No. 7 USC shuts down No. 24 Cal 30-3

By JOSH DUBOW, AP Sports Writer Oct 4, 1:02 am EDT

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BERKELEY, Calif. (AP)—With every punishing run, defensive stop or other big play in Southern California’s latest dominating victory, the Trojans sent a message back home to Stafon Johnson on his hospital bed.

“We were talking about him, before and after. He was a big motivator for us, and we might go see him later tonight, I’m not sure,” freshman quarterback Matt Barkley said. “Stafon knew we were on a mission tonight. I’m proud of our guys and how we played.”

Joe McKnight ran for 119 yards and two scores, Taylor Mays and the defense shut down Jahvid Best and No. 7 USC re-established itself as a national contender with a 30-3 victory over No. 24 California on Saturday night.

The win capped an emotional week for the Trojans (4-1, 2-1 Pac-10) that started with a frightening weight-room accident that sent Johnson to the emergency room with a crushed larynx and throat after a weight bar fell on his neck. With Johnson watching from his hospital room, his teammates delivered against Cal.

“Stafon is a leader and a big brother in the (locker) room, so I wanted to come out and win the game for him,” McKnight said. “We were thinking about him the whole time tonight, and we know he was liking what he saw back home.”

Damian Williams caught eight passes for 101 yards and also returned a punt 66 yards for a score, and Jordan Congdon kicked three field goals to give USC its second straight win following a 16-13 loss at Washington two weeks ago.

Mays set the tone with an interception on the first drive of the game for Cal (3-2, 0-2), and the defense kept it up all game, not allowing a point until the fourth quarter for the second straight week.

“That’s how we play,” Mays said. “We know what we have in the locker room, and we’ve been playing close to our potential for the last few weeks.”

With the defense playing this well, the Trojans are making it easy on freshman quarterback Matt Barkley. Barkley was inconsistent in this game, completing 20 of 35 passes for 283 yards and an interception. He moved the ball down the field with ease but struggled to punch the ball into the end zone.

“If our defense is playing like that, then we don’t need a whole lot of offense,” Barkley said. “I thought we executed well when we had to.”

The Trojans had the answer for whatever trick Cal coach Jeff Tedford tried. Best had five runs off direct snaps in Cal’s version of the wildcat and the Bears went for it twice on fourth down. But with a passing game that can’t click, there is no room to run for Best and no production for a Cal team that was held out of the end zone at home for the first time since 1998.

“We had a chance to make plays in the passing game and didn’t do a good job of it,” Tedford said. “We can’t be one-dimensional. We’re going to have to be able to throw the football to be successful. We were zero-dimensional today because we couldn’t run it and we couldn’t throw it.”

Even trick plays didn’t work. In the third quarter, Cal came out of a timeout with Shane Vereen standing next to its sideline, just on the field of play. With no defender near him, Vereen went out for a pass, but instead of a big play, Kevin Riley threw high for an incompletion. The next play was a screen pass that left tackle Mike Tepper caught for an illegal touch penalty.

That was the kind of day it was for Riley, who was 15 for 40 for 199 yards and an interception in his second straight sub-par performance. He was just 12 for 31 for 123 yards in last week’s 42-3 loss at Oregon.

Riley’s interception in the end zone on the opening drive was his first of the year. Six plays later, McKnight dived into the end zone at the end of his long run. Williams’ 66-yard punt return made it 17-0 in the second quarter and the rout was on. Williams caught eight passes for 101 yards.

After scoring 146 points in its first three games, Cal has just six the past two weeks. Cal has failed to score a touchdown just three times in eight years under Tedford, with two of them coming the past two weeks. The other was against USC in 2007, the last time Cal lost at home before Saturday.

“We have athletes all over the field. That’s the hardest part is how we’re not getting the ball in the end zone with everyone we have,” Riley said.

Even the speedy Best couldn’t get going against the Trojans. On one play in the first half, he was chased down by Mays for no gain on a third-and-2 run.

Updated Oct 4, 1:02 am EDT
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Head to Head - Week 5

Team Total Yds Pass Yds Rush Yds First Downs 3rdD% Pen./Yds Turnovers Time of Poss.
USC 457 283 174 20 40.0% 5/55 1 36:46
California 285 199 86 17 31.3% 3/25 2 23:14
NCAAF

139 Comments

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  1. Caliboy130
    139. Posted by Caliboy130 Thu Oct 15 8:12pm EDT

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    "119. Posted by Saints Fan Sun Oct 4 1:38pm EDT Report Abuse
    I find it unbelievably strange that Tim Tebow gets so much coverage behind his injury but this kid from USC who could've died and whose football career might be in jepordy gets little to no coverage. Tim Tebow's injury is an injury that we see every week in football, he got his bell rung. Now people are talking about is football safe, and wanting to look in to concussions and all of this other foolishness, but fail to talk about something else thats dangerous that all of these kids do, Lifting Weights. In my opinion Stafon Johnson's injury should've gotten more coverage than the hyped up Tebow injury. Tebow might be able to play this week, we dont know when or if Stafon Johnson will ever play again."

    Amen.
  2. Dave
    138. Posted by Dave Tue Oct 13 3:15pm EDT

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    Good stats page for College football discussions pages:
    http://www.secsportsfan.com/top-college-football-bowl-conference.html
    This webpage will get some good arguments going. LOL
  3. Dave
    137. Posted by Dave Tue Oct 13 3:12pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Bowls W L Ties Win %
    SEC 348 190 149 9 .559
    Pac-10 193 103 88 2 .539
    Big Ten 209 97 111 1 .467
    ACC 166 81 83 2 .494
    Big 8 127 63 63 1 .500
    Southwest 151 63 80 8 .444
    Big 12 92 45 47 0 .489
    Big East 76 42 34 0 .553
    WAC 101 42 58 1 .421
    Just some interesting numbers for folks to chew on. Note - Big Ten numbers are skewed somewhat since they used to only send one team a year to a bowl but probably by no more than 50 games.
  4. Shakir
    136. Posted by Shakir Wed Oct 7 12:10pm EDT

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    Once again the people who said Cal would kill USC now have an excuse and says Cal is not that great of a team wow lol just admit we are the best in the country idc what anyone says. Who has Florida played?
  5. Big Nate Is Here
    135. Posted by Big Nate Is Here Mon Oct 5 5:01pm EDT

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    USC kicked CAL's Butt all over the filed. Like I said all last week, that all Cal has is a RB named Beast and he is a realy good RB. But all you need to do is stop him and force Cal to throw the ball becuase CAL isn't going to be doing $hit. Cal try again next year. USC will win the PAC 10 for the 8th striaght year in a row. ND get ready to get your a$$ kicked. LETS GO USC
  6. richard s
    134. Posted by richard s Mon Oct 5 5:02am EDT

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    Michael H. #108 Hello, my friend! Your Tide made an impressive performance vs. Kentuucky on Saturday!
    Mark Ingram had a really good game-- as did Greg McElroy. I am writting to you to explain that USC's
    schedule really includes only two teams that you call "cupcakes"-------a non-conference game with San Jose
    State and a conference game with Washington State. USC's non-conference schedule also includes games with Ohio State at the Horseshoe (a win) and a game yet to be played with Notre Lame at South
    Bend (not an easy task!) . Who is going to win, LSU or Florida? GOD BLESS
  7. Matt D
    133. Posted by Matt D Sun Oct 4 11:41pm EDT

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    Well, looks like this "idiot" was mostly right about where both USC and Oregon would be sitting on this week's poll.

    USC is now officially underrated again.
  8. jm
    132. Posted by jm Sun Oct 4 11:07pm EDT

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    1. The USC/Cal rivalry is pretty fierce, but yesterday the Men of Troy were motivated to win for Stafon Johnson. Hate to say it, but he isn't out of the woods yet
    2. The Bears played badly, their fans were really disrespectful, and the coach seemed indifferent.If the Bears redeem themselves, someone is going to have to light a fire in their bellies first.
    3. Good point about the PAC-10 conference not sending many players to the pros...but over the past eight years 58 players from USC have been drafted by the NFL. In the Spring 2009 NFL draft, 11 players from USC were first and second round picks. USC has also had 7 11-1 seasons and 7 PAC-10 conference titles. Say what you will about the conference, but the Trojans are NOT the weak link in the chain.
    4. The ranking system is totally ridiculous, and I agree that there should be a playoff system to determine the National Championship.
    5. It never fails to amuse me when anti-USC people get pride of accomplishment comfused with arrogance. As for paying the players to win-balls! USC takes the "be true to your school" mindset to extremes.True, the endowment fund is in the billions, but the team brings far more $$$ to USC than the university spends on all of the sports teams put together. The money coming in from jazzed-up alumni is spent on little things like academic AND need-based scholarships.
    I received both along with an excellent education,and I've never regretted choosing to attend USC ( a 1rst tier school) on a scholarship/loan/workstudy program. I couldn't attend a single home game for my first two years because the work-study job I had at the time included 8 bours on Saturdays.

    I remain a grateful Trojan.
  9. A Different Client
    131. Posted by A Different Client Sun Oct 4 7:40pm EDT

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    So who is responsible for preparing a team for a big game along with game planning? We should get rid of Tedford and get ourselves a real coach.
  10. Lind
    130. Posted by Lind Sun Oct 4 6:03pm EDT

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    Cal is not that great a football team, end of story.
  11. james m
    129. Posted by james m Sun Oct 4 5:55pm EDT

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    Gfgfgfgfgf
  12. james m
    128. Posted by james m Sun Oct 4 5:54pm EDT

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    Wait usc won, we should move them up another 7 spots like last week. when nd beats them it will be ok because all thay have to do the next week is win and magically back in the top ten and bcs hunt. think its sounds crazy, watch and see.
  13. Joshgator
    127. Posted by Joshgator Sun Oct 4 3:00pm EDT

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    #
    0miken
    122. Posted by 0miken Sun Oct 4 1:46pm EDT

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    For all of you who talk about the Pac10 being down, there is nothing to really say once intraleague play starts. This is true of any league. Until leagues play each other at bowl time, you can't say too much about each league. All we know is that there is less dominance in the Pac10, and teams are more evenly balanced.


    0miken...less dominance in the Pac-ONE?!?! You have ONE team that has won the conference title EVERY year for the last SEVEN years. In the SEC...NOBODY knows who will win the SEC EACH AND EVERY YEAR!!!! Will it be Florida, Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Tennessee, etc.? It changes each year b/c there are many great teams that are challenging for the conference title each year. What is with the dumb comments I keep seeing on here? Do you have ANY working brain cells?
  14. lucky guy
    126. Posted by lucky guy Sun Oct 4 2:55pm EDT

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    Where are all the Bears fans that was talking smack when USC lost to Washington? Hidden in your bathtub while shower is on and asking yourself WHY ME? LOL Even Washington State has gone to the Rose Bowl in the last 15 years while Bears is going on what 50 something years? I don't understand why the polls keep ranking Cal in the top 25 in preseason while Bears haven't really accomplised anything in college football other than being the most overrated college football team in the nation. One advice. Win the Pac-Ten conference before you start talking BS okay otherwise you idiots are just wasting our time. It's like Vanderbilt taking smack to Alabama. Anyway. Don't forget to close the door on your way out. I appreciate it.
  15. USC
    125. Posted by USC Sun Oct 4 2:43pm EDT

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    We pay our player to WIN...WE PAY OUR PLAYER TO WIN....and they do
  16. AlvinR
    124. Posted by AlvinR Sun Oct 4 2:39pm EDT

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    what conference puts the most players in the pros thats the best conference. also what conference puts the players that have the biggest impact year in and year out and make thier pro team better.the pac 10 has been a little light in that category.just a little math for thought california has 12.5% of the population and puts less players in the pros than either texas or florida so where is the best talent from and i think usc has the best coach in college football because of thier ability to make halftime adjustments but his players are not living up to all the hype in the next level.
  17. <i>damienslc</i>
    123. Posted by damienslc Sun Oct 4 2:34pm EDT

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    Its going to suck for USC when Oregon beats them.
  18. VinceR
    122. Posted by VinceR Sun Oct 4 2:15pm EDT

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    Juan, you conveniently forgot to mention that USC lost at Washington in the only game where USC didn't have their starting QB. USC has yet to lose with Barkley at QB. I wonder how LSU would have fared at Washington without their starting QB...?
  19. steeve
    121. Posted by steeve Sun Oct 4 2:12pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Actually, the Gators schedule is harder than the Texas schedule, mostly because of their opponents, LSU is probably the best team. Oklahoma is clear down, and i think it might be wise to let Sam Bradford sit for the rest of the season unless he is completely healthy. They're not going to a BCS bowl game, so might as well let the redshirt freshman stay in there.
  20. <i>0miken</i>
    120. Posted by 0miken Sun Oct 4 1:46pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    For all of you who talk about the Pac10 being down, there is nothing to really say once intraleague play starts. This is true of any league. Until leagues play each other at bowl time, you can't say too much about each league. All we know is that there is less dominance in the Pac10, and teams are more evenly balanced.

    We need a playoff system rather than the current Bowl system. We'll see what happens if Boise St ends up playing for the championship just because they are undefeated. We do know that a team is pretty good if they can go undefeated while playing in a BCS division.

    By the way, I know that football is all about what happens on the field, but schools need to start working on graduation rates more. In yesterday's game, they mentioned that Tedford has gotten Cal's football graduation rate up to 88%. It used to be embarrassing (
  21. Saints Fan
    119. Posted by Saints Fan Sun Oct 4 1:38pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    I find it unbelievably strange that Tim Tebow gets so much coverage behind his injury but this kid from USC who could've died and whose football career might be in jepordy gets little to no coverage. Tim Tebow's injury is an injury that we see every week in football, he got his bell rung. Now people are talking about is football safe, and wanting to look in to concussions and all of this other foolishness, but fail to talk about something else thats dangerous that all of these kids do, Lifting Weights. In my opinion Stafon Johnson's injury should've gotten more coverage than the hyped up Tebow injury. Tebow might be able to play this week, we dont know when or if Stafon Johnson will ever play again.
  22. James
    118. Posted by James Sun Oct 4 1:21pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    SEC beiso togh is a joke. Look at them, Alabama and Florida are good, the rest are jokes. Hey, that's like every other conference! 1-2 Good teams, the rest are cupcakes. The only thing is though whe you're the best in your conference, you're going to have a target on your back. Seriously, look at it:

    Big East: Cincy and the rest are cupcakes.
    Big Ten: Ohio State, Iowa, and Penn State, the rest are cakes.
    Pac-10: USC and Oregon, maybe Stanford and the rest are cakes.
    Big 12: Texas and Oklahoma and the rest are cakes.
    ACC: Virginia Tech and Miami, the rest are cakes.

    SEC: Alabama and Florida, the rest are cupcakes.

    I have no doubt Ohio State, USC, and Texas could run over all those teams in the SEC besides maybe Alabama and Florida.
  23. Joshgator
    117. Posted by Joshgator Sun Oct 4 1:10pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    96. Posted by sanny_51@... Sun Oct 4 10:39am EDT Report Abuse
    Sure Florida is going to be #1 since they always play the lowly teams. Match them up with a rated team and see how well they play. Tebow is overrated! He won't make it in the NFL. He'll be just like any other QB from any school in Florida- forgotten.

    They "always play the lowly teams"?!?! You are truly a dumba$$!!!! Last year the Gators had the THIRD most difficult schedule in the nation playing ELEVEN (out of 14) bowl teams, 6 teams in the top 25, 3 of those were in the top 10, including TWO #1 teams and you think they always play the lowly teams. I think we have found proof that a person CAN survive with no living brain cells. Are you really that stupid?!?!? If so, can I use you as the subject for some medical experiments?
  24. E
    116. Posted by E Sun Oct 4 12:53pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    go to http://everydayshouldbesaturday1.blogspot.com/
  25. life
    115. Posted by life Sun Oct 4 12:39pm EDT

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    Cal is losing Recruiting Wars therefore Losing Big Games too.
    Until our facilities match USC and Oregon's....We will lose Big Time
    Recruits. The coaches are coaching the players that they have.
    jg Cal Bears DB 90-93
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J. McKnight J. McKnight, RB
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