Golden Nuggets: Cal-USC Predictions
Cal's last two trips to the Coliseum have featured great defensive efforts limited by a middling offense. Will this year be any different?
Ted Miller, our eternal optimist, predicts a Cal victory.
California 28, USC 24: The Trojans struggling defense is banged up, and the Bears have enough D to hold Matt Barkley and company in check.
Last week Cal held a UCLA run game that was avg 321 ypg rush (5.9) to just 26 yds (1.0) while USC fell victim to a game-winning FG on the last play for a 2nd consecutive week in the loss to Stanford even though they had the yardage (499-484) and TO (3-1) edge. While the Trojans have dominated the Golden Bears the L/2 years by a combined 47-6 score USC HC Kiffin may have a difficult time keeping his units focused as his "Us Against the World" mantra is harder to preach after an upset loss to UW and an emotionally draining loss to Stanford. Cal makes it 3 straight losses for the Trojans.
Four out of five writers for CBS predict a USC win.
Three of four writers for Rivals (and 83% of their readers) predict a USC victory.
After the jump Max Zhang and the Chinese national team brawl with the Brazillian team, USC's depth continues to be an issue on defense, Riley hopes to exploit a vulnerable USC secondary, and David Esquer raises money to keep baseball from being cut.
Basketball
- Max Zhang was caught up in a brawl between the Brazillian and Chinese basketball teams. Photos of the incident show Max on the sending and receiving end of some of the fighting, though one picture's caption incorrectly states that Max (who is not the subject of the picture) was seen kicking another player.
Football
- Wilner says this weekend's matchup is a great opportunity for Cal to end its losing streak to USC.
- The Daily Cal interviews the Daily Trojan regarding this weekend's game. Josh of the Daily Trojan provides some insight into USC's struggles on defense and the lack of depth, which may account for the game-winning drives USC has given up in the past two weeks. Both writers predict a narrow USC victory.
- Injuries have further reduced USC's depth on defense. DE West Horton and LBs Malcom Smith and Shane Horton all missed practice time this week. Robert Woods took some reps at defensive back.
- Tedford says John Tyndall, Will Kapp, and Eric Stevens will all see playing time at fullback this week. He also said Guarnero will "probably" start at center.
- After playing three consecutive games against non-traditional offenses (pistol-air raid-pistol), Pendergast ought to be happy that he's scheming against USC's pro-style defense. However, he says he's taking nothing for granted and is approaching this game with the same intensity and determination he has brought to previous games.
- Cal has the defense, rushing attack, and receivers to compete for a win against USC. If Riley can take advantage of Cal's weapons on offense against a poor pass defense, the Bears' chances of winning will increase substantially.
- Shane Vereen is well known (and perhaps feared) by Pac-10 coaches. If he keeps playing at this level, he'll start to get some recognition on the other side of the Rockies.
- Kevin Riley's ability to exploit the USC secondary is among Ted Miller's issues in this week's "What to Watch."
- Cal and Stanford are the final obstacles in the Pac-12 division split. Cal and Stanford would like to join USC, UCLA, Arizona, and ASU in the South division, but the conference wants to put them with Oregon, OSU, Washington, and WSU in the North division. The ADs voted 7-5 for a North-South split with Cal and Stanford in the North, although USC AD Pat Haden is still hoping to play the NorCal schools each year.
- Shane Vereen and the Cal defense are rising in Ted Miller's Pac-10 stock report while Kevin Riley is falling.
- The defense had a great time watching the replay of Kendricks' tackle in the film room. Pendergast stopped the tape to say "That is probably the best form tackle I have ever seen."
- The OCRegister's talking points provide some insight into what USC fans are thinking about heading into this game.
- After being held to only 33 yards against Stanford, USC's Allen Bradford is hoping for a much more productive outing against Cal. Clancy Pendergast might have other plans, however...
- Lane Kiffin will play against his former mentor Jeff Tedford this weekend.
- Coach David Esquer has not given up on keeping baseball alive at Cal. In fact, he believes the program might be sustained through fundraising and donations.
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Screw Colorado and Utah. They are the new guys with relatively marginal markets (compared to Seattle, Bay Area, and LA) and they’re basically getting off win-win. If I knew this was going to be the alignment I would just as soon have let them languish in the Big Twelve and MWC.
Why exactly does the North-Sputh allignment upset you? Assuming Cal and the Juniors will have their home and away with the LA schools, I see no real reason to get worked up over the divide:
1. Well still be in LA once a year for recruiting purposes.
2. Keep the CA historical rivalries intact by playing all three each year
3. Make more $$$ quicker as a concession with a restructured TV deal
4. Compete in a division with historically worse teams (Oregon, Wasu, and OSU v. UCLA, SC, and CO)
5. Still compete with the Juniors for the division title, which we wouldn’t do in the zipper plan
6. 6 of the original PAC 8 in one division.
by calbeers05753 on Oct 14, 2010 8:19 PM PDT up reply actions
plus not having to be in a division with LA and the arizona schools. Winning in the state of Arizona is never easy for Cal.
"We lose to Stanford in many sports, but if you want to make a Cal team quit, bring a weapon."
--Coach Clark
yeah, i think this is the best idea that can realistically happen. (4 CA + 2 AZ wont happen)
that said, for Cal, playing Oregon, Oregon State, Huskies, Furd, USC, and championship game vs. USC again, is really really tough road for Rose Bowl.
At this time. It’s tough now based on the way programs have developed these last 5-10 years. Who knows when one program will fall and another rise.
by calbeers05753 on Oct 14, 2010 9:02 PM PDT up reply actions
The alignment talked up by Haden does not include a provision for home-and-away to Socal for Cal/Furd. If those games were guaranteed I’d be fine.
However I do have some problems in principle with giving a sweetheart deal either way to Colorado and Utah, when those teams would already be put in a better situation (especially Utah). Granted that’s as much because the established Northwest schools want a pipeline to CA in the Norcal schools, but still…. new kids to the back of the line.
"I proposed a 5-2-2 model that has us playing the five schools (UCLA, AZ schools and Co/Ut) every year and then have the Northern California schools as part of our regular 2 and then rotate the other two. We need to play Stanford and Cal."
USC AD Pat Haden
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/collegesports/2010/10/14/pac-10-expansion-uscs-haden-on-the-division-alignment-with-details-of-the-ads-vote/
"We lose to Stanford in many sports, but if you want to make a Cal team quit, bring a weapon."
--Coach Clark
If that happens for the CA schools, what about the other 8? Presumably the Oregon and Washington schools would like to play every year. Does the league force the az and the mountain schools into that deal also?
by calbeers05753 on Oct 14, 2010 8:57 PM PDT up reply actions
Presumably the Oregon and Washington schools would like to play every year.
Oregon vs. Washington would be a division game that will be played every year, no?
Yep. My point: if the CA schools get special treatment because of historical/geographical ties to LA, what do the Oregons and Washingtons get? Ted Miller seems to think the new socialist TV deal will placate them, but in that scenario Cal and Furd get a better deal: TV $$ and la, while the NW schools get $$ only
by calbeers05753 on Oct 14, 2010 9:14 PM PDT up reply actions
But that’s similar to the situation before the Pac-10 started the round-robin. We played Stanfurd, UCLA, and USC every year. It’s almost a return to that.
Also, unlike the rest of the Pac, CA has 4 schools. It’d be weird, and probably confusing to the rest of the country if the CA schools didn’t play each other every year. In-state rivalry has to be a bigger tv draw than any USC/UCLA v. NW school when they’re not good. Say OSU reverts back to it’s pre-Riley form. No amount of LA exposure is going to get folks to watch the game.
The Pacific Northwest schools are cutting their nose to spite their face
…if they think that they’re getting a better deal with the Bay Area schools in the North and limited exposure to the LA schools.
If the North-South split with Cal & Stanford in the North is adopted AND guaranteed annual games between the NorCal and SoCal schools, then the Oregon and Washington schools will see the following schedule:
5 games against Division opponents
1 game against either UCLA or USC annually (visits to LA biennially)
3 games against the Desert & Rockies schools -
Arizona,
ASU,
Colorado, and
Utah
(meaning they miss 1 of the Desert & Rockies schools annually)
In fact, the reverse is also true for Arizona, ASU, Colorado and Utah:
5 games against Division opponents
1 game against either Cal or Stanford annually (visits to the Bay Area biennially)
3 games against the Pacific Northwest schools -
Oregon,
OSU,
Washington, and
WSU
(meaning they miss 1 of the Pacific Northwest schools annually)
I really don’t know why the Pacific Northwest and the Desert & Rockies schools think that this is a superior model. Heck, I don’t know why Larry Scott thinks this is a superior model.
They get the CA schools not being in 1 division. If the CA teams don’t get at least guaranteed games against each other, they have gotten nothing they wanted out of the division alignment. I’m all for doing what’s best for the conference, but at the same time, the Northwest shouldn’t dictate everything about alignment.
My mistake
That was supposed to read Robert Woods.
"Some people watch adult videos on their computer - I go to YouTube and watch Jahvid Best highlight clips. That’s what gets me going."- Jim Schwartz, Detroit Lions head coach
I predict...
that we beat USC on a last second field goal. wouldn’t that be hilarious?
And on that field goal, it hits the uprights but goes IN?!
Drinking the Kool-Aid. Pumping the sunshine. Livin' the dream. Go Bears!
by dballisloose on Oct 15, 2010 10:21 AM PDT up reply actions
not nearly as hilarious…
"Remember the Maine! TO HELL WITH STANFORD!"
by CruzinBears on Oct 15, 2010 12:23 PM PDT up reply actions

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