USC Football: 3 takeaways from Pac-12 rivalry victory at Cal

USC football ran away with a big win over Cal in Week 12 action in Berkeley. Here are three things we learned about the Trojans in the win.

For much of the first half, Cal and USC traded punches. As the game approached halftime, the game was knotted up at 10-10. The Golden Bears took an early lead on the opening drive, the Trojans responded on the road on the ensuing drive, and the teams traded field goals. USC got a late touchdown pass from Kedon Slovis to cap an 11-play, 73-yard drive and take a 17-10 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Coming out of the intermission, the Trojans turned on the afterburners. With 17 unanswered points in the third quarter, USC rolled up a 34-10 lead. That margin of victory remained the same at the end as the Trojans emerged victorious in a 41-17 clobbering of the Golden Bears in Berkeley. It was a command performance by a team fighting to gain a more prominent destination come bowl season, against an opponent that was unable to meet the call at home as they claw uphill for their postseason life.

USC came out and pushed themselves closer to a spot in the polls with their resounding blowout of the Golden Bears at California Memorial Coliseum. While Utah remains the favorite to take the Pac-12 South, one slip-up by the Utes in their final two games will open the door for Clay Helton’s crew to climb back into the driver’s seat.

What can we learn from this rout away from the Coliseum? Here are three things to take away from the Pac-12 After Dark action that closed out Week 12 as we wind closer to the end of the 2019 regular season.