USC vs. Cal was by no means a flashy victory for the Trojans, but passing the road test by a score of 27-21 kept USC’s season alive.
Here’s a look at five things we learned from the Halloween fight:
USC Is Finally Run-First
In consecutive games against Utah and Cal, USC ran the ball 95 times. That’s the first time the Trojans have rushed 45 times or more in back to back contests since beating Oregon State, then losing to ASU early last October.
Despite Steve Sarkisian’s insistence that his offense was run-first, it has been a long time since it felt like USC was actually invested in riding the run game to victory.