By Bud Withers
For a long time, this one loomed large on USC's schedule: a pothole game on its way to a third national title against a rising power in the Pac-10, in one of the few coaching matchups in which the Trojans' Pete Carroll has no edge. Now it's just another game in which Troy is a 19-point favorite. "Their numbers are unbelievable," gushed Cal coach Jeff Tedford, whose team hosts the Trojans today (12:30 p.m., Channel 4). "They make it look so easy." Not that the Bears are exactly conceding anything. They've been the only program in the league that has consistently pushed the Trojans, losing in 2002 partly because of an official's blown call on a Kareem Kelly touchdown; upending them in triple overtime in 2003, USC's last loss before a 31-game winning streak; and taking them to the wire in a six-point defeat a year ago.
But this Cal team (6-3) doesn't seem sufficiently capable of derailing the Trojans. It's young in spots, and quarterback Joe Ayoob has been inconsistent. The six teams the Bears have beaten are a combined 11-44. Referring to the recent history in the series, Tedford says, "We're so young now. We're a much different team. We had a lot of guys the first three years that had kind of been in the arena before, who had a lot of experience, like [Kyle] Boller and Aaron [Rodgers]. There are probably a few guys left, but we have a lot of young guys." There are signs that the much-questioned USC defense is coming around. It shut down Washington State, and USC was on top of Stanford 37-0 before allowing three meaningless scores.
"It's a lot easier said than done against these guys," Tedford says. The Trojans, headed for a possible showdown with Texas in the Rose Bowl, lead the country in scoring offense at 49.9 points a game, a figure that impresses even Carroll.
"That's pretty extraordinary," he said. "That's a lot of points every week. You don't ever think of your goal as, 'Let's average 50 points.' "
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