USC Football: 5 game balls for Trojans’ Week 4 victory over Cal
By Zach Bigalke
On Saturday in Berkeley, USC football separated itself from Cal in the fourth quarter of a 30-20 victory. These five players earned game balls in the win.
More: 3 concerns from USC’s win over Cal
For the first three quarters of the showdown between undefeated Pac-12 teams, California hung tough against No. 5 USC on Saturday afternoon in Berkeley. The Trojans required a strong defensive effort in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 30-20 victory that kept them in the top five of the AP Top 25.
Clay Helton‘s team moved to 4-0 thanks to some solid performances from key players on the day. Who were the best Trojans on the Memorial Stadium field against the Golden Bears in Week 4? Keep reading for our choices for USC’s five game ball recipients after Week 4 play.
Ronald Jones II was sidelined with a thigh contusion, leaving a big hole in the USC offense. Young tailback Stephen Carr stepped up in the backfield, carrying the ball 20 times for 82 yards and a score in the Trojans’ first road game of the season. He caught another six passes from Sam Darnold for 47 receiving yards, finishing the day with over 125 total yards of offense against a tough Cal defense.
He did cough up one fumble in the game, a mistake born of inexperience and good defensive play. In general, however, Carr performed admirably after Jones was unable to appear during warmups in Berkeley. On a day when the USC offense struggled otherwise to move the ball on the ground, Carr churned out tough yards and plunged over the goal line to turn a costly Cal fumble into six points.
Carr is undoubtedly the future rather than the present at running back for the Trojans. Once Jones is healthy, Carr will once again take to the bench and play in reserve. But for at least one game, he got his starting chance and helped keep USC among the ranks of the undefeated. The freshman will surely put up many big performances during his career as a Trojan, and in his first start Carr takes home the first of our five game balls to USC in Week 4.