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

2. USC defense shut down Cal offense

After months away from the field with a hand injury that required surgery, Cal quarterback Chase Garbers returned to the field against USC. The Trojans gave Garbers a rude return to the gridiron, as they held him to 4-of-10 passing for 33 yards. Apparently Garbers was injured on a run late in the second half, though, and never came back into the game.

That left the Golden Bears to turn to Devon Modster once again under center. Losing Garbers so quickly in his return seemed to deflate the Cal offense as they struggled to get momentum against the Trojans. Through the air, Garbers and Modster combined to go just 14-of-29 for 124 yards. Modster threw a pair of interceptions, one that the Golden Bears were lucky to get back after DeShawn Collins punched the ball away from Isaiah Pola-Mao.

Beyond playing heads-up defense after the turnover, Collins was the lone bright spot on offense for Justin Wilcox’s team. The running back finished with 103 yards and two rushing touchdowns on 15 carries. Collins added a 22-yard kick return to chip in on special teams, as he proved an all-purpose threat for Cal in the losing effort.

Ultimately, though, no single effort was going to get the job done against a USC defense that keyed in and came to Berkeley motivated to restore pride after two close wins against Arizona State and Colorado sandwiched around a blowout loss at home against Oregon.