By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–The Ole Miss Rebels started fast, but ended slow, and the Cal Bears’ unheralded defense rightfully could claim authorship to their opponents’ surprising about-face.

That’s because apparently it’s not a phase, but a pattern. The line drawn in the sand by the Bears at the half is familiar. This is the third, consecutive week the Bears trailed at halftime, but won the game. According to head coach Justin Wilcox, it took a bunch of contributors to make that happen.

“I commend our players for never losing the faith and staying together, and it took so many guys,” Wilcox said. “You’re going to look throughout the stat sheet, but special teams, guys who made blocks and tackles, guys who came in and stepped up when guys got dinged and we needed everybody, that was the ultimate team win.”

Cal’s 27-16 win over favored Mississippi sets up an early-season showdown with No. 4 USC on Saturday in Berkeley. Television has endorsed the meeting of old rivals with a juicy 12:30pm start time on ABC. The Trojans barely managed to stay perfect themselves, coming up with a game-tying field goal to end regulation, and then squeezing past Texas, 27-24 in two overtimes.

So how did Cal get to this point–an unlikelihood for a team with a new coach, and so many new faces at key positions?

Under Wilcox, it’s been defense, running the ball, and a healthy slice of resilience. Quarterback Ross Bowers, who really picked it up after throwing a hurtful interception after halftime, explained.

“We just don’t flinch, whether we could be down, we could be up,” Bowers said. “This team is always prepared. We’re waiting for the adversity because that’s when we play our top game.”

Adversity was immediate for the Bears on Saturday as Mississippi exploited their size and speed at the wide receiver spots in the opening drive. Three of the Rebels’ first four plays–all passes–went for 9, 19 and 45 yards. Early in the second quarter, Mississippi’s Shea Patterson had added 71 and 72-yard touchdown passes to establish a 16-7 lead.

Down nine, the Bears’ response was three-and-outs on their two, ensuing possessions. But as things looked as if they were falling apart, Cal was actually putting them together. As Wilcox described, the strategic changes were subtle, and the contributions came from a bunch of different places.

“We played better,” Wilcox explained. “We didn’t install a new defense at halftime. We played it better. We changed up kind of what they were doing, who they were trying to isolate. A lot of the same calls, same coverages and our guys went out and executed better.”