USC Should Be Used to Barnes Storming

California quarterback Pat Barnes won his first game over the Trojans on Saturday after three consecutive losses, but it was not the first time someone in his family had led a team to victory over USC. His brother, John, led UCLA to a 38-37 win over the Trojans in 1992.

“This game was big, but it wasn’t like my brother’s,” said Pat Barnes, who played at Trabuco Hills High. “He had the game of his life in his team’s big game of the season. The only way that I could match that would be to do that against Stanford.”

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USC freshman linebacker Chris Claiborne had 19 tackles, 17 of them unassisted. Claiborne came close to knocking Barnes out of the game when he tackled him on a quarterback sneak early in the second half.

“I got dinged pretty good on the play,” said Barnes. “[Claiborne] hit me and gave me a stinger [on his right shoulder] and I was a little groggy.”

Barnes stayed in the game but was unable to pass for at least a series.

“The good thing was that at least I was able to call the plays right,” said Barnes, who led the Bears to a field goal on the drive. “After that I felt pretty good again.”

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Cal running back Brandon Willis rushed for more than 100 yards for the third consecutive game since replacing injured starter Tarik Smith, who is sidelined because of a knee injury.

Willis, a 5-foot-9, 190-pound sophomore from Denver, gained a career-high 150 yards in 33 carries and added 79 yards with five catches.

“Not only did I have to prove to the team, but I also had to prove to myself that I could take a beating like that,” Willis said. “Our attitude as a team is to continue to work hard and not accept losing. That was the difference today. We wanted it more than they did.”

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California Coach Steve Mariucci said an important statistic was the Bears’ advantage in time of possession. Cal had the ball for 38 minutes 23 seconds to USC’s 21:37.

“USC normally controls the clock, but today we did,” Mariucci said. “Our offensive line did an excellent job. We didn’t want to have to throw the ball all of the time. We had to run the ball and we did.”