USC hosts the Cal Golden Bears at the Coliseum this weekend, and after two consecutive last-second losses, the Trojans need a win to s
top the backslide heading into their showdown with Oregon on Halloween.
Cal has only one win over USC with Jeff Tedford as head coach, but the Trojans are at their lowest point in nearly a decade after losing two in a row for the first time in nine years.
Quarterback Matt Barkley said earlier this week the team was at “the lowest of lows,” but in football, as in life, it could always be worse. They could be facing an Oregon team coming off a three game losing streak, which is exactly what will happen if the Trojans don’t buckle down and remind Cal of last year’s 30-3 blowout.
The teams are more evenly matched this season than in the recent past. USC is 24th in the nation in average points per game with 35.7; Cal, averaging 35.8, is just one-tenth of a point ahead. USC holds an ever-so-slight edge in rushing yards, ranking 21st in with 213.3. Cal, thanks to Shane Vereen, averages 212.8 yards a game on the ground.
The biggest disparities between the squads are in the passing game and the defense (or lack thereof).
Tedford has a history of developing quarterbacks, notably Trent Dilfer and Aaron Rodgers (but not Lane Kiffin, who worked as a graduate assistant with Tedford during his senior year because he wouldn’t see playing time). His protege, Kiffin, has Matt Barkley.
Partway into his second college season, Barkley is among the elite quarterbacks of the nation, throwing 390 yards in last week’s loss to a tough Stanford team. When he’s connecting with his senior go-to guy Ronald Johnson or with emerging true freshman Robert Woods, the Trojans have the ability to look unstoppable. They’re currently 13th in the nation in total offense and 29th in the passing game.
After a rough few years with uncertainty at quarterback, Cal is led by senior Kevin Riley. In a conference filled with elite passers, Riley is posting respectable numbers (9 TDs, 4 INTs) but the Golden Bears’ offense is primarily driven by Vereen, the junior running back who’s averaging 115 yards per game and making people forget all about Jahvid Best.
After facing Washington’s Jake Locker and Stanford’s Andrew Luck, two NFL prospect quarterbacks, the struggling Trojans’ secondary might be able to hold its own against Cal, as Riley can be more easily forced to make mistakes.
One of the keys to the game for USC will be bottling up Vereen and forcing Riley to make plays with his arm. Of course, stopping the run has proved to be almost as much of an issue for the Trojans as covering receivers. USC is ranked 100th – of 119 – in total defense and has yet to prove it can tackle anyone, let alone one of the Pac-10′s leading rushers, but if the D-line will have to bring it this week, because the Bears’ defense certainly will.
Cal is 8th in the nation in total defense despite giving 52 points to Nevada’s Wolfpack three weeks ago, but as Kiffin pointed out, they’ve shut everyone else down. Arizona beat Cal, but only by one point in a very low scoring, 10-9, game, and UCLA, which beat Texas, fell 35-7.
It will be the toughest test USC’s prolific offense has faced, but the Trojans’ defense could make it a little bit easier by making smart plays – and not giving up big ones, which the Trojans have done too often this year. It starts up front, with an injury-riddled defensive line, but if they get the job done there by stuffing the run and, especially, pressuring Riley, it’ll make life easier for the young secondary.
Cornerback and defensive captain Shareece Wright addressed the defense in a players-only meeting this week, hoping to get his unit back on track. With so many inexperienced players, the defense should, theoretically, improve each game, and with Oregon coming to town Halloween night, they’d better make significant improvements soon.
After last year’s smackdown, Cal will be hungry for a win, and after watching USC’s last two late-game collapses, the Golden Bears will show up to the Coliseum thinking this is their year. USC isn’t the powerhouse it was for the majority of the decade, and new chinks in the armor seem to show up almost every week, but that doesn’t guarantee Cal’s will walk away with the win.
The Trojans might not have many tangible goals left – national championship, bowl game, and undefeated season are all out of the question – but they’re not just going to roll over the rest of the season (at least not any more than the defense already has). A winning season, if not a championship season, is still on the table, and a win this weekend will be an important addition to the “W” column.
