Sacramento Bee: USC has no trouble remembering Cal

By Ryan Lillis
BERKELEY - More than two years later, USC coach Pete Carroll doesn't have to dig very deep to revive the memories. He recalls the team bus arriving at Memorial Stadium 45 minutes earlier than planned and letting the driver hear about it. He recalls walking alone to the roof of the empty stadium and looking out at the hills of Marin County as his players grouped together in the locker room below. And because of what happened later, it would be hard to blame Carroll for remembering every detail of Sept. 27, 2003. Not since Tyler Fredrickson's 38-yard field goal capped a 34-31 triple-overtime Cal victory have the Trojans lost a football game.
"We'd like to win this game and put that one behind us," Carroll said Tuesday, referring as much to that loss as he was to his team's narrow win over Cal in 2004.
The Bears (6-3, 3-3) have had relative success against USC (9-0, 6-0) over the past two years, accounting for the Trojans' only loss in 2003. They lost 23-17 to USC last season after failing to convert on a first-and-goal with less than two minutes remaining. History provides some insight into why the Bears have played USC so tough during the Trojans' 31-game winning streak, and why there's reason for Cal hope when the teams meet Saturday.
Ground success - Cal's graduated J.J. Arrington (112 yards on 21 carries) became the only running back last season to gain more than 100 yards against USC. Current starting tailback Marshawn Lynch added 36 yards, including a two-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that brought Cal to within six points. "I imagine we'll come out and run the ball early on Saturday," said senior right tackle Ryan O'Callaghan. "We've been able to establish a run game against these guys. When you're one-dimensional, it's very hard to win." Lynch is averaging 120 yards a game and has carried the ball 25 times in each of the past two games.
Stop their run - While Arrington and Lynch drove through the USC defense last season, Cal kept the Trojans' backfield tandem in check. USC was held to a season-low 41 rushing yards on 25 carries. Reggie Bush, USC's dynamic tailback/return specialist/receiver, rushed for 23 yards on eight carries, nearly equaling his season low of 21. LenDale White led the Trojans with 52 yards. In the 2003 matchup, Cal outrushed USC 143-99. The Bears' Adimchinobe Echemandu had 147 yards on 34 carries.
Control the clock - The ground attack allowed Cal to control the ball for most of the past two USC games. Last year, USC's time of possession against the Bears was a season-low 22:49 minutes. In the overtime game the year before, the Trojans had control of the football for 21:34. To Cal coach Jeff Tedford, that's a key for Saturday. "You will hopefully have some ball control and stay out of long-yardage situations where you can make first downs and keep drives alive," he said.
Said Carroll: "We both played last year like it was an NFL playoff game, keeping everything close to the vest. Everyone wanted to keep from making the key error and it was a ball-control game."
Contain Leinart - Not only did USC's ground game struggle against Cal last season, but quarterback Matt Leinart turned in arguably his worst performance of the year. Leinart was held to a season-low 164 yards passing, intercepted once and sacked four times. Leinart, who would go on to win the Heisman Trophy, leads the country with a 170.51 pass-efficiency rating this year. With a veteran offensive line in front of him, it will be a tough task to disrupt Leinart again. "You watch Leinart back there and he just looks so poised and so under control," Tedford said.
Keep it close - The Trojans have an average margin of victory of 26.5 points during their winning streak. Last season's win over Cal was one of four by less than 10 points. This season, USC has won by at least three touchdowns in seven of its nine games. "I think the fact we've played well against them in the past will lend itself to us having a lot of confidence this weekend," said Cal senior linebacker Ryan Foltz. "They have the ability to score every play from scrimmage."