What started out as a sloppy game turned out to be, well… a sloppy game. Cal turned the ball over five times, including twice in the first half of the first quarter, as USC picked up a 30-9 victory in AT&T Park, home of baseball’s San Francisco Giants. USC only managed to score three points in the first quarter despite forcing two turnovers early in the game, and it has some classic Lane Kiffin moments that made some scratch their heads, but the Trojans blew things open in the second quarter to build a 20-0 halftime lead.
“Mistakes, turnovers, you can’t beat a good football team like USC when you turn the ball over five times,” Cal coach Jeff Tedford said.” There is no question that there were some good things, but some things need to be improved. I don’t doubt their focus whatsoever.”
Football fans who wanted to tune in to watch the Matt Barkley-Robert Woods show were probably disappointed. Woods had just five catches for 36 yards and Barkley was a pedestrian 19-of-35 for 195 yards and a pair of touchdowns. It was far form a highlight reel night for the two Trojan stars. Instead, this night belonged to USC’s defense, who intercepted Cal’s Zach Maynard three times, including once in the end zone, and recovered two more fumbles. Cal still managed to out-gain USC, 329-313 in offensive yards, but it was USC’s defense who came up with the biggest plays in this game. After the game, USC coach Lane Kiffin mentioned he wouldn’t have it any other way, saying “if I was going to pick a way to win a game, I would rather win it this way because it instills confidence in our defense.”
“It was huge for us as a confidence booster,” USC cornerback Dion Bailey said after the game. “We had to come out and show everybody that we’re not as bad of a defense that everyone thinks we are. We came out and held them to nine points. It was huge today. It really helped pick up our offense and hopefully next week, we all will be firing on all cylinders and we’re going to be dangerous.”
“They played lights-out tonight and that really helped us out on the offensive side of the ball,” Barkley said. “I think that it was great because they were playing an offense that was very similar to ours with the pro-style plays, so they were kind of used to what Cal was doing.”
The win did come at a price for USC though. Cornerback Anthony Brown broke his left ankle, which means he is done for the season. Wide receiver Marqise Lee (sprained right shoulder) and running back Marc Tyler (dislocated left shoulder) were also removed form the game with injuries. It is not known just how much time those players will miss.
The USC win sends the Trojans to 5-1 and while they will ineligible for postseason play once again this season, they can play a spoiler role in the Pac 12 by making it more difficult for other teams to either reach bowl eligibility or handing them a conference, or division, loss that could keep a school out of the Pac 12 championship game. Next up for USC is a road game to South Bend to take on Notre Dame. After that is Stanford and the Trojans visit Oregon in mid-November.
Follow Kevin on Twitter @KevinOnCFB.
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