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On a sunny autumn afternoon in Berkeley, the California Golden Bears (3-4, 1-3 Pac-12) refused to go down quietly against USC (6-2, 4-1) in their final ever Pac-12 meeting. USC edged a 50-49 victory at the California Memorial Stadium to snap a two-game losing streak.

With the game tied at 43-all late in the fourth quarter, Cal turned the ball over on downs, leaving USC’s suddenly potent rush attack to take advantage. Redshirt junior running back MarShawn Lloyd broke loose and carried the ball 56 yards to the Cal seven, with redshirt senior running back Austin Jones converting a touchdown from there. 

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USC held a 50-43 lead with 3:33 remaining in the game. Cal marched up the field nine plays and two and a half minutes, scoring on a touchdown from freshman running back Jaivian Thomas. With the game on the line, the Bears went for two, but USC’s junior nickelback Jaylin Smith battled for a crucial pass break-up and kept USC’s lead intact.

After missing two practices during the week due to pneumonia, Head Coach Lincoln Riley made the trip north and assumed his usual play-calling duties. Junior quarterback Caleb Williams headed into California Memorial Stadium in need of a bounce-back performance, having thrown just two touchdown passes in his previous three outings. 

USC’s offense started hot, scoring all 17 first-half points in the first quarter. Cal limited USC to a 23-yard field goal, but the passing game appeared to be back on track as Williams found redshirt senior wide receiver Tahj Washington alone for 81 yards on the two touchdown drives.

But the first half quickly turned into the Jaydn Ott show. Cal’s true sophomore running back tortured USC’s defense, tallying 153 yards and three touchdowns in just 13 carries, tying his career high for single-game rushing touchdowns. Redshirt freshman quarterback Fernando Mendoza also found redshirt sophomore Trond Grizzell in the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown. 

The opening drives of the second half restored USC’s confidence, first stuffing Cal on a 4th & 1 in midfield to get the ball back then scoring on a six-yard Williams rush. USC elected to go for two, however, and failed to convert, keeping the score at 28-23. 

USC punted on the next offensive drive, but junior inside linebacker Eric Gentry picked off Mendoza in Cal’s half to set USC up at the 22-yard line. On the very next play, Williams found senior wide receiver Brenden Rice wide open for the touchdown, but Lynch missed the extra point to continue his poor outing. 

Whatever momentum USC had, Cal completely sapped it out of the Trojans with a 10-play scoring drive that ended in a Mendoza rushing touchdown. The Bears successfully attempted a two-point conversion that started in wildcat, with Ott flicking the ball back to Mendoza, who completed the pass to Grizzell.

Cal opened the fourth-quarter scoring through another Mendoza rush and with 14:06 left in the game, USC was staring down a 43-29 deficit. But the Trojans cut Cal’s lead in half on the following drive, with Williams ducking into the endzone for a touchdown. 

Both teams punted on the following two drives, but Cal fumbled on the return, which freshman linebacker Tackett Curtis recovered to put USC back in the red zone. Lloyd scored his second touchdown of the day from a nine-yard rush to tie the game at 43.

Both USC and Cal suffered ball security issues in the fourth quarter. Cal redshirt sophomore running back Ashton Stredick fumbled just two plays into Cal’s next drive, recovered by redshirt senior rush end Jamil Muhammad. On the very next play, Cal sacked Williams, who fumbled and returned the ball to the Bears. 

Despite the up and down performance, USC held on for a much-needed victory.