USC
7-4 , 6-2
California
5-5 , 2-5
Team Stats
USC 0, CAL 7
CAL - Collins, DeShaw 5 yd run (Thomas, Greg kick), 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:55
USC 7, CAL 7
USC - St. Brown, Amon 18 yd pass from Slovis, Kedon (McGrath, Chase kick) 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:50
USC 10, CAL 7
USC - McGrath, Chase 41 yd field goal 9 plays, 40 yards, TOP 4:25
USC 10, CAL 10
CAL - Thomas, Greg 37 yd field goal 15 plays, 57 yards, TOP 5:39
USC 17, CAL 10
USC - Pittman, Michae 33 yd pass from Slovis, Kedon (McGrath, Chase kick) 11 plays, 79 yards, TOP 5:06
USC 24, CAL 10
USC - London, Drake 8 yd pass from Slovis, Kedon (McGrath, Chase kick) 6 plays, 74 yards, TOP 2:49
USC 27, CAL 10
USC - McGrath, Chase 32 yd field goal 6 plays, 49 yards, TOP 2:06
USC 34, CAL 10
USC - Carr, Stephen 2 yd run (McGrath, Chase kick), 4 plays, 23 yards, TOP 1:35
USC 41, CAL 10
USC - Falo, Josh 5 yd pass from Slovis, Kedon (McGrath, Chase kick) 6 plays, 74 yards, TOP 3:27
USC 41, CAL 17
CAL - Collins, DeShaw 34 yd run (Thomas, Greg kick), 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:48
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
USC Football Surges in Second Half With 41-17 Victory at California
November 16, 2019 | Football, Features
Kedon Slovis had his third 400-yard passing game in the past four weeks and threw four touchdown passes, leading Southern California to a 41-17 victory over California on Saturday night.
"He's showed up and been the same guy week in and week out," said receiver Michael Pittman Jr., who had 11 catches for 180 yards and a touchdown. "He's getting better and he's showing us that he's an elite college quarterback."
USC 17, Cal 10@MikePitt_Jr gets his 9th TD of the season!
— USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics) November 17, 2019
TV: FS1#FightOn | #BeatTheBears pic.twitter.com/SbRY8GyzGU
Slovis followed up 400-yard games against Colorado and Arizona State by completing 29 of 35 passes for 406 yards. He threw touchdown passes on the final drive of the first half for the Trojans (7-4, 6-2 Pac-12) and the opening drive of the third quarter to keep USC in the race for the Pac-12 South title. The Trojans are a half-game behind Utah but holds the tiebreaker based on a head-to-head win.
The Golden Bears (5-5, 2-5) had no answer for Slovis and USC's talented group of receivers and lost for the fifth time in six games. After entering the day allowing a conference-low nine touchdown passes on the season, Cal was picked apart by Slovis.
"We have to own this, all of us," coach Justin Wilcox said. "We knew we'd have to perform well against a team with that type of talent. Now we have to regroup and regroup fast."
Slovis connected on an 18-yard touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown to cap USC's opening drive and then helped the Trojans break open a tie game with his TDs surrounding halftime.
He also connected on a 33-yard touchdown to Pittman on a third-and-12 in the final minute of the first half to make it 17-10. He then threw a 50-yard pass to St. Brown on the opening drive of the third quarter, setting up an 8-yard TD pass to Drake London to make it a 14-point game. London finished with six catches for 111 yards.
USC QB @KedonSlovis is done for the night after posting his third 400-yard game of the season.#FightOn | #BeatTheBears pic.twitter.com/iHnzQDITeb
— USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics) November 17, 2019
"The one thing he's doing a really job of is he's giving his kids a chance to make plays," coach Clay Helton said. "You're not seeing a lot of overthrows. That's a mark of a good quarterback, giving your kids an opportunity to make plays for you."
THE TAKEAWAY
USC: The Trojans have bounced back from a blowout loss at home to Oregon by beating Arizona State and Cal on the road the past two weeks. But they will still need Utah to lose to either Arizona or Colorado to have a shot at making the Pac-12 title game.California: The Bears were hoping to get a boost from the return of quarterback Chase Garbers, who missed the past four games with a right shoulder injury. Garbers led a TD drive to start the game but then left the game in the second quarter after appearing to hurt his left shoulder on a keeper. Garbers finished 4 for 10 for 33 yards and Cal was unable to move the ball consistently under Devon Modster either. The Bears need to win one of their final two games against Stanford and UCLA to become bowl eligible.
TARGETING
USC lost defensive end Christian Rector on the opening drive for targeting on a hit against Cal running back Christopher Brown Jr. Brown didn't return to the game but the Bears scored on DeShawn Collins' 5-yard run on the next play.UP NEXT
USC: Hosts crosstown rival UCLA on Saturday.Click Here to purchase tickets to the Trojans' regular-season finale.
