USC wins big, though more is on the horizon

On USC’s first play from scrimmage, sophomore running back Ronald Jones II took a handoff at his own 12-yard line, ran right by four Cal defenders who parted like the Red Sea, sprinted past two more, broke the tackle of another and then ran untouched for about 45 more yards before being caught. 

Three minutes later, the Trojans jumped ahead 7-0, and viewers on the East Coast could probably have turned off their televisions and gone to bed before 11 p.m.

OK, maybe Ronald Jones isn’t Moses. But he did open the floodgates for a blowout at the Coliseum as the Trojans beat the Bears 45-24 on Thursday night.

USC jumped all over Cal from the get-go. Jones looked like Reggie Bush on some of his carries, slipping and sliding defenders all over the field, as the Bears’ porous rushing defense — worst in the Pac-12 — had no answer for the sophomore. By halftime, USC had basically a full game’s worth of offense with four touchdowns on 451 yards; 260 on the ground and 191 in the air. Jones was on pace for nearly 300 yards at halftime, averaging 18.6 yards a carry.

“He had a fire under him,” head coach Clay Helton said on Jones.

Even sophomore running back Aca’cedric Ware, backing up Jones, had a career-high 86 yards rushing at the half.

In the air, redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Darnold and Co. also had their way. Darnold again zipped around the field, throwing, running and sometimes doing both at the same time. His five touchdown passes came with little resistance — an easy three-yard slant to senior wide receiver Darreus Rogers here, a screen pass for Jones to walk into the end zone there. His play action fake to set up a 17-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open redshirt freshman tight end Daniel Imatorbhebhe in the third quarter sealed the deal, and gave him his second consecutive five touchdown game. 

You can make the case that Cal was tired, having played six days before in a double-overtime marathon against Oregon and traveling to the Coliseum — trust me, Bears’ head coach Sonny Dykes made sure everyone knew that in the days leading up to the game. You can make the case that any half-decent team could have dropped 45 points on the board against Cal, which annually sacrifices any semblance of defense for an above-average offense — call it the “Dykes Special,” if you will.

So give credit to USC for pummeling an opponent it should have pummeled, for using a bye-week to adequately prepare, for taking advantage of a rough patch in the schedule for Cal.

Give Jones kudos for finding his groove after struggling to start the year, finally resembling the freshman phenom that had so much promise as the next product of “Tailback U.” His 37-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to give USC a 35-17 lead reminded fans of just how good he is, as “RoJo” stutter-stepped, bided his time and then erupted with a power burst to glide into the end zone untouched.

It took an injury to senior running back Justin Davis, but this was the Jones we all expected to see. And likewise, it took a courageous decision by Helton to hand over the starting quarterback job to a redshirt freshman, but this was finally the USC team we expected to see.

Mired in quicksand with a 1-3 start, the Trojans have no one but Darnold to thank for pulling them back up from laughingstock to a respectable team. They were a play away from beating Utah, defeated Arizona State soundly, survived Colorado, blew out Arizona and now took care of Cal. In a stretch of five games they absolutely must win to keep their Pac-12 Championship hopes alive, the Trojans are four-fifths of the way there, with just lowly Oregon left next week.

But despite the spark provided by Darnold, the four-game win streak and the above .500 record, the recent success seems more like a grace period for Helton than a time for congratulations. USC has found a quarterback, salvaged its season and earned Helton the right to keep his job until 2017 — but that’s all this stretch has accomplished. If I told you before the season that those would be the only positive results, would you be satisfied?

At USC, the answer will always be “no.” An upset of Washington, a win over rivals UCLA and Notre Dame and a return to the Pac-12 Championship Game may sway some opinions. For now, a Thursday night win over a tired Cal team with an abominable defense will suffice, but it’s hardly the end game.

Eric He is a sophomore majoring in print and digital journalism. He is also the sports editor of the Daily Trojan. His column, “Grinding Gears,” runs Fridays.