BERKELEY, Calif. -- Perhaps one sequence best summed up freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis' latest stat-stuffing performance for USC, his continued maturation through his first season, and consquently a rare comfortable Trojans victory.
USC, which has not exactly excelled at creating or maintaining momentum this season, had a chance to seize control of this game at Cal on Saturday night after Slovis tossed a 33-yard touchdown pass to Michael Pittman in the final minute before halftime, with the Trojans then set to receive the opening kickoff of the second half.
That drive to start the third quarter was in early jeopardy as the Trojans faced a quick third-and-8, but Slovis found a wide-open Pittman cutting in on a slant for 18 yards. On the next play the QB heaved it deep down the seam to Amon-Ra St. Brown -- the ball arrived a tick late, but St. Brown had no trouble collecting the catch down to the Cal 4 nonetheless. And two plays later, Slovis rolled to his right and found Drake London open in the front of the end zone.
With that, the Trojans went up two touchdowns and never looked back on the way to a commanding 41-17 win.
"He's giving his kids a chance to make plays," USC coach Clay Helton said of his young QB. "You're not seeing a lot of overthrows, and I think that's the mark of a good quarterback is giving your kids an opportunity to make the plays for you. And his attitude, that's the other thing that stands out to me -- always positive, always energetic, always poised and takes command of the offense. He doesn't look flustered at any point in time he's been out here."
No, but Slovis is sure starting to make opposing defenses feel that way routinely. He completed 29 of 35 passes for 406 yards, 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions Saturday night. It was his third 400-yard passing performance in the last four games, which matched the combined total of 400-yard games by Sam Darnold and Cody Kessler over their collective five seasons manning the position for the Trojans.
But as Helton and others noted, Slovis was just a part of this masterful performance.
Pittman finished with 11 catches for 180 yards and a touchdown, as he notched his fourth game this fall with at least 150 receiving yards and moved past 1,000 yards for the season. London, the freshman wideout, chipped in 6 catches for 111 yards and a touchdown, and St. Brown had 5 catches for 85 yards and a score while the defense held Cal to a mere field goal between its opening touchdown and the midway point of the fourth quarter.
"I thought they really made a statement for their team and what they're trying to attempt to do down the stretch here," Helton said of his players. "There were some big playmakers all over the place. We had the game ball in there, I really couldn't give it to one guy. This was really a team win, and there were big plays made by a lot of people."
USC (7-4, 6-2 Pac-12) has now won four of its last five games with one to play, next Saturday at home vs. UCLA. Of course, the one the Trojans didn't win in that stretch -- a 56-24 home loss to Oregon -- still looms over this season and will likely keep the team out of the conference championship game.
But these Trojans have shown they are committed to maximizing whatever remains -- while already ensuring a different final stretch from their 5-7 nadir last season. The speculation of Helton's future continues to hang over the proceedings, but credit the coach and his team for not letting it become a factor within their own ranks.
"I believe in these kids -- they keep on showing up each and every week and putting their best foot forward," Helton said. "They've got a chance to win five out of the last six games next week and really put an exclamation point on the season."
RELATED: Watch postgame video interviews with USC's coaches and players
It must be noted that USC knocked Cal's leading rusher Christopher Brown Jr. out of the game after just 2 carries -- on a devastating immediate hit in the backfield that resulted in a targeting ejection on defensive end Christian Rector. Golden Bears QB Chase Garbers, making his return from a lengthy injury absence, then exited the game early in the second quarter after being brought down by Drake Jackson, with backup Devon Modster finishing out the game.
Cal's offense has struggled enough this season with its full allotment of playmakers -- taking those two out of the equation certainly had an impact.
"Definitely, when Garbers was out, it was a downfall. You could definitely tell like they weren't feeling it anymore," Jackson said. "… And we just turned it up from there. … It's just like in the wild, when you see an animal hurt, you go after it."
But hey, USC has been dealing with significant injury setbacks all season.
What the Trojans haven't been accustomed to is turning an early lead into a larger lead and keeping any late tension out of the game. Just a week ago, they went up 28-7 in the first quarter at Arizona State only to need an interception on the final Sun Devils drive to seal a 31-26 win.
There was no such late drama Saturday night at Cal.
Slovis was sensational -- again -- and the Trojans defense settled down from a rocky start to stifle the Golden Bears for much of the night after Cal marched 75 yards in 7 plays for that early go-ahead touchdown (a 5-yard DeShawn Collins run).
"We knew that drive wasn't us," Jackson said. "They were just driving too fast. We made a couple little adjustments and you see what happened after that."
Just as important, Slovis and Co. answered immediately with their own 75-yard scoring drive, capped by an 18-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open St. Brown on third-and-7.
Slovis was money on third downs most of the night, and later in the first quarter on a third-and-18 he escaped the pocket and lofted a 45-yard completion down the sideline to London. That set up an eventual 41-yard Chase McGrath field goal and a 10-7 lead.
Cal tied it with a 37-yard Greg Thomas field goal on the ensuing possession, but then it was all Trojans.
Facing another third-and-12 late in the second quarter, Slovis connected with Pittman for that key 33-yard touchdown as the Cal DB lost his balance trying to stay with the senior standout. (There is a metaphor in there somewhere).
That was the pivotal moment -- USC's chance to build some real separation coming out of the half, the kind of opportunity this team has too often squandered.
Except this time, as Slovis then led the aforementioned touchdown drive to start things off in the third quarter.
Running back Stephen Carr, making his return after a three-game injury absence, tacked on a 2-yard touchdown late in the third quarter, tight end Josh Falo had a 5-yard touchdown catch from Slovis in the fourth quarter and the defense (which got interceptions from Greg Johnson and Isaiah Pola-Mao along with 5 total sacks) helped finish off the Golden Bears.
Slovis is on quite a run. He passed for 406 yards, 4 touchdowns and an interception in the win over Colorado, struggled against Oregon (3 TDs and 3 INTs), and then passed for 432 yards, 4 TDs and 1 INT at Arizona State last week followed by the latest 400-yard, 4 TD performance Saturday night.
All three of those 400-yard games have come on the road, and since returning from his early-season concussion, Slovis has thrown 19 touchdowns and 5 picks. Overall, he's up to 2,727 yards, 24 TDs, 9 INTs and countless deflecting postgame comments during this breakout freshman campaign.
"I think it just shows what our offense is capable of," he said Saturday night. "I think I can play better even after a game like this, and especially after the other three games, two games. I think it's just a testament to what this offense can be in the future."
He has a point there. That will be the tricky thing for USC fans to wrestle with -- as they understandably continue to pine for change atop the program, they should also understand that could well mean a total reset for this burgeoning offense, one that has averaged 459.33 yards and 33.17 points per game since the bye week.
But maybe that's the counterpoint. The talent and potential have always been there for this Trojans team, even through the injuries, while the results haven't been steady enough overall. The fact that USC's thorough four quarters performance at Cal is a notable outlier only reinforces the situation the Trojans are in as a program to begin with.
That's for new athletic director Mike Bohn to determine after next week.
In the meantime, whatever decision is levied on Helton and his staff, it's clear this team has not quit. If anything, it's gaining strength in these final weeks. Perhaps too little too late, but again, much better than the alternative that played out a year ago.
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