The Streak is Dead: Cal Takes Down the Trojans in the Coliseum, 15-14

LOS ANGELES MEMORIAL COLISEUM -It's been an exceedingly long decade and a half of futility for the Bears when facing USC since Cal's last win in 2003. The wait is now over, with the Bears winning another defensive battle to the unlikely tune of 15-14 at the LA Coliseum Saturday night. In the end, 56,721 fans (minus a hardy contingent of Cal fans) went home disappointed. 

Like so many other games in the heart of the schedule, the game was a defensive showdown, with the margin of victory coming from the unlikeliest of sources in a muffed snap that resulted in a 22-yard Trojan safety for the Bears first points of the game.

The win had to be extra-special for Cal head coach Justin Wilcox, who was the unfair scapegoat of many fans searching for USC's struggles on both sides of the ball in his tenure at USC as defensive coordinator.

What did he say to his charges?

“Just that I’m proud of them," said Wilcox. "The guys are tough and compete and play for each other and have a belief amongst them. Really in the end that’s all that matters. There were moments where there’s ups and downs and little dips and we’ve had them this year. And they’ll happen during a game, but they continue to fight and pay for each other and it validates that."

"It’s awesome," said senior linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk, who had 11 tackles, a tfl, a forced fumble and a recovered fumble in the Bears' big win.

"We’ve gone through a lot of adversity this year and haven’t flinched. It feels real good to go on the road at USC to secure our sixth win … It’s awesome. I’m so happy for the program and the guys and the coaches. It’s a huge step to get our sixth win and secure our bowl. We’ll celebrate but we’ll be ready to get that axe."

The loss was a bitter pill to swallow for USC head coach Clay Helton, who's job is likely on the line after the Trojans fell to 5-5 on the season.

"Two really good defenses battling out there tonight, and we came out one point short," said Helton. "I commend our players for their effort. We made too many mistakes across the board against a good defense and came up short tonight.”

The Trojans got on the board first after a highly-questionable Jake Curhan holding call on a long Chase Garbers run nullified his late 1st quarter 75-yard burst, pinning the Bears deep in their own territory, forcing an eventual punt.

USC took over after the Coutts punt at midfield, taking just four plays to score with 13:17 left in the half on a JT Daniels pass to Michael Brown for a 2-yard td completion to go up 7-0 after the Alex Stadthaus PAT.

The Trojans capitalized again on more questionable officiating, taking over at midfield on a Chase Garbers fumble and quickly scoring on a Daniels 23-yard td pass to Tyler Vaughns to go up 14-0 with 7:29 left in the half. Replays seemed to clearly indicate Garbers was down before the ball came loose but the call stood after review.

The Bears' offense ran from anemic to non-existent in the first half, with the Bears managing just 69 yards in 24 largely fruitless plays. Fortunately for the Bears, the best was yet to come as Cal held the Trojans scoreless in the 2nd half, limiting them to an anemic 40 yards on 31 plays.

The Bears finally caught a break early in the 3rd quarter, as a Toa Lobendohn snap sailed far over Daniels' head, into the end zone for a safety on the Trojan recovery, bringing the score to 14-2 just a minute into the 3rd quarter.

After an Ashtyn Davis kick return to midfield, the Bears struck quickly in just three plays, on the strength of a 15-yard PI penalty and a 27-yard Garbers strike to a wide-open Vic Wharton. The Chris Landgrebe PAT put the deficit at 14-9.

After the defense held, the Bears finally took the lead, driving 39 yards in nine plays, scoring on a 5-yard Garbers td run up the middle after a Traveon Beck interception. After a 2-point conversion attempt failed, the Bears took a 15-14 lead.

Beck led a squad of players after the game in a little bowling, playfully rolling his helmet at a group of players, who all fell to the ground like bowling pins in celebration.

"There were a lot of things going through our minds," said Beck, who garnered his third interception of the season as well as six tackles and a tfl on a fake field goal attempt. "Snapped the streak. We're in our hometown. We're going bowling...

"We're going to send the seniors out right this year. We went 5-7 last year and our seniors didn't get to play in a bowl game. This will give them the opportunity to play in a bowl game. It's all surreal. We really did that for them.

"I saw a lot of friends there tonight and they were all in Cal jersey's, which was surprising because growing up, they were all USC fans. I was always a Cal fan growing up."

With a quarter and a half yet to play, it seemed unlikely that the slim lead would hold up, but the Bears' defense was a rock the rest of the game.

As the minutes ticked down slowly but steadily, the Bears found themselves in position to run out the clock with a sustained drive, much in the vein of their game-clinching final possession in their upset victory over #13 Washington two weeks ago.

After forcing a USC punt with 4:50 still on the clock, the Bears played keepaway from the Trojans, methodically driving down the field to the USC 33. The Bears found themselves in a 4th-and-inches situation with 2:10 still left on the clock after a gutty Garbers run nearly got the first down.

With the game on the line, the team's senior statesman -5th year senior running back Patrick Laird- put the team on his back, bursting up the middle for a critical, game-clinching 12-yard run to the Trojan 19. With no timeouts remaining, the Trojans watched helplessly as Bear fans roared and the Bears went into victory formation to run out the clock and seal the 15-14 win -Cal's first victory in the LA Coliseum since 2000 and first victory over USC in 14 years.

The impressive defensive performance limited Daniels and the talented Trojan offense to just 277 total yards on the game, including just 97 yards on the ground.

Cal collected four sacks on the night, two each by Evan Weaver and Luc Bequette. Bequette also forced a fumble during the game and Weaver led the Bears with 12 total tackles.

The Bears' defense has allowed an impressive total of just 50 points (12.5 ppg) over its past four games – 7 at Oregon State, 10 vs. Washington, 19 at WSU and 14 at USC.

Garbers totalled just 93 yards through the air and another 44 on the ground for the Bears, slightly behind Laird's team-leading 72 yards on the night. His rushing touchdown was his first of the season for the Bears and also the first in his career.

A disciplined bunch in the mold of their head coach, Cal players tried their best to downplay the win but the sheer joy in their postgame celebration with Cal's delirious fan section told a different story.

“A lot of our west coast kids think of playing in this stadium and it means a lot to our fan base to break the streak while at the same time going bowling makes it more impressive," said Weaver.

“Our first goal is to get six wins to get to a bowl game," said Laird. "Whether you’re a freshman on scout or a redshirt senior … But it means so much more being on five different Cal teams. To get a sixth win this time of the season against a longtime rival, it means a lot. I’m so happy for the guys."

The Bears improved to 6-4/3-4 heading into next week's Big Game at 4:30 at Memorial Stadium. Cal will return to a bowl game for the first time since 2015 and only the second time since 2012.