By fighting on, Cal snaps losing streak against USC
LOS ANGELES — Cal receiver Moe Ways stood in front of his teammates Friday night and reminded them that their next victory would earn bowl eligibility, a notable step for the program.
If that win came against USC, however, it would mean so much more.
“He told that us that 20-plus Cal teams went to a bowl game. Heck, we did that three years ago,” senior outside linebacker Alex Funches said. “Cal teams have not beat USC. If we’re the team to do that, that’s going to last for a lifetime.”
The Bears captured a lifelong memory late Saturday night, snapping a 14-game skid against USC with a 15-14 victory in front of a homecoming crowd of 56,721 at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum.
Cal hadn’t defeated USC since 2003 and hadn’t won at the Coliseum since 2000.
When Patrick Laird’s 14-yard run on 4th-and-1 with about two minutes left clinched the victory, head coach Justin Wilcox fired off a fist pump that unleashed more than a decade of program-wide frustration.
“There’s a belief amongst them, which in the end, is all that really matters,” Wilcox said of his players, who had an extended celebration in the historic Coliseum tunnel before getting to the locker room. “I know there’s going to be moments when you have ups and down when you’re building a program. There are going to be little dips, but they continue to fight, play for each other and have confidence in themselves. This validates that.
“We’re not always the prettiest bunch, but they’re finding a way.”
Cal wasn’t pretty in the first half, which was downright ugly for the Bears.
Cal trailed 14-0 at the break, having displayed zero offensive execution and having allowed USC to look far more efficient than it had in muddling through most of the season. Freshman JT Daniels completed 15 of 20 firsthalf passes as the Trojans piled up 237 yards of total offense on 5.78 yards per play.
“Give credit to USC. They put it on us early, but we were able to bounce back and really take it to them in the second half,” said junior inside linebacker Evan Weaver, who had a team-leading 13 tackles, including two sacks. “They had no answer for what we could do.”
USC managed just 40 yards on 1.29 yards per play in the second half and sparked Cal when a bad snap resulted in a safety that got the Bears on the board in the first minute of the third quarter. Cal quarterback Chase Garbers then connected with Vic Wharton III on a 29-yard touchdown pass that trimmed the Bears’ deficit to 14-9 just 72 seconds later and Garbers gave the Bears their first lead on a 5-yard run with 6:13 remaining in the third.
After the go-ahead score, Garbers mockingly made USC’s “Fight On” hand signal and then flipped the gesture upside down.
Garbers and Laird combined to run 16 times for 75 yards in the second half. USC’s entire offense ran 17 times for 7 yards in the second half.
“I kept yelling that in the second half: ‘If we’re going to win this game, we’re going to have to put together grimy drives,’ ” Laird said. “I’m fine with our identity being that. You want explosive plays and you want to score quickly sometimes, but we know the character of our team.
“We know that if we have a long drive and get into the red zone, we’re going to continue to punch. Other teams might fold. We embrace that.”