because we weren’t playing hard, but penalties, turnovers, an interception in the end zone killed us. We didn’t self-destruct, we blew up.”

Oregon’s Tommy Thompson set an Autzen Stadium record with a 76-yard punt in the opening quarter and kicked field goals of 47, 43 and 40 yards.