Trojans Hold off Bears
By Earl Heath Contributing Sports Writer USC fought off a late Cal comeback attempt as the Bears scored 21 points…
By Earl Heath
Contributing Sports Writer
USC fought off a late Cal comeback attempt as the Bears scored 21 points in the fourth quarter and inched within one possession twice. However Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams had an answer every time as as the Trojans held on for a 41-35 win at the Coliseum in front of a 64,916.
Williams threw for 360 yards and four touchdowns on 26 of 41 passing, out-dueling Cal’s Jack Plummer, who threw for a season-high 406 yards with three touchdowns and one interception on 35 of 49 passing.
Williams used gifted receivers Tahj Washington and Michael Jackson III, who each passed 100 receiving yards in place of leading receivers Jordan Addison and Mario Williams. Washington had 112 yards and one touchdown with seven catches. Jackson added 115 yards with two touchdowns on five catches.
“They are two guys that right at the beginning right at the beginning when we started were not necessarily at the top of the depth chart. They have hung in there and they have continued to work.” said Head Coach Lincoln Riley. “Those guys are what we need to be a team.”
Cal’s 469 yards were its second-most this season, trailing a 599-yard outburst against Arizona. The team entered the game as ranked 10th in the Pac-12 in total offense and 11th in scoring. USC Host Colorado this week.
ADD TROJANS: USC welcomed back wide receivers Jordan Addison and Mario Williams to practice this week.
The two were not full participant at practice, head coach Lincoln Riley said, but they returned to pads Monday and were able to practice again Tuesday after missing the past two games with injuries.
Neither has played since the Oct 15th loss to UTAH. Addison had a lower leg injury. “They’ve actually looked like they haven’t missed a day,” Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams said. “We said that in the meeting this morning (in the quarterback room) when we were watching film of (Monday’s practice) of them moving around and running. They look like they haven’t missed a day and they’ve been out for the past two, three weeks. So it’s awesome to get them back. It adds a little more weapons to the offense again.”
Despite missing two games, Williams and Addison remain USC’s top receivers with a combined 65 catches for 1,079 yards and 11 touchdowns. Riley did not t declare both ready to play against Colorado this week.
