Cal vs. USC: Game Grades, Analysis for Golden Bears, Trojans

Racing out to a 31-2 lead, the Southern Cal Trojans were able to hold on and defeat the California Golden Bears by a score of 38-30.

USC quarterback Cody Kessler ran the show for the Trojans. The signal-caller from Bakersfield went 31-of-42 for 370 and four touchdowns. Much of his production came as a direct result of the time his offensive line gave him to throw the football. 

Receiver Nelson Agholor finished with a career-high 16 catches for 214 yards and two touchdowns. Simply put, he was outstanding.

Credit Cal for fighting back. The Golden Bears outscored the Trojans 21-7 in the second half. Jared Goff finished with 279 yards through the air to go along with three touchdown tosses.

A full box score can be found here, courtesy of NCAA.com.

First-half grades and final grades will be addressed in this piece. Additional analysis for positional units will also be touched upon.

Position Units	First-Half Grades	Final Grades
Passing Offense	C-	B
Pass Defense	F	F
Rushing Offense	D	C+
Run Defense	A	A
Special Teams	F	D
Coaching	F	C

Cal Golden Bears Analysis:

Passing Offense

Goff didn't get off to a great start. The pressure up front by USC's defensive line didn't afford him much in the way of time. He was forced to throw many of his attempts underneath.

In total, Cal didn't get many chances at stretching the field vertically.

In the second half, he did get into a much better rhythm. He finished a respectable 29-of-47 for 279 yards and three touchdowns.

Pass Defense

To be fair, Cal did what it usually does. The worst-ranked passing defense heading into Thursday night's game had a lot of trouble versus USC's passing game.

The unit allowed 370 yards and four touchdowns through the air.

Tackling was a massive problem on the perimeter, as the cornerbacks didn't get off blocks well on screen passes. Although this was a schematic issue, the corners gave far too big of a cushion to the USC receivers.

Rushing Offense

The Bears couldn't sustain anything on the ground in the first half. USC's defensive line did win the line of scrimmage, often driving Cal's offensive linemen into the backfield. Leonard Williams in particular proved to be more than a handful for the group up front.

In the second half, there was more of an emphasis on running the football.

Unsurprisingly, Cal began scoring points when it achieved a semblance of balance. Daniel Lasco broke a few decent runs in the second portion of the contest. He finished with 86 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.

Run Defense

The run defense was arguably the best unit all night. It held one of the Pac-12's most talented rushers in Buck Allen to only 60 carries on 21 yards. This amounts to fewer than three yards a carry.

The unit was physical and really did do a nice job of plugging the gaps and stopping the run. As a whole, Southern Cal rushed for only 78 yards on 35 carries.

Cal did struggle when it came to pressuring Kessler. The USC quarterback had all the time in the world to sit in the pocket and make easy throws. In certain instances, he went six seconds without feeling any pressure.

Special Teams

The fake punt execution was both horrid and confusing. There's simply nothing else to say. It led to an eventual score for the Trojans.

I don't blame Cole Leininger in the least bit. After all, he is a kicker. However, it appeared as if he had never attempted throwing a football before Thursday night.

Coaching

The first half was atrocious for the staff. Defensively, there was nothing in the way of adjustments made to defending the pass. USC shredded Cal constantly—in large part because Cal insisted on playing its corners 10 yards off the line of scrimmage.

The fake punt call in the second quarter was both abysmal and embarrassing. It might've been the strangest attempt I've ever witnessed.

In the second half, both the offense and defense made nice adjustments. Running the ball became more of a priority. As a means to combat SC's pressure up front, Goff got the ball out of his hands quicker with manageable throws.

Unlike in the first half, Cal started to blitz and also press USC's receivers. After producing 31 points in the first half, the Trojans scored only seven after the break.

Position Units	First-Half Grades	Final Grades
Passing Offense	A	A
Pass Defense	B+	B
Rushing Offense	D	C
Run Defense	A	B+
Special Teams	A	A
Coaching	A	B

USC Trojans Analysis:

Passing Offense

The Kessler-to-Agholor connection was unstoppable. With Cal unable to pressure the signal-caller, Kessler sat back in the pocket and distributed the ball all over the field with relative ease.

As he's displayed throughout the season, Kessler's pocket presence and moxie separate him from a lot of quarterbacks. He's easily one of the most underrated signal-callers—if not the most underrated—in the country. His numbers, (29 touchdowns, three interceptions) speak for themselves.

There's a whole lot of adjectives I can use to describe Agholor's night. However, I'll put this as simply as I can: The wide receiver finished with 16 catches for 214 yards and two touchdowns.

Pass Defense

In the first half, the secondary didn't do a whole lot. Goff was forced to throw short passes in large part due to the pressure applied by USC's front seven. Adoree' Jackson had a very strong game from a coverage standpoint. He broke up numerous passes on the evening.

In the second half, Goff aired it out more. Down a few scores, Cal naturally threw the football. This resulted in the secondary giving up some yardage.

The secondary did do a very nice job of holding Cal from breaking a big play vertically. The longest play of the night went for only 29 yards. It also held Goff below his season average in terms of passing yards per game.

Rushing Offense

USC never seemed to get any footing running the football. Cal's defensive line did do a nice job of shooting the gaps and getting consistent penetration.

Also, there really wasn't a need to emphasize the ground game. Kessler was throwing the football exceptionally well. As a result, Allen didn't get into too much of a rhythm. He finished with only 60 yards on 21 carries.

Justin Davis was more effective, getting 44 yards on 11 carries. He also ran for a score.

Run Defense

In terms of rushing the quarterback, the Trojans did win the battle up front. Goff was constantly under siege by the talented USC defensive line. It also did a nice job of bottling up Lasco in the first half.

In the second half, the unit began to tire. Goff had more time to throw the football and Lasco did break a few nice runs. On the night, Cal rushed for 105 yards on 31 carries.

Special Teams

The special teams unit performed very well. Cal didn't give the Trojans much of a shot at returning punts. The punt team did a nice job of sniffing out the odd fake punt attempt by Cal in the second quarter.

Andre Heidari connected on his only field-goal attempt—a 25-yard conversion.

Coaching

Credit Steve Sarkisian for taking what Cal's defense gave the Trojans early. With the huge cushion Cal's secondary gave the SC receivers, Kessler simply executed quick throws to the perimeter. Agholor, George Farmer and JuJu Smith were able to pick up yards in big chunks.

Offensively, the team was functioning at a very high level throughout the first half.

Defensively, Justin Wilcox didn't attempt to reinvent the wheel. He employed a basic strategy, which was effective for the most part.

Although the Golden Bears did score three touchdowns in the second half, the defensive scheme worked overall. It held Cal below its average in points per game.

One qualm on both sides of the ball: When USC got a big lead, both the offense and defense became too vanilla. This enabled Cal to get back into the game.