1. USC's momentum. They're doing exactly what they're supposed to be doing right now:
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[There] isn't a whole lot to say. USC dominated an inferior opponent. A good opponent, nonetheless, but a team, on paper, that the Trojans should be capable of beating. [...] A rout over Cal doesn't automatically catapult the Trojans into the top-25, but at the very least, it keeps the season alive.
In a season rife with bizarro upsets, that's something to be very, very thankful for.
2. Matt Barkley. USC's golden potato tied a school record for single-game touchdown passes (5) while completing 25 of 37 passes for 352 yards against Cal, and earned Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Week honors for his trouble.
3. Joe Houston. Responsible for 13 points of USC's 48 points on the strength of his leg, and recipient of the latest Pac-10 Special Teams Player of the Week award.
4. Marc Tyler, averaging over 11 yards a carry -- well beyond his season high of 9.1 against Hawaii, and more than double his three- and four-yard averages in all the intervening weeks.
5. Robert Woods. Yawn. No big deal. "Only" 116 receiving yards, his second-highest total of the year, and two touchdowns. Just another day. (Robert Woods continues to be very good at football.)
6. USC's defensive opportunism. We wondered whether the pass defense in particular would get a chance to shine this week, and Kevin Riley was picked off twice in the Coliseum.
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7. Allen Bradford and his fumblin' hands. Lost the ball twice against Cal, recovered it once.
8. C.J. Gable, peaking on Saturday -- and now sidelined indefinitely with a knee injury.
After the game, coach Lane Kiffin told the media that Gable had torn ligaments in his knee, and that his season was over. USC officials have since amended Kiffin’s statement, however, stating that the injury is not yet determined.
Prior to the injury, Gable had been enjoying his best game since 2008. The tailback rushed for 72 yards on 13 carries and returned two kickoffs for 56 yards.
9. Kevin Prince, Richard Brehaut (tie). Prince getting his MRI on in a short week before a trip to what looks more and more like the strongest team in the country bodes ill for UCLA:
Either way Bruins are screwed. Even with a healthy Price Bruins would have been an impossible situation against the explosive Ducks. With Brehaut at the helm, you can expect a violent, fired up Oregon defense coming after an inexperienced UCLA QB, operating a predictable, watered down Bruin offense. It is not going to be pretty.