USC Trojans at California Golden Bears Preview

By J.E.  |   Friday, November 11, 2005  |  Comments( 0 )

College Football
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The No.1 USC Trojans (9-0) head to Berkeley to take on the California Golden Bears (6-3) in a Pac-10 matchup. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30pm ET at Memorial Stadium.

The USC Trojans are gunning for their 32nd consecutive victory this weekend. In order to keep that streak going and preserve their perfect record this season, they'll have to get past Cal, which was the last team to beat them two years ago.

USC still ranks first in the nation in total offense with an average of 600.7 yards per game. Matt Leinart is coming off another impressive performance in last week's victory over Stanford. Leinart threw for 259 yards and 4 touchdowns in less than three full quarters of work. In his last three games, Leinart has been on fire, completing 66-of-88 passes for 824 yards and 11 touchdowns. If his hot streak continues, the Bears could be in trouble early.

Running backs Reggie Bush and LenDale White are also a huge part of the USC Trojans' offensive success. Bush has rushed for over 1,000 yards and 11 TDs this season, while White has gained just over 900 yards and scored 14 TDs.

After starting the season 5-0, the Bears have lost three of their last four games to drop to 6-3. Quarterback Joe Ayoob has had his problems with accuracy recently. In fact, Ayoob has thrown nine interceptions in the last 5 games, after throwing only one pick in the previous four. He'll have to control his mistakes for the Golden Bears to have a legitimate shot at the upset.

California is also going to need some strong performances from the two star backs of the team, Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett, in order to present USC with a balanced attack. Lynch gained 189 yards and scored two TDs in last week's loss to Oregon, but Forsett was held to just 32 yards in very limited action. If they're both on their games this weekend, don't count Cal out.
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