Cal Golden Bears: Can They Exploit the USC Trojans' Achilles Heel?

The California Golden Bears take on college football's fallen angel, the USC Trojans, on Thursday evening at San Francisco's AT&T Park.  Will the Bears be able to exploit Southern Cal's lack of rushing attack and lack of pass defense?

While Cal has shown the ability to be productive on offense, it's limited by the play of its quarterback Zach Maynard who has a mere 50 percent completion rate.  The passing game is 19th in the nation averaging 300 yards per game, but those numbers are padded by a lopsided victory over football subdivision program Presbyterian. 

The Bears have been strong in their victories and in most losses, though a Top 10 Oregon Ducks squad was clearly too much for Cal in all facets of the game. 

However, focusing on Cal's other performance, one may notice that the strength of the Bears' overall performance has been due in large part to its remarkable receiving duo of Keenan Allen and Marvin Jones.  Together, the tandem ranks atop the Pac-12 in receiving production with Allen ranked 6th nationally with 668 yards and four touchdowns through five games. 

If the Bears can find a consistent passing attack against USC's secondary, look for the Bears to control the clock with a complementary running game on the back of the 5'8", 190 lb tailback Isi Sofele while the Trojans defense is in disarray.  Fortunately, USC's secondary is abysmal against the pass, ranking 98th nationally, so a solid game by Maynard would make controlling the clock a highly probable scenario. 

While the Trojans have not struggled to score this season, they have struggled to defeat teams who populate the bottom tier of college football, including an awful Minnesota Golden Gophers team and a one win against Arizona Wildcats, who just fired its coach. 

The Trojans have struggled to establish the explosive ground game USC fans are so accustomed to, let alone an effective ground game at all behind Mark Tyler.  USC will have to find ways to score against a Cal defense that's tallied 15 sacks, so far, on the season.

Don't discount Lane Kiffin, though.  When backed into a corner, Kiffin will resort to aggressive trickery to gain the advantage against a superior opponent.  An aggressive, but disciplined Bears defense will be necessary to avoid being susceptible to Kiffin's backyard style of football.

While Cal is by no means without its flaws, finding ways to pressure USC's quarterback Matt Barkley, who has a 70 percent completion rate through five games, will certainly lead to mistakes and is imperative if the Bears seek victory.  More so, Cal must double team star receiver, Robert Woods, who is the nation's third leading receiver.  Preventing Barkley and Woods from finding a rhythm should give the Cal offense enough assistance to outscore the Trojans by the end of the contest.

If the Golden Bears can exploit a USC team that is weak against the pass and weak establishing the run, expect Cal to attain a thrilling, but sound victory over the Trojans before heading to Utah on Oct. 22.

USC Trojans 35, Cal Golden Bears 48.