Cal Sports Report

Cal Football Game Summary: Bears Give No. 9 USC a Scare

Cal rallies to get within six points in the fourth quarter, but loses fifth straight

Jake Curtis

Cal lost its fifth straight game losing 41-35 to No. 9 USC in Los Angeles Saturday night.

The Bears trailed by 20 points entering the fourth quarter, but got within six points six minutes (41-35) with 2:31 left. That was as close as Cal could get.

Here is the game summary.

USC 41, CAL 35

RECORDS: CAL (3-6, 1-5 Pac-12), USC (8-1, 6-1 Pac-12)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: USC quarterback Caleb Williams, who threw four touchdown passes and ran for a fifth.

TURNING POINT: Cal trailed 13-7 late in the second quarter when Jack Plummer threw a long pass that was intercepted by Calen Bullock at the Cal 38-yard line and returned to the 50-yard line with 1:12 left in the first half. From there, USC needed just three plays to score a touchdown that gave the Trojans a 20-7 lead at halftime.

CAL INJURY NOTES: Cornerback Lu-Magia Hearns III, cornerback Collin Gamble, inside linebacker Mo Iosefa, inside linebacker Blake Antzoulatos and outside linebacker Braxten Croteau were all out.  All have started games this season. Backup safety Raymond Woodie III was also out.

USC INJURY NOTES: Wide receivers Jordan Addison and Mario Williams, USC's top two receivers, did not play

KEY PLAY 1: Cal's Jaydn Ott ran 22 yards on the Bears' first offensive play of the game. That is followed later in the drive by a 30-yard completion from Jack Plummer to Jeremiah Hunter.

KEY PLAY 2: In that same possession, Ott ran 10 yard for a touchdown to give Cal a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter.

KEY PLAY 3: On a third-and-9 play from the Cal 24-yard line, USC's Caleb Williams completed a 17-yard pass to Tahj Washington for a first down at the 7-yard line.  It led to a 1-yard touchdown run by Caleb Williams, although a bad snap on the extra point allowed Cal to hang on to a 7-6 lead with 5:58 left in the first quarter.

KEY PLAY 4: On a fourth-and 5 play from the Cal 32-yard line, USC's Caleb Williams completed a 20-yard pass to Terrell Bynum (Cal was offside on the play, declined). On the next play, Travis Dye ran 12 yards for a touchdown, putting USC ahead 13-7.

KEY PLAY 5: On a fourth-and-2 play from the USC 23-yard line, Cal's Jack Plummer threw an incompletion with 2:17 left in the first half.

KEY PLAY 6: A pass by Cal's Jack Plummer was intercepted by USC's Caleb Bullock and returned to the 50-yard line with 1:12 left in the first half.

KEY PLAY 7: After that turnover, Caleb Williams completed a 39-yard pass to Tahj Washington, then completed a 7-yard touchdown pass to Michael Jackson II. That gave USC a 20-7 lead with 53 seconds left in the half.

KEY PLAY 8: Caleb Williams completed a 59-yard touchdown pass to Michael Jackson III, who gained nearly all of the yardage after the catch. It gave USC a 27-7 lead early in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY 9: Jack Plummer completed a 58-yard pass to Jeremiah Hunter, moving the ball to the USC 4-yard line. That led to Plummer's 2-yard touchdown pass to Monroe Young, which cut USC's lead to 27-14 with 7:27 left in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY 10: Caleb Williams threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Tahj Washington to give the Trojans a 34-14 lead late in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY 11: Jack Plummer threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to Mavin Anderson early in the fourth quarter to reduce the USC lead to 34-21.

KEY PLAY 12: After the touchdown, Cal attempted an onside kick that was recovered by Cal's Hunter Barth.

KEY PLAY 13: On the possession that resulted from the onside kick, Jack Plummer threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Hunter. The extra point was blocked, leaving USC with a 34-27 lead with 9:00 left in the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY 14: Caleb Williams threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Lake McRee, concluding a 77-yard drive that gave USC a 41-27 lead with 5:34 to go.

KEY PLAY 15: Jaydn Ott ran for a 4-yard touchdown to complete an 85-yard drive, and Jack Plummer passed to Monroe Young for a two-point conversion. USC still led 41-35 with 2:31 left.

KEY PLAY 16: On third down from the Cal 43-yard line, Caleb Williams ran for 15 yards, giving USC a first down with 2:11 left.

STAT OF THE GAME: Jaydn Ott had 40 yards rushing on Cal's first possession of the game, but had just 10 yards rushing on 11 carries the rest of the game. But he had 70 receiving yards.

INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE GAME: Cal quarterback Jack Plummer threw for 406 yards and three touchdowns.

INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE GAME II: Two USC players had over 100 receiving yards -- Tahj Washington (112) and Michael Jackson III (115)

QUARTERBACK STATS: Cal’s Jack Plummer was 35-for-49 for 406 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, but he was sacked three times. USC’s Caleb Williams was 26-for-41 for 360 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions and ran for 38 yards and a score.

WHAT IT MEANS: Cal suffered its fifth Pac-12 loss, which means the Bears will finish with a losing conference record for the 13th consecutive season. But the Bears had an impressive offensive effort in the second half, when they scored 28 points.

CAL'S BOWL BAROMETER: The Bears' bowl chances dropped to 10%, since they have to win all three of their remaining games to become bowl-eligible. They face Oregon State, Stanford and UCLA in their final three games.

NEXT GAME: Cal (3-6, 1-5 Pac-12) at No. 23 Oregon State (6-3, 3-3 Pac-12), Saturday, November 12. Kickoff: TBD. TV: TBD. Kickoff time and TV coverage will be announced Sunday or Monday. Oregon State is ranked now, but it probably won’t be ranked by the time Cal plays the Beavers next week. Oregon State lost to Washington 24-21 in Seattle on Friday night.

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Cover photo of Caleb Williams is by Kiyoshi Mio, USA TODAY Sports

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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