Game Breakdown: USC escapes Cal 41-35

USC just managed to dance away from the jaws of defeat as they flirted with disaster down the stretch against the Cal Bears. After jumping out to a 3-score lead in the 3rd quarter, poor defense and ill-timed miscues all around allowed the feisty Bears to roar right back into the game and almost get a chance to win it. A crucial third-and-5 conversion by a rushing Caleb Williams saved the day for the Trojans, allowing them to leave the Coliseum with another victory.

1st Quarter

Cal, 10:29: J. Ott 6-yard rush TD (D. Longhetto kick good). 7-0 Cal

USC, 5:58: C. Williams 1-yard rush TD (XP no good). 7-6 Cal

2nd Quarter

USC, 11:44: T. Dye 12-yard rush TD (D. Lynch kick good). 13-7 USC

USC, 0:53: C. Williams 7-yard pass to M. Jackson III TD (D. Lynch kick good). 20-7 USC

3rd Quarter

USC, 11:00: C. Williams 59-yard pass to M. Jackson III TD (D. Lynch kick good). 27-7 USC

Cal, 7:27: J. Plummer 2-yard pass to M. Young TD (D. Longhetto kick good). 27-14, USC

USC, 1:18: C. Williams 8-yard pass to T. Washington TD (D. Lynch kick good). 34-14, USC

4th Quarter

Cal, 12:56: J. Plummer 47-yard pass to M. Anderson TD (D. Longhetto kick good). 34-21, USC

Cal, 9:00: J. Plummer 3-yard pass to J. Hunter TD (D. Longhetto kick blocked). 34-27 USC

USC, 5:34: C. Williams 2-yard pass to L. McRee TD (D. Lynch kick good). 41-27, USC

Cal, 2:31: J. Ott 4-yard rush TD (J. Plummer pass to M. Young 2-Pt. Conversion). 41-35, USC

Michael Jackson III may have made one of the best plays of this thrilling college football Saturday as he housed a screen pass for a 59-yard touchdown early in the third quarter. Off a play action fake, Caleb Williams whipped the ball out to him on the right side of the field and Jackson did the rest, masterfully ducking past a charging defender and hitting the jets to accelerate past the entirety of the Oregon defense. Jackson's blazing speed gave him his second touchdown of the day, putting USC back up by two scores.

This game was uncomfortably close through much of the first half before Calen Bullock gave the team it’s 14th interception of the year. With USC leading by just 6 points and only a few minutes remaining in the 2nd quarter, Bullock read the field perfectly from his free safety spot to chase down an errant deep shot from Jake Plummer. His leaping interception shut down Cal's chance to take the lead before the half, instead allowing Caleb Williams and the USC offense to go down the field and stretch the Trojan lead to two scores.

Michael Jackson III stole the show in this game, stacking up big plays from the 2nd quarter to the final whistle. The explosive receiver started the game on the field for USC and made the most of his opportunities, scoring twice and catching 5 passes for 115 yards. Jackson absolutely menaced the Bears’ secondary with his burst and quickness, bookending the half with his touchdown recaptions. He'd go on to make a key reception down the sideline, connecting on a ridicuous throw from Caleb Williams later in the game to jump start a touchdown drive. This was the best effort of his young career and a strong argument for making him a focal point of the offense moving forward.

Tuli Tuipulotu had no trouble beating up on a poor Cal offensive line, putting up another dominant performance. He got off to a fast start, easily discarding the Bears’ right tackle for 2 sacks and engulfing RB Jadyn Ott in the backfield for a TFL through the first half. With strength and quickness Tuipulotu found his way into the backfield with frequency to harass the quarterback and disrupt runs. He carried the torch for the defensive front through the first half, with the rest of the front seven stepping up to follow him through the latter half of the game. Tuipulotu created pressure consistently for the entirety of the contest, even down the stretch when much of the defense began to struggle.

Caleb Williams' brilliance was the difference between defeat and victory in this one, pure and simple. He continued to play at the elite level he's maintained since the past two games, making great decisions and performing what can only be described as wizardry with his right arm. Williams processing, escapability, and arm talent were just too much for the scrappy Cal defense to hold up against, and he finished the night with 360 passing yards and 5 total touchdowns. He's now squarely near the top of the Heisman race on a day when many of the frontrunners had rough outings. Meanwhile, the Trojan secondary may have had their worst game of the year, which is saying something given the fact that they gave up near 1000 yards to opposing passers over the past two weeks. Their blundering in the second half masked what was a greatly improved performance from the defensive line later in the game, allowing Cal to nearly steal this game away. The problems in USC's secondary plagued almost every member of the unit, with crucial mistakes made across the board to allow Cal to stay in the game despite multiple 3rd and longs. The lapses of the defensive backfield have to be a matter of immediate urgency for this team to straighten over the coming stretch of games.

Passing

Caleb Williams: 26/41, 360 yards, 4 TD

Rushing

Travis Dye: 15 carries for 98 yards, 1 TD

Caleb Williams: 7 carries for 38 yards, 1 TD

Receiving

Michael Jackson III: 5 receptions for 115 yards, 2 TDs

Tahj Washington: 7 receptions for 112 yards, 1 TD

Terrell Bynum: 7 receptions for 68 yards