Cal vs. USC Trojans Football Insta-Recap & Rate the Game: Bears Gift the Trojans a 50-49 Victory
USC scored 20 points from California's four turnovers
The California Golden Bears (3-5, 1-4 Pac-12) lost to the No. 24 USC Trojans (7-2, 5-1 Pac-12) in a 49-50 nail-biter.
California quarterback Fernando Mendoza found first-year running back Jaivian Thomas on a short route to the left on third-and-nine with 1:04 remaining in the game. The 13-yard touchdown reception closed the Golden Bears’ deficit to 49-50, which would allow the home team to tie the game with the point-after.
Instead, California head coach Justin Wilcox opted for a two-point conversion in an attempt to steal the game.
Mendoza struggled to find a teammate in the end zone, and California’s upset bid failed.
The Golden Bears kept the Trojans honest, leading in the second and third quarters. California out-gained USC 527 yards to 497 but gave away four turnovers, which the Trojans converted into 20 points.
Just watched the last PAC-12 CAL-U$C Game. What should have been a famous victory leaving us with forever bragging rights was instead a calamitous collapse.
First, I have to give a shout out to the Players. They played their hearts out. They made lots of mistakes, but they came back every time instead of rolling over. I'm proud of and gutted for them at the same time. They deserved to win.
But they made so many mistakes that point straight at Coaching. The taunting penalty when we were driving gave them life and sucked it from us. I didn't think we'd recover from it. But they did. But the turnovers borne off not cradling the football properly were devastating.
Yet even then we persevered. And damn if we didn't come back and score and have a chance to win on a 2pt conversion. Regardless of outcome, I agreed with the decision to go for it. But where was our special play for that exact circumstance? We didn't have one. Just a straightforward drop back and hope someone ran open. Every Team has a one off 2pt play they practice to win a game. It's something the opposition will never have seen on tape. Except us.
For letting the Team down by not having them perfect the fundamentals and not having a can't miss 2pt Conversion play to win the game - Coach Wilcox has to go to put an end to the era of never being quite good enough. I hope we start life in the ACC with a clean coaching slate.
For those that were at the game it must have been amazing, probably the best atmosphere in years right up until the final moments.
That's one of the craziest f*cking football games I've ever been to. It also, along with the Auburn game (different though it was) epitomizes the experience of being a Cal football fan. What could have been a famous -- and oh so sweet -- victory turned into a classic woulda coulda shoulda. Really proud of the players for the way they battled. BTW, I really f*cking hate U$C.