USC squashed a Cal upset bid to stay undefeated

The Bears gave the Trojans problems before getting overwhelmed in the second half.

The Cal Bears have been a pleasant surprise in 2017. They started 3-0 under new head coach Justin Wilcox, including wins against North Carolina and Ole Miss.

They threatened on Saturday for their biggest win yet. They just didn’t get it, as No. 5USC pulled away in the second half to win, _____.

The teams were even at halftime, then even after three quarters: 13-13. But the Trojans got things in order from there, with their defense forcing some key turnovers and Sam Darnold getting the offense into the end zone a couple of times to cinch things. Cal didn’t have an answer once USC starting scoring in earnest.

USC was 3-0 entering the game, but the Trojans have had plenty of shaky moments. They struggled with Western Michigan in Week 1 and needed two overtimes to beat Texas in Week 3. Between those games, they whomped Stanford, which is the most impressive thing they’ve done yet. They got another fight in Berkeley.

Cal’s defense is drastically improved, and that’s the biggest reason the Bears are in contention against USC. The Bears gave up 22 points per game over their first three, down from 43 last season, when they were 127th out of 128 FBS teams in scoring D.

The Bears were dope alternate uniforms. Look at these beauts:

Did they lose? Yeah. But they looked great while doing it.