Cal Isn’t Shy About the Tie : USC: Golden Bear coach says there was too much at stake to risk defeat and settles for 31-31 outcome.

California still hasn’t beaten UCLA and USC in the same season since 1958, but USC gave the Golden Bears every opportunity to complete such a sweep in the closing minutes of Saturday’s 31-31 tie at the Coliseum.

But even after Cal pulled to within a point of the Trojans with 1:22 left on a 10-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Mike Pawlawski to wide receiver Brian Treggs, the Golden Bears went for a tie, settling for a kick by Robbie Keen.

USC linebacker Scott Ross called the move “gutless,” but Cal Coach Bruce Snyder defended his decision, saying he decided over breakfast Saturday that the Bears would kick in such a situation.

“Three things went through my mind,” Snyder said. “No. 1, a tie is a hell of a lot better than a loss. No. 2, I thought we had time to get the ball back. No. 3, I wanted to keep our postseason bowl hopes alive.

“I thought a bowl committee might mark a tie against USC as a lot better than a one-point loss.”

Snyder, whose team is 5-3-1, 3-2-1 and hoping to attract a bowl bid for the first time since 1979, probably was right on all three points.

He definitely was right on the second.

Cal not only got the ball back, but was in position to win. Keen’s 43-yard field-goal attempt fell short on the last play of the game.

“I kicked the ground,” Keen said. “I guess I was too excited. I was not nervous. I was happy to be in that situation. It was a bad kick.”

It brought joy to the Trojans, but only for a moment.

“I was glad he didn’t make it,” Ross said, “but that feeling lasted about a second.”

The Trojans, 6-2-1 overall, 3-2-1 in the Pacific 10, said they had let a victory slip away.

Leading 31-24 after overcoming a 24-10 third-quarter deficit with 21 consecutive points, USC unexpectedly stumbled as it seemed on the verge of scoring with less than four minutes left.

But on a third-down play at Cal’s 39-yard line, quarterback Todd Marinovich, who played all but the first series in relief of Shane Foley, threw an interception that was returned 28 yards by David Wilson.

No receiver was in the vicinity, split end Joel Scott having fallen after his feet tangled with Wilson’s.

“He was nowhere to be seen (after) I threw it,” Marinovich said of Scott, who cut to the outside when he saw that Marinovich couldn’t find his primary receiver on the other side of the field.

Instead of having the game in hand, the Trojans faced the task of stopping Cal, which had scored on four consecutive possessions in the second and third quarters, giving the Golden Bears a 24-10 lead after they had fallen behind, 10-0, in the first 12 minutes.

USC’s young secondary wasn’t up to the challenge.

Freshman cornerback Mike Salmon was called for pass interference after he grabbed Treggs’ jersey on a third-down pass at USC’s 39-yard line, giving the Bears a first down 15 yards closer to the end zone.

“I was thinking they’d try to get a first down,” Salmon said of the third-and-six play. “I didn’t think they’d go deep in that situation. I started breaking down (toward the line of scrimmage), thinking he was going to run either a quick in, a curl or an out.”

Treggs ran straight down the left sideline.

“He went right around me,” Salmon said. “I realized he had more speed than I did, so I grabbed him to try to save a touchdown.”

As it turned out, he only postponed a touchdown.

Treggs scored on a 10-yard pass from Pawlawski, making a move toward the inside and beating a former Carson High teammate, cornerback Calvin Holmes, to the near left corner of the end zone.

“He came at me and I jammed him and he, like, pushed off (me),” Holmes said. “I think I was a couple of seconds late.”

It was too late to save the Trojans, who went three plays and out after the ensuing kickoff, giving Cal another chance.

When Keen’s kick fell short, only Cal felt satisfied.

“Any time you play to a tie . . . the players probably said it best: It’s like you haven’t even played,” USC Coach Larry Smith said.

Smith tabbed Foley as his starting quarterback but removed him after Foley drove the Trojans 69 yards to a touchdown in their first possession.

“We felt we had to throw the ball a lot--we couldn’t just run all day,” Smith said of the move. “We wanted to mix it up, and (Marinovich) was the best guy to do that within our game plan.”

Marinovich, who was suspended by Smith last week for failing to attend classes, came on to scattered boos and led USC to a field goal and a 10-0 lead in his first possession--but got nothing more until the third quarter.

By then, the boos had grown much louder--”I thought we were playing at Cal,” Marinovich said--and USC trailed, 24-10.

If the crowd’s reaction bothered him, however, Marinovich didn’t show it, throwing a short pass that wideout Johnnie Morton turned into a 77-yard touchdown play, pulling USC to 24-17.

Linebacker Kurt Barber then set up another USC touchdown when he stripped the ball from Treggs on a punt return and recovered it at Cal’s seven.

Mazio Royster, who ran for 175 yards and two touchdowns, scored on a six-yard run to make the score 24-24 with 53 seconds left in the third quarter.

Less than four minutes later, USC took the lead, 31-24, on an 18-yard pass from Marinovich to tight end Brad Banta.

It wasn’t enough, however, to knock out the Bears, who seemed to infuriate the Trojans with their decision to settle for a tie.

“You play a game to get a differential,” Ross said. “I feel empty right now. Let’s go back out there and play a few more plays and decide who wins.”

Cal says it did. USC would seem to agree.