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Cal Exorcises Demons in Los Angeles, Taking Down USC 15-14

There's an inordinate amount of plays that have haunted the Bears in the LA Coliseum over the past 15 years, from Aaron Rodgers having four chances inside the nine in 2004, to getting destroyed in the first half in 2012, and not being able to compete defensively in the last two editions of this matchup in LA. Cal fans never forget, but those memories can fade a little easier now that a streak spanning fourteen games has ended in the most dramatic fashion, with a 15-14 Cal win over the USC Trojans.

It started like a number of other games Cal has played this season, with an early special teams blunder killing the Bears in the field position game. The offense did nothing early, as USC built a lead thanks to a Chase Garbers fumble, an Aca'Cedric Ware 44 yard run, and a pass from JT Daniels to Tyler Vaughns for the first score.

Daniels hit Vaughns again later for another score to give USC a 14-0 lead, and at that point, it seemed pretty bleak for the Bears, but you have to play the game, and the Cal defense gave the team a spark with a game changing play.

Daniels hit high school teammate Amon-Ra St. Brown over the middle, and the true freshman ran after the catch, got caught, and Luc Bequette popped the ball out for Jordan Kunaszyk to recover it right before the end of the half. That kept at least three points off the board.

Coming out of the half, USC had possession and gave the Bears their first points with a poor snap over the head of Daniels, rolling into the end zone for a safety. With an Ashtyn Davis return of the resulting kick to midfield, Vic Wharton finally made his biggest play of the year.

Wharton, against a true freshman in Olaijah Griffin, drew a pass interference call, then proceeded, as Vic Wharton does, to talk a ton of trash. Two plays later, Wharton pulled a double move on Griffin, giving Garbers a wide open throw for a 29 yard score and Wharton's first TD of the year. The redshirt senior was hobbled for the rest of the game, but he did his part there.

Then came something brewing all game, as Traveon Beck, who had a couple massive stops early, including on a fake field goal. Beck jumped a route, got a pick, and set the Bears up with fantastic field position. Garbers converted a 3rd and 4 with a run, and did the rest of the work behind a Malik McMorris block for six. That made the score 15-14, as the Bears failed the two point conversion, and that's where the scoring stopped.

From there, there were three memorable plays that sealed the deal in the second half:

- Two third down Evan Weaver blitzes up the gut, one where Aaron Maldonado beautifully opened up a wide berth for the blitzing linebacker, and Weaver finished.

- Iman Marshall talking trash to the Cal sideline, picking up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and extending the Cal drive after Nikko Remigio brought in a pass just out of bounds.

It all led to a key 3rd and 6, where the Bears ran Chase Garbers on a bootleg, where he appeared to have a first, but slid early and brought up 4th and 1. The Bears went to their senior leader to finish things, Pat Laird busted loose for 14, and that was the ballgame. 14 yards to end 14 games worth of misery.

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Notes and Observations

- Cal is bowl eligible for the first time since 2015

- Cal beat USC in the Coliseum for the first time since 2000

- Justin Wilcox has beaten two of his former employers this year it Clay Helton and Chris Petersen (He's also beaten Paul Chryst via transitive property, via a BYU win over Wisconsin)

- Cal held USC to 41 yards on 31 plays in the second half

Three Areas

Turnovers: Cal 1, USC 2 (Cal Win)

Explosive Plays (20+) Cal 2, USC 4 (USC win)

3rd Downs: Cal, 5-16, USC 7-17 (USC Win)

In essence, this game was changed on a handful of other factors, including USC penalties, a couple solid returns by Ashtyn Davis, and the Bears taking advantage of short fields.

Four Standouts

Luc Bequette: 8 tackles, 2.5 TFLs, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble. Bequette took advantage of his matchup against Jalen McKenzie in setting a new career high in sacks while making the play that turned the game around

Traveon Beck: 6 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 INT. Beck was noted multiple times this week to have elite quickness, and he showed it on an interception as well as when the Trojans tried to run a fake field goal

Vic Wharton: 2 receptions, 34 yards, 1 TD, Wharton's trash talk got a true freshman thinking, and Wharton took advantage for the his first score of the year

Evan Weaver: 13 tackles, 2.5 TFLs, 2 sacks. Weaver got layups, and he finished them to put a punctuation on third down attempts

Other Thoughts:

- Garbers had an 82 yard run early called back, as the redshirt freshman turned on the jets

- Brandon McIlwain, a lightning rod in past weeks, didn't take a snap and didn't have his helmet on when the cameras cut to him on a couple occasions.

- Wharton didn't start, as Ricky Walker III got a start in his place. Walker is redshirt sophomore wideout from Oakland, who played high school ball at San Leandro HS

- Siu Fuimaono also made his first career start on defense

- Three touchbacks for Chris Landgrebe and a 43.9 yard average on punts by Steven Coutts amounts to a solid day from the Cal specialists, though Remigio did bobble a punt

- The 207 yards of total offense are by far the lowest in a Cal win this year.

The Bears will return to take on Stanford next Saturday at home in the 121st edition of the Big Game

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