USC struck early and often as it easily took this game. USC dominated despite the teams playing this game close the last 3 years. Frankly, Cal is just a different team this year than in year's past. Leinart did it without throwing a TD pass, however was great running the ball, running for two Trojan TD's. Cal QB Joe Ayoob had another rough day and was replaced late in the game by walk on Steve Levy. USC showed it resilience as Cal did a relatively good job stopping Reggie Bush and the arm of Matt Leinart, but Lendale White then came up big after the first two stars came up empty.
Cal PP's:
Donnie McCleskey- had a relatively poor day, got beat over the top and this former all american is FALLING down the draft charts: negative
Ryan O'Callagahn-amazingly is back healthy, his original prognosis was a lot worse than what it turned out to be. He had a pretty good game in which he showed very little signs of ever being injured: slightly positive
Harrison Smith- I specifically took a look at him in this game. He seems to be way too loose in coverage and allowed a lot of space to a very good group of SC receivers on Saturday. He didn't give up any big plays but was constantly burned on short routes. Did have an INT off a dropped ball by Dominique Byrd: negative
Marvin Philip- a mediocre day at best for Marvin. I still think he looks good for the pros, but he and the rest of the oline was beat badly by that somewhat weak SC front: slightly negative
SC PP's:
Matt Leinart- his heisman hopes seem to be dwindling with him going another day without a TD throw, but he ran for 2 TD's and made good decisions all day(I know I know, big surprise). Finished witha less than spectacular game, but most importantly got the win: slightly positive
Tom Malone- A mediocre 35.5 punting average on the day for Tom: negative
Scott Ware- Finished with 2 tackles, not tremendously impressive, but I can't really say I saw anything that I didn't particularly like. He looks to be a solid day 2 pick: positive
Tatusi Lutui- I expected more from him, Cal has a weak dline and was still able to get pressure on Matt Leinart. Lutui is still a good player, but Lutui wasn't the road grader I expected him to be: slightly negative
Dallas Startz- Did not play
Dominique Byrd- I was horribly unimpressed with him. He dropped a TD pass and had a pass go off his hands for a Cal TD. He is falling very fast: very negative
Frostee Rucker- I really like Frostee, he consistently got pressure on the QB and I was impressed with the way he is against the run. Finished with one tackle, but Cal tended to stay away from him: positive
Lendale White- Played tremendously and was the player of the game in this game. He carried the Trojans after Cal did a good job against Bush. Finished with 90 yards rushing and 3 TD's and chipped in with 61 receiving yards: very positive
Reggie Bush- Cal did the unthinkable which is to slow down Reggie Bush. They defense did a nice job of pushing Reggie outside and then swarming towards him. Still finished with a respectable 86 all purpose yards: neutral
Darnell Bing- I still think he's a tad overrated but he played great in this game. Had a nice INT, and is still one of the biggest hitters in the country. I saw a lot of Kenoy Kennedy in him: positive
Justin Wyatt- Registered a beautiful TFL in which he fought through 3 Cal players. Pretty good in coverage, but maybe just maybe someone could use him as Pittsburgh uses Troy Polumalu: positive
Others: Chris Manderino played good in this one and should get a writeup. Desmond Bishop also played great. He is very old school and a solid tackler, he said he will stay for his senior season but still should get a wrtieup.
USC now 3 wins away from another perfect season.