“Disconcerting signals,” the ref declared. California scored on the next play.
It was an unusual call, but painfully fitting. When it came to USC’s defense, the last month had offered up one deeply disconcerting signal after another. The bad tackling in Tempe. A fourth-quarter collapse in Colorado. A breakout for Utah’s backup passer. In Berkeley, it was Jadyn Ott, Cal’s star running back, bursting untouched through one big hole, then another, racking up rushing yards at will while USC seemed helpless to stop him.
The Trojans still managed to escape Berkeley unscathed, high-tailing it out of the Bay with a 50-49 victory in hand. Their defense forced four turnovers and got critical stops when desperately needed. But the signals USC sent once again about the direction of its defense were too disconcerting to be brushed away with a win.
For the third time in five weeks, USC gave up more than 500 yards. USC had given up that many yards that many times in that short of a span only once before: last year, under Grinch.
The 6.9 yards per play USC gave up were a season high. Its pass rush, which looked strong not that long ago, couldn’t manage a sack. Ott finished with 153 yards after barely playing the second half.
And this all came against Cal? A team down to its third quarterback of the season? That’s the second backup in two weeks who conjured up a career-best game against USC.
Consider then what awaits the Trojans next on their schedule: two of the top-10 offenses in the nation, each with Heisman Trophy candidates at quarterback.
How Grinch’s defense fares during the most difficult stretch of USC’s schedule likely will determine his fate. Coach Lincoln Riley was asked Saturday if he thought any changes on defense, including to the staff, might be necessary ahead of that stretch.
Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza dives for a touchdown in front of USC defensive end Jamil Muhammad during the second half Saturday.
(Jed Jacobsohn / Associated Press)
“I’m trying to beat Washington next week,” Riley said. “That’s my job, to get this team ready, sitting 5-1 in the best conference in America, to try and go win it. … Are there some things defensively that have to get better for us to do it? Yeah. There’s some things offensively that have to get better. There’s some things on special teams that have to get better. That’s the ebbs and flows of this season.”
The pitchforks are sure to be sharpened in the coming days, as frustrated fans call more fervently for Grinch’s firing. But it should be noted that USC’s defense did look better at times during the second half Saturday. Ott was mostly a nonfactor after the first quarter, while the Trojans forced the Bears into either a turnover or three-and-out on six of their 10 second-half drives.
“We just got to continue to trust in each other, trust ourselves and trust what we worked on all week,” linebacker Jamil Muhammad said. “We made plays when we needed to.”
But when Cal got the ball with a little more than three minutes remaining, the Bears had no issue making plays when they needed to, marching down the field on a nine-play, 79-yard touchdown drive. If not for a failed two-point conversion, the conversation Saturday night about USC’s defense could have been a lot different.
Still, the signs were there. If you were looking.