USC football season ends in fitting fashion with loss to Cal

BERKELEY — USC’s 2021 shot play mercifully came to an extremity connected Saturday with a 24-14 nonaccomplishment to Cal.

The defeat, which dropped USC to a last grounds of 4-8 and 3-6 successful the Pac-12, had each the hallmarks of this iteration of the Trojans, and which led to Clay Helton’s termination and the this week’s hiring of Lincoln Riley.

There were penalties that killed USC drives heavy successful Cal territory, similar a holding and intentional grounding series that took USC from first-and-10 astatine the Cal 38 to punting astatine the Cal 45.

There were peculiar teams gaffes, similar Parker Lewis’ 2 missed tract goals successful the archetypal half.

There was a costly turnover, a fumble by moving backmost Darwin Barlow connected a third-down conversion that Cal scooped up and returned 55 yards for a touchdown.

And determination was the purely inexplicable, similar choky extremity Erik Krommenhoek fumbling a nonstop drawback connected a fourth-down, goal-line instrumentality play that had nary accidental of going anywhere, 1 of 2 turnovers successful red-zone trips for USC.

Perhaps this wasn’t surprising. The USC squad that arrived to California Memorial Stadium was decimated by injuries. Only 65 Trojans traveled for the crippled alternatively of 74, the maximum allowed. And it’s not similar USC was a well-functioning instrumentality erstwhile astatine afloat spot this season.

TE Michael Trigg, TE Jude Wolfe, OL Courtland Ford, OLB Drake Jackson, LB Tuasivi Nomura, CB Chris Steele, CB Jayden Williams, CB Ceyair Wright, DB Jaylin Smith and OLB Hunter Echols each did not travel, portion QB Kedon Slovis, WR Gary Bryant, RB Keaontay Ingram, TE Lake McRee and S Xavion Alford did not formal for the game.

The sheer magnitude of USC’s wounded woes near the Trojans with 4 cornerbacks warming up for the game, and USC lone played 1 — freshman Prophet Brown — for overmuch of the opening drive. Cal, naturally, attacked Brown connected fourth-and-two and converted to acceptable up a tract goal.

A tract extremity that would person not happened, if not for a USC off-sides punishment that allowed Cal different accidental aft its archetypal attempted ricocheted disconnected the post.

USC’s injured database got adjacent longer toward the extremity of the 3rd quarter, erstwhile promising freshman backmost Jaxson Dart was leveled connected scrambled, taking a changeable to his head. He looked unsteady connected his feet earlier draping his arms astir 2 trainers’ shoulders and being escorted to the aesculapian tent.

When helium emerged, his helmet had been taken away, leaving what was near of the crippled successful the hands of third-string QB Miller Moss. The freshman did arsenic good arsenic could beryllium expected, completing 8 of 12 passes for 74 yards and starring an 87-yard touchdown drive, uncovering K.D. Nixon from 16 yards retired of the extremity portion erstwhile the crippled was already retired of reach.

But helium wasn’t immune from the madness of this performance. After moving USC 47 yards to the Cal 8, Moss was strip-sacked and, aft a delayed absorption and immoderate batting of the ball, the Bears recovered astatine their ain 32.

It was the 5th thrust successful a enactment successful which USC reached Cal territory but failed to travel up with points. The Trojans really out-gained the Bears 409-260 successful the loss, USC’s eighth successful a play for the archetypal clip since 1991.