California Golden Bears have had an unstable QB situation this year — USC must prepare
USC takes on the California Golden Bears Saturday afternoon. It will be USC’s 110th meeting with Cal, the team the Trojans have played more than any other opponent.
USC tries to avoid a three-game losing streak. The last time the Trojans lost three in a row was in 2021, when USC fell to California, BYU and UCLA at the end of the season.
USC is a heavy favorite in this game, but the defensive woes have to stop. On paper, they should. Few offenses have been as stagnant as Cal in the Pac-12 this season.
Head Coach Justin Wilcox has started three different quarterbacks this season: sophomores Sam Jackson V, Ben Finley, and redshirt freshman Fernando Mendoza. Of the three, Mendoza is most likely to start for Cal against USC.
Mendoza has earned the starting nod the last two games for the Golden Bears. He is 31-for-50 (62 percent completions) and has thrown 4 TDs and 2 INTs.
The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Miami native was a three-star quarterback in high school at Columbus and Belen Jesuit.
Expect Cal to rely on star running back Jaydn Ott, who has 104 carries for 601 yards and 5 TDs.
The California Golden Bears are 3-4 overall and 1-3 in Pac-12 Conference play in the 2023 season.
*
Follow Fighting Irish Wire for more on Notre Dame.
Follow Buffaloes Wire for complete coverage of Deion Sanders and Colorado.
Follow Ducks Wire for coverage of Oregon football.
Oklahoma fans were right about Lincoln Riley, at least for this specific season.
USC assistants need to be coaching for their jobs.
Lincoln Riley did not assemble an elite 2023 roster, which surprised us and a lot of other observers.
Is USC ready to win in 2024 with Miller Moss or Malachi Nelson at quarterback? Lincoln Riley has to be honest about how he answers that question.
Brent Venables is coaching Oklahoma far better this year than Lincoln Riley is coaching USC. It’s up to Riley to change that reality.
