Tuitele, Ducks suffer a bad break.

Byline: Rob Moseley The Register-Guard

Senior A.J. Tuitele, 19-game starter at linebacker and a UO team captain, might miss the rest of the regular season after suffering a broken foot in the Ducks' 31-24 loss to California at Autzen Stadium on Saturday.

Tuitele initially suffered what UO coach Mike Bellotti called a "stress reaction" in his foot during practice this week. He started Saturday's game but aggravated the injury early on and was in a sweatsuit on the sideline by the second quarter.

"We're going to miss A.J.," Bellotti said. "He's a captain. He's one of our playmakers. That's a difficult guy to have go down. Obviously we hope to get him back at some point in the season, or at least for the bowl game. His leadership, he'll still be a presence out there on the field."

Tuitele, a 5-foot-11, 226-pound native of Wilmington, Calif., entered Saturday as Oregon's fifth-leading tackler with 21 stops in four games. Prior to the season, he was elected one of the Ducks' four captains in a vote of the players.

Bellotti said Tuitele will likely have a surgical screw implanted to help the injury heal and will miss at least six to eight weeks.

In Tuitele's place, Kwame Agyeman got most of the snaps at weakside linebacker Saturday.

Agyeman had two missed tackles in the third quarter and was pulled in favor of Kevin Garrett after the second. But he bounced back with consecutive tackles for loss of Cal running back Justin Forsett as the UO defense made the stop that set the stage for Oregon's final offensive possession.

Agyeman started all 13 games at strongside linebacker last season before giving way to Jerome Boyd at that position this fall. He finished with five tackles Saturday and has 22 for the season.

Gibbs' first start comes

after grandmother's death

Two days after the passing of his maternal grandmother, Jeremy Gibbs made his first start of the season at defensive end for the Ducks on Saturday.

Gibbs' grandmother died Thursday afternoon, causing the UO senior to miss the beginning of that day's practice. His position coach described him as emotional both during Friday's walk-through and prior to Saturday's game.

"Initially I didn't know where his focus was," UO defensive line coach Michael Gray said. "Just getting through practice was tough for him Friday."

Gray said Gibbs replaced Will Tukuafu in the starting lineup based both on his play to this point in the season and in practice this week. The coach debated going back to Tukuafu in the wake of Gibbs losing his grandmother but stuck by the decision.

When Oregon emerged from the tunnel for Saturday's game, Gibbs ran to midfield and took a knee, then pointed to the sky before heading to the sideline. Gibbs finished with two tackles, two quarterback hurries and one pass tipped away at the line of scrimmage.

Gray said Gibbs' grandmother had been hospitalized since late summer due to an illness.

Ducks' kick team keeps

California under wraps

The Ducks were intent upon limiting big plays by Cal's kick returners, and were mostly successful.

On kickoffs, in which Cal came in 11th nationally in returns and Oregon was 96th in coverage, the Ducks used two kickers making their 2007 debuts to stymie the Bears. Mixing squibs by Luke Bellotti and pooch kicks by Morgan Flint, UO allowed Cal 9.8 yards per return, though the Bears' average field position after a UO kickoff was the 37-yard line.

Oregon punter Josh Syria averaged 42 yards per attempt on his first four kicks, mostly keeping the ball away from Cal return man DeSean Jackson, who is one of the best in the country but had just one return yard Saturday. Jackson called for a fair catch on Syria's fifth punt of the day, a 26-yarder that gave Cal possession at the 50.

CAPTION(S):

Jeremy Gibbs chases down California's Justin Forsett during Saturday's game at Autzen Stadium.