Cal football: Bears lose a heartbreaker to 24th-ranked USC

BERKELEY — A midfield protest at Memorial Stadium delayed the start of Cal’s last scheduled football game against USC, and an unusual ruling led to the final play of the second quarter happening after the halftime intermission.

And the weird stuff had just begun in what turned out to be a 50-49 USC victory Saturday.

It ended when Cal failed on a pass attempt for the two-point conversion with 58 seconds after the Bears scored to pull within one point.

In a back-and-forth game, the Bears led 27-18 at halftime and 43-29 early in the fourth quarter before a series of mishaps allowed the 24th-ranked Trojans to score three unanswered touchdowns in the final 11:15 to escape with the victory  in front of 43,716.

It was the 110th and possibly final meeting between in-state rivals that first met in 1912 but are going their separate ways next fall after the Pac-12 Conference largely dissolves.

Jaydn Ott scored three first-half touchdowns and rushed for 153 yards but left the game on the second play of the fourth quarter and Cal (3-5, 1-4) seemed to lose all momentum.

USC (7-2, 5-1), which had lost its two previous games to fall out of the Football Playoff picture, took advantage of four Cal turnovers.

The Trojans fought back from the 14-point hole on a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams with 11:15 left, a 9-yard TD run by Marshawn Lloyd (following a Cal fumble on a punt return by Jeremiah Hunter) with 6:11 left and finally a 7-yard TD run by Oakland’s Austin Jones with 3:33 left to lead 50-43.

Cal had the crowd standing as it went 79 yards in nine plays, scoring on a 13-yard pass from Mendoza to freshman Jaivian Thomas with 58 seconds left.

Tennessee transfer Justin Williams-Thomas — seeing his first action of the season after rehabbing an injury — had a 23-yard run and Mendoza passed 21 yards to Jeremiah Hunter on the drive.

The Bears went for two points and the win but Mendoza threw incomplete.

In his third career start — all against Top-25 teams — Mendoza was 25-for-39 for 292 yards with two TDs and one interception. Williams was 23-for-40 for 369 yards, two TDs and no picks.

This was a wild one — even before the opening kickoff.

The start was delayed about 10 minutes by a dozen protesters who sat at midfield until police and security cuffed them and walked them off the field without incident.

According to Fox2 TV network, the protesters were yelling, “Justice for Ivonne.” The students reportedly were striking to reinstate professor Ivonne del Valle, who was suspended for stalking.

Cal trailed 10-0 and 17-7 but was down just 17-14 at the end of the first quarter, thanks to touchdown dashes of 43 and 61 yards by Ott.

Ott scored again on a 4-yard run for a 21-17 Cal lead with 11:55 left in the third quarter and the margin reached 28-17 when Mendoza delivered a 17-yard TD pass to Trond Grizzell with 8:58 to go in the half.

That was the score when the half ended . . . but that didn’t actually happen until after the teams returned following the halftime break.

Upon review, officials ruled that time had not run out — but there was one second left on the clock — when USC tight end Lake McRee was tackled at the 16-yard line on the final play of the second quarter.

The debate caused another 10-minute delay, but the Trojans got another play, and Denis Lynch made sure it didn’t matter, missing a 33-yard field goal.

Still, the Trojans were energized, scoring on a 6-yard keeper by Williams and — after a Mendoza interception set them up at the Cal 18 — on a 2-yard TD pass from Williams to Brenden Rice, son of Hall of Famer Jerry Rice.  The Trojans botched both PATs, but led 29-28 with 8:12 left in the third quarter.

Cal responded with a 75-yard scoring drive aided by two clear-cut pass interference penalties. Mendoza scored on a 2-yard keeper before the Bears pulled off a creative 2-point play.

Mendoza shifted to his left and Ott moved into the QB’s shotgun spot, taking the snap then lateraling it bay to Mendoza, who was moving right. Mendoza then passed to Grizzell in the end zone for a 36-29 lead with 4:42 left in the third.

Mendoza completed passes of 21 yards to Grizzell and 25 yards to Hunter before scoring on a 1-yard sneak to make it 43-29 with 14:06 to play.