By Morris Phillips
Justin Wilcox has had enough of close games, narrow losses and explaining the shortcomings to the media after games.
From the California coach’s perspective, his guys are capable. Add to that, the USC coaching staff admitted the Trojans play left them vulnerable to a loss Saturday night, and they were fortunate to escape with a 41-35 win at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
That left Wilcox to issue terse, brief responses and basically ignore a critical sequence before halftime in which Jeremiah Hunter was blatantly held while running a deep pattern. That caused Jake Plummer to overthrow his pass to Hunter that was picked off by USC’s Caleb Bullock. Three plays later the Trojans were in the end zone, and in possession of their first, two-score lead of the night, 20-7 heading into halftime.
“I can’t really talk about the officials,” Wilcox said. “We needed something more at the end of the first half.
“We need to play better football so we can win some of these games.”
The Bears were playing better football, forcing the high-octane USC offense to punt four times before halftime. Down just 13-7 approaching the half, Cal found itself in a winnable game without–to that juncture–having exploited the Trojans’ less than stellar defense.
Bullock’s critical interception, accelerated the pace, and allowed quarterback Caleb Williams to find his stride. Williams’ 39-yard pass play to Tahj Washington set the Trojans up at Cal’s 7-yard line, and they punched it in on the next play when Williams hooked up with Michael Jackson III on a diving catch in the end zone.
Cal’s three-and-out to start the second half simply increased the pressure on the defense that had held up so well early. Four plays later, the Cal defense broke when Jackson caught a short pass, slipped linebacker Oluwafemi Oladejo and was off to the races. Jackson’s 59-yard scoring play put USC up 27-7.
The 20-point margin forced Cal to take chances in the pass game, and that approach worked with the Trojans’ defense finally showing its warts. After a scoreless, second quarter that essentially decided the outcome, Jack Plummer made the game competitive with a passing performance that would see him throw for 406 yards and three scores.
The Bears got within 34-21 with 12:56 remaining when Plummer connected with Mavin Anderson on a 47-yard pass play. Four minutes later, Hunter’s three-yard touchdown catch had Cal down 34-27.
Jackson was the catalyst again on USC’s ensuing drive. His 29-yard catch, and 19-yard run put the hosts in Cal territory. Four plays later Williams found Lake McRee for a two-yard touchdown pass that put the game out of reach at 41-27 with 5:34 remaining.
After a slow start, Williams finished with 26 completions for 360 yards and four touchdowns. For the No. 9 Trojans, who harbor championship aspirations, Williams was the good news.
Really disappointing,” USC defensive coordinator Alex Grinch said. “It’s a 60-minute football game. That’s not new. The nice thing is we sit here today as frustrated as we are and it’s after a win.”
“If you’re winning, you’re doing more good than bad, right?” head coach Lincoln Riley said. “We just got to continue to do more good. And we gotta continue to eliminate some of the bad football that has held us back from playing our best.”
The Bears have suffered one score losses to Notre Dame, Colorado, Washington and USC. Their last win: September 24 over Arizona. Five, consecutive losses frame Wilcox’s frustration.
“Execute at a higher level move the ball and put it in the end zone, get people off the field. Yeah, we know USC is a great team, phenomenal talent, top speed. But the evidence.. you got to show them on the tape,” Wilcox said.
The Bears (3-6, 1-5) travel to Corvallis Saturday to face Oregon State (6-3, 3-3) who undoubtedly will fall from the national rankings after their narrow 24-21 loss to the Huskies on Friday.
