USC’s history and tradition provide motivation for Cal
Just under the Trojans’ football masthead on its game notes, USC offers a brief history of its program.
Eleven national championships. Twenty-four bowl victories. One hundred sixtyeight All-Americans. Six Heisman Trophy winners.
Five hundred four NFL players. Eighty-one first-round picks. Five No. 1 overall picks. Twenty-two Academic AllAmericans.
“It’s a historic program,” Cal receiver Moe Ways said. “USC is Rose Bowls and championships. It’s lights, camera, action.”
Ways grew up in Detroit and is a graduate transfer from Michigan, so you can imagine how much deeper the excitement flows for the dozens of his teammates who grew up in the shadow of the Coliseum heading into Saturday night’s kickoff in Los Angeles.
Sophomore cornerback Camryn Bynum played for Centennial-Corona (Riverside County) and grew up believing USC’s players were celebrities.
“Every kid that grew up in SoCal was a fan of USC at one point,” said Bynum, who was redshirting the last time the Bears played at USC (2016). “It’s going to be fun to be playing in the Coliseum. It’ll bring me back to when I was in the sixth grade and going to their games. I was paying money to go to it, and now, I’m playing in the game. “It’s really big for me.” All history aside, Saturday’s game has plenty of significance in the here and now.
Cal (5-4, 2-4 Pac-12) is one win from bowl eligibility for just the second time in seven seasons. USC (5-4, 4-3) is in a three-way tie for first place with Utah and Arizona in the Pac-12 South. Utah — which has lost starting quarterback Tyler Huntley and running back Zack Moss for the season — hosts Oregon on Saturday. The Wildcats have a bye before playing at No. 8 Washington State.
The Bears have lost 14 in a row to USC, last beating the Trojans 34-31 in triple overtime in 2003. The last time they won at the Coliseum was in 2000 (28-16), when Bynum was 2.
“When you have guys from Southern California, they know about that program and its history and tradition, but that’s not what we’re playing against,” Cal defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter said. “We’re playing against the 2018 Trojans. That’s our approach.”
The 2018 Trojans ended a two-game funk last Saturday with a 38-21 victory at Oregon State, with head coach Clay Helton re-assuming play-calling duties and taking pressure off freshman quarterback JT Daniels by returning to a power running game that produced more than 300 yards on 7.8 yards per carry.
Cal’s defense is tied for 13th in the nation in third-down defense, stopping opponents 68.2 percent of the time. The Bears are 19th in total defense (323.2 yards) and 21st in both passing defense (184.2) and defensive pass efficiency (110.99).
While allowing only 12 points per game in the past three, Cal’s defense has kept three consecutive opponents to fewer than 100 rushing yards. Oregon State, Washington and Washington State combined to average 88.3 rushing yards per game on 3.0 yards per carry.
“SC always has talent,” said Cal redshirt freshman quarterback Chase Garbers, who played at Corona Del MarNewport Beach (Orange County). “… Going down to SC and getting that ‘W’ would mean a lot to us SoCal guys.”