USC takes its anger out on California with 27-9 victory

USC played angry football on Saturday against California, which meant the beauty of a big-play offense gave way to a not-quite-so graceful exhibition of steamrolling California.

Or to put it another way, the Trojans wanted to do what Stanford did to them last week.

It was not pretty, but it worked as the 13 th-ranked Trojans defeated the Golden Bears 27-9 in front of an announced crowd of 83,421 at the Coliseum.

"We just had a mad team," USC safety T.J. McDonald said. "We did not want to just execute, but execute violently."

Mission accomplished on that front, as the Trojans rushed for 296 yards and held Cal to just 77 rushing yards.

"We really hit them in the mouth from the first step," said tailback Silas Redd, who rushed for 158 yards and scored a touchdown.

Now the question is whether USC (3-1, 1-1 Pac-12) adopted its simple nature because it wanted to, or because the once high-flying offense is clearly not what it was during the hype-filled summer.

Quarterback Matt Barkley struggled again with two interceptions and passed for just 192 yards. Barkley ended the first half with four interceptions and one touchdown pass in six quarters, not exactly the expected benchmarks for the preseason Heisman Trophy favorite.

The way the Trojans sprinted past teams like Colorado, Oregon and UCLA at the end of last season is almost becoming a distant memory.

And if wide receiver Robert Woods is recovered from his chronically

sprained ankle, his numbers were better when he was hurt last season.

"Obviously, it's not as fun as winning 50-0," USC coach Lane Kiffin said. "We're seeing changes in defenses almost every week."

Barkley said USC is not adapting to opponents but acknowledged the offense was a different version against the Golden Bears (1-3, 0-1).

"I don't think we're trying to win a certain way," he said. "We don't want to always play this way."

But the genesis of dominating Cal came the day after the Trojans lost to Stanford. It was bad enough losing, but watching replays let the Trojans see how physical Stanford really played.

"Looking at the film made us mad," right tackle Kevin Graf said. "They were doing stuff they shouldn't have (like cheap shots). We were very (ticked) off."

So USC tried to smother the Bears, who usually play more like Teddy Bears against the Trojans. Or is it Tedford Bears? Cal coach Jeff Tedford lost his ninth straight game to USC.

He was hardly in top form at the Coliseum with three quarterbacks signaling in plays from the sideline so late, Cal had two delay-of-game penalties and used two timeouts to avoid two more such penalties.

"USC is gifted all over," Tedford said, "not just at wide receiver."

When Redd was not shredding Cal's defense, tailback Curtis McNeal took his turns, gaining 115 yards in 10 carries.

"I think the game was won at the line of scrimmage," Kiffin said. "We had seven (sacks) and they had none. At the end of the day,we won it up front."

The offense gets all the stats but USC defensive end Morgan Breslin matched any offensive performance. He made six tackles, including 4 1/2 for a loss with three sacks.

Breslin's 4 1/2 tackles for loss were the most by a USC player since Lawrence Jackson had a school-record 5 1/2 against Arizona State in 2007.

His three sacks were the most since Rey Maualuga had three against Ilinois in the 2008 Rose Bowl.

"We said we would smash whatever was in our faces," linebacker Hayes Pullard said.

Cal quarterback Zach Maynard was the chief recipient, completing 18 of 33 passes for only 172 yards, when he did not suffer one of his seven sacks.

"They were crashing our run game and we just didn't have some plays pan out," Maynard said.

Tedford might also get asked why his playmaker, Brendan Bigelow, who had two long scoring plays against Ohio State last week, touched the ball just five times?

Perhaps the highlight for Kiffin was the return of kicker Andre Heidari, back after tearing his meniscus in the season-opener against Hawaii. Heidari underwent knee surgery and missed two games but made an impact against Cal with 41- and 40-yard field goals.

"Not to be selfish, but it helps a lot as a play caller to know your kicker's range," Kiffin said. "It was great to have him back."

scott.wolf@dailynews.com twitter.com/InsideUSC

Source: http://www.dailynews.com/ci_21609223/usc-rebounds-27-9-victory-over-california?source=rss_viewed

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