Cal Football Rewind: 5 Game-Changing Plays from the USC Win

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LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 10: Amon-Ra St. Brown #8 of the USC Trojans gets tackled by sb3d during the second quarter at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on November 10, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

1 – Bequette’s Forced Fumble

Junior defensive end Luc Beqeutte had the best game of his career last week, earning Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors for his big efforts. This was probably his biggest play of the day.

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With time winding down in the first half and USC ahead by two touchdowns, they looked ready to extend that lead. They were well within Cal territory with over a minute to play, and USC quarterback JT Daniels completed a pass to his receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown that looked to get them inside Cal’s 10.

Cornerback Elijah Hicks made the initial tackle, and tackle Tevin Paul tried to knock the ball out of St. Brown’s arm. Bequette finally came in and punched the ball out before St. Brown was down, and linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk fell on the loose ball. Cal was able to run out the clock on the first half following the turnover, facing a deficit of 14 points deficit instead of 17 or 21 points.

Bequette set career-highs with eight tackles, two sacks, and 2.5 tackles for loss against the Trojans, but this forced fumble was the play of the day. It gave Cal their first real momentum of the game, and kept them within reach for the second half.

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