On a weekend full of upsets USC, coming into their game against Cal having given up well over 1,000 total yards of offense the prior two weeks, came perilously close to counting themselves alongside No. 1 Tennessee, No. 6 Alabama, and No. 4 Clemson—all who lost their games this past weekend. Trailing 34-14 going into the final quarter Cal staged a furious comeback scoring 21 and got within a single possession at 34-27 only to see the Trojans come back on a Caleb Williams TD pass to Lake McCree to go in front 41-27 with 5:34 left in the game. Cal came right back on a 12 play 85 yard drive in under three minutes to close the gap to just six points on a 4 yard Jayden Ott TD run and Jack Plummer 2-point conversion pass to Monroe Young. Trojans have the ball up 41-35 with just 2:31 left in the 4th Qtr where Caleb Williams and Travis Dye were able to run the clock out including a 15 yard 1st down run by Williams. Mission accomplished—barely, as USC joins Utah, Oregon, and UCLA—all who won this past Saturday and stay in contention for the PAC-12 Conference Championship and a possible trip to the national playoff.
Both QB’s had a great day at work collectively completing 61 passes for 760 yards, 7 TD’s and just 1 pick by Cal’s Jack Plummer—a costly one on the first play from scrimmage after a USC punt down to the Cal 30 with just 1:11 left in the half—which led to a Trojan TD three plays later and looking back turned out to be a mistake that cost them the game. USC certainly established a better running game rushing 28 times for 155 yards and 2 TD’s against just 63 yards on 24 carries for Cal. But as far as the scoreboard goes, the Bears also scored twice on the ground—both by Freshman RB Jaydn Ott. On the receiving end USC’s Sophomore WR Michael Jackson III and Junior WR Tahj Washington collected twelve passes for 115 and 112 yards respectively with Jackson hauling in 2 TD’s and Washington another with Freshman TE Lake McCree the fourth on his only reception of the game. For Cal, WR’s Junior Jeremiah Hunter, Freshman Mavin Anderson, and Senior Monroe Young hauled in sixteen passes for 102, 87, and 66 yards respectively of Cal’s 406 yard total as well as a TD each. A much maligned USC defense recorded 60 tackles, 3 sacks, and 9 tackles for loss—tackles that certainly had a lot to do with Cal’s low rushing total.
The Trojans get to stay home for what should be a walk in the park against Colorado this coming Friday–the calm before the storm in a meeting with UCLA the following week in the Rose Bowl for the Los Angeles City Championship and probably an elimination game regarding becoming one of two teams to compete for the PAC-12 Conference Championship. Cal hits the road to take on Oregon State in Corvallis where they haven’t lost this year. Should be a good game but the Beavers have to be favored playing in Reser Stadium.