The Pacific-10 Championship will be won or lost at the L.A. Coliseum this Saturday when No. 4 USC hosts No. 17 California.
USC needs a win to guarantee at least a share of their historically unprecedented fifth-straight league title. A win would also keep USC’s hopes alive for a possible berth in the BCS National Championship game.
Cal’s hopes for an appearance in the that game were dashed last Saturday by a feisty Arizona Wildcats team, 24-20, effectively eliminating the Golden Bears from BCS title game conversation. Their only hope at a BCS berth is the Pac-10 champions’ automatic Rose Bowl berth. To get there means beating USC at home, something that hasn’t been accomplished by the visiting team in the last 31 tries.
USC comes off of a convincing 35-10 win over Oregon, riding a wave of renewed support for the Trojans to appear in the national championship game. After losing to Oregon State, the Trojans seemed to have one foot out the BCS door, but their win over Oregon – coupled with several upsets within the top-10 – has them sitting at No. 3 in the BCS rankings and poised to make a run.
This final leg of the season for USC (who has the nation’s second-toughest rated schedule) will include a matchup with No. 5 Notre Dame next week, and conclude against cross-town rival UCLA.
But some would say the toughest of those games for USC is this week against Cal. The Golden Bears account for one of USC’s three losses in its past 56 games, beating the Trojans in triple overtime at Berkeley, and this year possesses one of the nation’s most prolific scoring attacks.
Quarterback Nate Longshore, whose play had been the subject of skepticism coming into the season, leads the Pac-10 in pass efficiency (150.5), passing yards (239.3) and passing touchdowns (21).
Running back Marshawn Lynch and receiver DeSean Jackson have 13 touchdowns each on the season, which ties them for most in the Pac-10. Lynch has 33 touchdowns in 32 career games and Jackson has 21 touchdowns in 21 career games.
Jackson also leads the nation in punt return average with 20.7 yards per return and punt return touchdowns with four. He set season (4) and career (5) Pac-10 records for punt return touchdowns with a 95-yard return for a touchdown against Arizona.
Despite losing three 2005 starters to the NFL and having three current starters miss games due to injury, the California offensive line has also developed into a strength for the Golden Bears.
Both Washington State and Arizona State came into their games against Cal as the national leader in sacks, while UCLA had two of the top 10 sack men in the nation. The three teams managed just one sack against the Golden Bears. The Bears have allowed just 10 sacks all season (second in the Pac-10), including only seven in the last nine games (none on Saturday at Arizona).
And as impressive as Cal has been on offense this season, the defense has been tough on opponents as well.
California safeties Brandon Hampton and Bernard Hicks are forming a formidable duo for the Golden Bears. On Oct. 7 against Oregon, both safeties had interceptions and they combined for 14 tackles. Over the last six games, the pair have 59 tackles and the three interceptions.
Senior cornerback Daymeion Hughes leads the nation with eight interceptions this season and his 15 career picks are second all-time at Cal.
He has returned four for touchdowns this season.
Linebacker Desmond Bishop, who talks about “sucking the life out of opposing offenses” in a recent Cal release, ranks second in the Pac-10 with 9.1 tackles per game, including a career-high 16 in Cal’s overtime victory against Washington. He has registered double figures in tackles three times this year and also has a team-high 12.5 tackles for loss.
The game will be televised nationwide on ABC, 5 p.m., Saturday.