I'm still up here in NoCal so I have thoughts on the campus and fans as well as thoughts on the game itself.
Joe Roth- this was an annual day that was dedicated to Joe, a player that died of Melanoma cancer far too young at 23. He was the Cal QB who beat USC in 1975. At least 5 Cal fans made sure I knew this. They celebrate it each year in a game there versus USC or UCLA. And today they were amped. The last game Cal beat USC was in 2003, under Pete Carroll who had troubles with both Cal and Stanford.
With "free speech week" coming to the Campus (since then stopped again) posters on the windows of one building said basically they won't accept white supremacist, hate nor judgementalism (who does?) . Interesting that the author was taking a supremacist attitude, hating those not in line with their thought, and very judgmental on what they have to say without hearing it. Kids!
USC played without RB Jones or WR Mitchell. The game versus Texas continues to have an effect. A local pundit said Cal would play close, and then USC takes off in the 4th quarter to win it. He should have bought a Lotto card. With that burst in 3 minutes clock, USC had gone from a tie game at 13-13 to 30-13. The last two scores sent hordes of Cal fans rushing out the stands to their home, or maybe safe spots on Campus to commiserate on the bad things that happened to them.
Tightwad hill, for those wanting to see the game gratis, was pretty packed with about 200 people. The game was a virtual sellout with no seats for sale along the sidelines. The stadium holds about 47 K but they averaged 37K their first 2 home games. Today those extra seats were sold to mostly USC fans. After the game broke open, USC fans were 70% of those left.
I like the Campus layout and the high kicking band. Call me a traditionalist. But it is the most vertical of campuses leading up to the football stadium. Only WSU can challenge its verticality. It makes for aching legs the next day. I should have brought a piton.
USC again started slow (now 3 of the 4 games), and Cal stuffed the box against the run. With Ronald Jones out USC was more restricted in its playmaking but did (barely) outrush Cal. USC used its TEs (5 receptions) and RBs (7 receptions) to get mostly short yardage plays. The longest run of the day was by Darnold getting 20 yards on an important play. Sam Darnold now has 7 interceptions (thrown mostly into traffic) in 4 games . He had 8 in 10 games last year. But USC would not be 4-0 without him. You can't take away his aggressiveness. He still hit nearly 70% of his passes.
A rabid Cal group influenced my friend to wear non-descript clothes, while I sat next to him wearing USC regalia. I told him that he should have worn black and probably completed the ensemble with a ski mask. I said he likely would have been invited to the Antifa action and their celebration parties afterward (sarcasm). The first riot cost the campus $100K in damages. $1M would be the security cost for this one. Sad.
It was said that the D had to support the offense as USC replaced the 150 receptions by Juju and Rogers. It was that way today. With #2 receiver Mitchell gone. Carr was the #2 receiver, to get him some space. RBs had 7 of the 26 receptions and the TEs caught 5 of the 26. WR Tyler Vaughns looked good with 3. Burnett, with the stacking at the line, seemed to find spaces in the Cal defense for more than a third of the total catches despite some double teaming. Reminder: he was a recruit day selection.
The defense really did play well against the Cal rush, but got punctured at times on long passes. The takeaways stopped 6 of their drives short. USC took over with 20 points coming after TOs. 4 of them plus a turnover on downs were consecutive. Cal had a turnover margin at +4 and USC -1 coming in. After this game of the 6-2 advantage, USC emerged at +3 and Cal at 0 overall.
Forecast: The WSU game always scared me ….they have a bombs away passing game, so USC needs to get Ronald Jones back as well as Sam Mitchell. USC does have the better team, but the Cougs are better than Cal and Stanford IMO. This is WSUs 5th straight game at home. But its level of competition is much different- USC is #7 toughest SOS, WSU is #123. Some of WSUs numbers can be misleading, or are they? Score: a squeaker and eeker. USC 45- WSU 42.
Joe Roth- this was an annual day that was dedicated to Joe, a player that died of Melanoma cancer far too young at 23. He was the Cal QB who beat USC in 1975. At least 5 Cal fans made sure I knew this. They celebrate it each year in a game there versus USC or UCLA. And today they were amped. The last game Cal beat USC was in 2003, under Pete Carroll who had troubles with both Cal and Stanford.
With "free speech week" coming to the Campus (since then stopped again) posters on the windows of one building said basically they won't accept white supremacist, hate nor judgementalism (who does?) . Interesting that the author was taking a supremacist attitude, hating those not in line with their thought, and very judgmental on what they have to say without hearing it. Kids!
USC played without RB Jones or WR Mitchell. The game versus Texas continues to have an effect. A local pundit said Cal would play close, and then USC takes off in the 4th quarter to win it. He should have bought a Lotto card. With that burst in 3 minutes clock, USC had gone from a tie game at 13-13 to 30-13. The last two scores sent hordes of Cal fans rushing out the stands to their home, or maybe safe spots on Campus to commiserate on the bad things that happened to them.
Tightwad hill, for those wanting to see the game gratis, was pretty packed with about 200 people. The game was a virtual sellout with no seats for sale along the sidelines. The stadium holds about 47 K but they averaged 37K their first 2 home games. Today those extra seats were sold to mostly USC fans. After the game broke open, USC fans were 70% of those left.
I like the Campus layout and the high kicking band. Call me a traditionalist. But it is the most vertical of campuses leading up to the football stadium. Only WSU can challenge its verticality. It makes for aching legs the next day. I should have brought a piton.
USC again started slow (now 3 of the 4 games), and Cal stuffed the box against the run. With Ronald Jones out USC was more restricted in its playmaking but did (barely) outrush Cal. USC used its TEs (5 receptions) and RBs (7 receptions) to get mostly short yardage plays. The longest run of the day was by Darnold getting 20 yards on an important play. Sam Darnold now has 7 interceptions (thrown mostly into traffic) in 4 games . He had 8 in 10 games last year. But USC would not be 4-0 without him. You can't take away his aggressiveness. He still hit nearly 70% of his passes.
A rabid Cal group influenced my friend to wear non-descript clothes, while I sat next to him wearing USC regalia. I told him that he should have worn black and probably completed the ensemble with a ski mask. I said he likely would have been invited to the Antifa action and their celebration parties afterward (sarcasm). The first riot cost the campus $100K in damages. $1M would be the security cost for this one. Sad.
It was said that the D had to support the offense as USC replaced the 150 receptions by Juju and Rogers. It was that way today. With #2 receiver Mitchell gone. Carr was the #2 receiver, to get him some space. RBs had 7 of the 26 receptions and the TEs caught 5 of the 26. WR Tyler Vaughns looked good with 3. Burnett, with the stacking at the line, seemed to find spaces in the Cal defense for more than a third of the total catches despite some double teaming. Reminder: he was a recruit day selection.
The defense really did play well against the Cal rush, but got punctured at times on long passes. The takeaways stopped 6 of their drives short. USC took over with 20 points coming after TOs. 4 of them plus a turnover on downs were consecutive. Cal had a turnover margin at +4 and USC -1 coming in. After this game of the 6-2 advantage, USC emerged at +3 and Cal at 0 overall.
Forecast: The WSU game always scared me ….they have a bombs away passing game, so USC needs to get Ronald Jones back as well as Sam Mitchell. USC does have the better team, but the Cougs are better than Cal and Stanford IMO. This is WSUs 5th straight game at home. But its level of competition is much different- USC is #7 toughest SOS, WSU is #123. Some of WSUs numbers can be misleading, or are they? Score: a squeaker and eeker. USC 45- WSU 42.
