Cal Football: Preview Box for Saturday's Game Against USC
Cal faces USC Saturday night in the Bears’ final home game of the season. The Bears will honor 13 seniors before their final home game.
Cal will be wearing its Joe Roth throwback uniforms for the game to honor the former Cal quarterback who passed away from cancer on Feb. 19, 1977, shortly after his senior season.
Jared Goff bobbleheads will be given away to the first 10,000 fans.
Here are the important facts for Saturday’s contest:
CAL (5-4, 2-4 Pac-12) vs. USC (6-4, 5-2 Pac-12)
SITE: Memorial Stadium Berkeley, Calif.
WHEN: Saturday, 8 p.m.
TV: FS1 – Cory Provus (Play-By-Play), Petros Papadakis (Analyst), Shane Vereen (Analyst). Vereen is former standout Cal running bac).
RADIO: KGO 810 AM - Joe Starkey (Play-By-Play), Mike Pawlawski (Analyst), Todd McKim (Sideline Reporter)
BETTING LINE: USC is favored by 4 1/2 points (as of Friday night); Over/Under – 47 1/2
WEATHER FORECAST: Saturday night will bring partly cloudy skies and chilly temperaures. An afternoon high of 68 degrees is expected to drop to 48 degrees Saturday night. Humidity will be about 86 percent, but there is only a 10 percent chance of rain.
CAL-USC HISTORY: USC leads the all-time series 70-31-5, but Cal ended a 14-game losing streak in the series in last year's game as the Bears won 15-14 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The last time Cal beat USC in Berkeley was 2003, when the Bears upset third-ranked USC 34-31 in triple overtime. That was the only loss suffered by that 2003 USC team, which went on to capture the AP national title.
CAL STORYLINES: QB Chase Garbers will make his first start since injuring his right shoulder in the Sept. 27 loss to Arizona State. . . . The betting line went from USC being a 6 1/2-point favorite to USC being favored by 4 1/2 points when it was announced Friday that Garbers would start . . . Cal ended a four-game losing streak by beating Washington State 33-20 last week. Devon Modster was Cal’s starting quarterback in that game, and he played well . . . The Bears need one more win to become bowl-eligible. . . Cal wide receivers Nikko Remigio and Kekoa Crawford, who are Cal’s top two receivers in receiving yards per game, are questionable for the game because of injuries. . . Cal beat USC last year to end a 14-game losing streak against the Trojans. The last time Cal beat USC in consecutive seasons was 1998 through 2000, when Cal won three straight against the USC. Tom Holmoe was Cal’s coach in 2000, and Paul Hackett was USC’s coach that year . . . Cal ranks third in the Pac-12 in scoring defense, yielding 20.7 points per game, but the Bears are last in the conference in scoring offense, averaging 19.1 points per contest. . . Cal linebacker Evan Weaver is on pace for 182.7 tackles in a 12-game season and 197.9 in a 13-game season. The NCAA record for total tackles in a season is 193 set by Lawrence Flugence of Texas Tech in 2002.
USC STORYLINES: The Trojans are just a game behind Utah in the loss column in the Pac-12 South standings, and USC would go to the Pac-12 championship game if it wins its final two games against Cal and UCLA and Utah loses one of its three remaining games. . . . USC is the only team to beat Utah this season . . . The Trojans are coming off a 31-26 road win over Arizona State . . . USC uses a version of the Air Raid offense, and averages 38 pass attempts per game . . . Running backs Vavae Malepeai (the team’s leading rusher) and Stephen Carr may return for Saturday’s game after missing the past three games with injuries . . . USC wide-receiver trio of Michael Pittman Jr., Amon-Ra St. Brown and Tyler Vaughns are considered one of the top receiving corps in the country, although Vaughns is questionable for the game with an injury. (Click here for a story and video on the USC receivers) . . . .USC ranks second in the Pac-12 in passing offense, averaging 311.0 yards per game . . . The job of USC coach Clay Helton is believed to be in jeopardy.
CAL PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB Chase Garbers (first game since Sept 27); RB Christopher Brown Jr. (95 rushing yards last week against Washington State); LB Evan Weaver (leads the nation in tackles at 15.2 per game); S Ashtyn Davis (third on the team in tackles, two forced fumbles, six career interceptions); CB Camryn Bynum (Cal’s best cover man, will be challenged by USC’s talented receivers).
USC PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB Kedon Slovis (reigning Pac-12 offensive player of the week, threw 4 TD passes in first quarter last week); WR Michael Pittman Jr. (10 catches, 232 receiving yards vs. Utah this year); WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (8 catches, 173 receiving yards last week vs. ASU); LB John Houston Jr. (88 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss); S Isaiah Pola-Mao (4.5 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions).
CAL NOTES, DEPTH CHART, STATISTICS: Click here
USC NOTES, STATISTICS, DEPTH CHART: Click here
JAKE'S PICK: Cal 24, USC 20
JEFF’s PICK: Cal 21, USC 17
RYAN KARTJE'S PICK (Los Angeles Times beat writer): USC 27, Cal 20
FIVE QUESTIONS ABOUT USC ANSWERED BY RYAN KARTJE OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES: Click here
TICKETS: Click here. Or at Stub Hub: Click here
PARKING: Click here
GAME-DAY STADIUM POLICIES: Click here
CAL CAMPUS MAP: Click here
