Cal snaps losing streak against USC, 15-14

LOS ANGELES - Chase Garbers threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score, and Cal snapped its 14-game losing streak against USC with a 15-14 victory Saturday night.

Vic Wharton III made his first TD reception of the season as the Golden Bears (6-4, 3-4 Pac-12) rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit and secured bowl eligibility for just the second time in seven seasons with their first win at the Coliseum in 18 years.

Cal did all of its scoring in an eight-minute span of the third quarter, starting with a safety when a shotgun snap by USC ?(5-5, 4-4) went 22 yards backward into the end zone.

J.T. Daniels passed for 180 yards and threw two TD passes to Tyler Vaughns, but the Trojans were shut out in the second half of their third loss in four games. USC gained just 41 yards after halftime against Cal’s sturdy defense, losing at the Coliseum for the second straight game after a 19-game home winning streak.

Cal beat USC for the first time since its famed 34-31, triple-overtime victory over the vaunted Trojans in Berkeley in 2003. The Trojans hadn’t lost to the Bears at the Coliseum since 2000, coach Paul Hackett’s final season at USC before Pete Carroll took over.

Both defenses were solid early on a chilly night at the Coliseum, but the Trojans appeared to be in good shape for yet another win over their upstate rivals despite failing on a fake field goal in the first quarter.

A few minutes after Vaughns caught a 2-yard TD pass in the second quarter, Ajene Harris stripped Garbers after a 23-yard run. Daniels then hit Vaughns for a 23-yard score one play after completing a tough fourth-and-6 pass to fellow freshman Amon-Ra St. Brown.

USC could have had more, but Cal’s Luc Bequette stripped the ball from St. Brown at the Cal 10 in the final minute before halftime.

But after managing only 69 yards of offense in the first half, the Bears quickly got back in it. After Cal got a safety on Toa Lobendahn’s horrific shotgun snap, Garbers promptly threw a 29-yard TD pass down the middle to an unguarded Wharton, who somehow hadn’t scored in 10 games as a starting wideout despite leading the Bears in yards receiving.

Garbers had only 30 yards passing all night before that 29-yard scoring throw.

Daniels then threw his first interception to Traveon Beck, and Garbers mounted Cal’s go-ahead drive culminating in his 5-yard TD run.