It’s Just Another Cal-amity for USC

The USC season is in tatters, and Saturday against California it went from bad to . . .

Unbearable.

This time there was no 21-point lead to lose. There was no USC lead at all.

The Trojans did themselves in with four momentum-killing turnovers and a few more foolish penalties in a 17-7 loss to a Cal team that had little more in its arsenal than a fierce sack attack and a one-man show named Deltha O’Neal.

With that, USC has lost four games in a row for the first time since 1991, when the Trojans dropped their final six in a 3-8 season.

At 3-5--and 1-4 in the Pacific 10 Conference--they must win their final four to finish above .500.

If that isn’t evidence enough USC is reeling, wait for next week, when John Fox--the onetime starting quarterback who began this season as a linebacker--is poised to replace Mike Van Raaphorst as the starting quarterback, USC’s third of the season.

“I think it’s John’s turn,” USC Coach Paul Hackett said after pulling Van Raaphorst in favor of Fox on the second drive of the third quarter with USC trailing, 10-0. “Nothing against Mike, but we’ve lost four in a row. We need to change it up somehow.”

Hackett hedged just enough, saying the decision will be made this week, but his inclination was clear.

That’s only the latest chapter in the Trojan woes, serious enough now that Hackett emerged from the locker room and asked, “Is this the electric chair?” as he took a seat--the same phrase he uttered after the Sun Bowl loss to Texas Christian last season.

With the usual speculation in the air even though Hackett is only in the second year of a five-year contract, Hackett calmly answered a question about whether he feels pressure about his job security: “No,” he said. “No more pressure than I put on myself about my job.”

The pressure at the moment is about trying to stop the losing skein, and Hackett seems ready to pull the trigger on the quarterback job.

Van Raaphorst passed for a school-record 415 yards only last week in a loss to Stanford, but he has struggled with fumbles and interceptions--throwing one for Cal’s first touchdown Saturday when O’Neal picked off a pass meant for Windrell Hayes and raced 67 yards, breaking a scoreless deadlock with 2:39 left in the first half.

Van Raaphorst also is less mobile than Fox and was battered for seven sacks in the first half before Fox took over and escaped all but two Cal pass rushes in the second.

Maybe more important, Fox brought a spark to a moribund Trojan offense--though it was a spark ultimately doused by two more crucial turnovers as USC tried to come back.

“I think he generated real excitement in the third quarter,” Hackett said. “I thought we had turned the tide.”

With Fox in at quarterback and track star Sultan McCullough replacing Chad Morton at tailback, USC drove from its own 27 to the Cal 23.

But McCullough fumbled at the 17, and Cal’s Chidi Iwuoma recovered.

“That fumble really cost us,” McCullough said. “There were a couple of runs I felt I could have busted, but when I fumbled, everything went down the drain.”

The momentum rolled back USC’s way when Ifeanyi Ohalete intercepted a pass by Kyle Boller at the USC 14, and four plays later, Fox hit star freshman Kareem Kelly with a pass that went for a 72-yard touchdown after Kelly broke a tackle, picked up a block of O’Neal by Steve Stevenson and outran everyone to the end zone.

With USC’s other big-play threat, R. Jay Soward, dressed for the game but unable to play because of a strained hamstring, Kelly was the No. 1 target, and he set career highs with nine catches for 170 yards.

The touchdown pass was Fox’s first since Nov. 22, 1997, when he was last USC’s starting quarterback, and with that, USC cut the lead to 10-7 with 6:08 left in the third quarter.

“John was real fired up coming in to play quarterback,” Kelly said. “We couldn’t put it together as a team.”

Crucial mistakes on special teams helped kill the momentum minutes later, when a long punt return by Kelly was called back by penalties, pinning USC at the 14-yard line.

“We had two blocks in the back and a late hit out of bounds,” Hackett said. “What is it called? The trifecta. All three.”

After that drive stalled, Cal drove for its only offensive touchdown of the game when Boller hit a wide-open Ronnie Davenport on a 33-yard touchdown pass play and Cal took a 17-7 lead with 14:53 left in the game.

USC’s last best chance died with 8 1/2 minutes left when tight end Antoine Harris caught a 25-yard pass but then fumbled at Cal’s 42, with Jamaal Cherry recovering for the Golden Bears.

Cal (4-4, 3-2) finished out its second consecutive victory over USC, and kept its bowl hopes alive.

O’Neal, a cornerback, was Cal’s main weapon, since an offense led by freshman quarterback Boller couldn’t do much against USC’s defense--especially with standout tailback Joe Igber limited to five carries because of a shoulder injury he suffered last week.

O’Neal’s interception return for a touchdown was his third of the season, a Cal record.

He also did most of the work on the field-goal drive, breaking a punt return for 60 yards before David Gibson made a touchdown-saving tackle at the 24-yard line. Cal settled for a 37-yard field goal by Mark Jensen and a 10-0 lead with 10:44 left in the third quarter.

That was all Cal would need.

“This is a good football team,” Hackett insisted about the Trojans after the game. “I refuse to accept that we can’t play better and perform more consistently than we do.”

All that’s left is trying to win four in a row for a winning season and a chance to play in a bowl game.

“It’s too bad we’ve got ourselves in such a hole,” he said. “The sweep will seem hollow.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Freshman Prince

USC’s Kareem Kelly, who already holds school freshman records for receptions and yards in a season, had his best game Saturday. His reception total ties him for 20th in school history. Kelly game-by-game:

*--*

Opponent Rec. Yards TDs Hawaii 5 104 0 San Diego State 6 98 1 Oregon 5 87 0 Oregon State 3 56 0 Arizona 6 100 0 Notre Dame 1 58 0 Stanford 8 129 0 California 9 170 1 TOTALS 43 802 2

*--*