BERKELEY, Calif. — It was so unsurprising, given the setting under the leaning forests of the Berkeley hills, that there was hardly a stir among tens of thousands when their football game didn’t start on time.
As USC and Cal assembled for the opening kickoff Saturday afternoon, players began milling about in confusion as a horde of ambiguous protestors suddenly had assembled at midfield. Holding a sign, ripped away by security. Locking arms, remaining grounded to the turf even with attempts to bring them to their feet. Delaying the start of USC-Cal by minutes, security looking confused on how exactly to handle the situation, stadium hardly seeming to exude an ounce of shock.
Cal has long been a pillar of student right-to-free-speech, on-campus protests interwoven into the institution’s history, Cal just a few days earlier seeing a massive student walkout in support of Palestine amid the international Israel-Palestine conflict, as reported by Berkeleyside. That, for many in attendance, seemed the natural reason for the assembly Saturday afternoon; but the protest actually appeared related to the suspension of professor Ivonne de Valle, whom Cal had allegedly found harassed and stalked a professor at UC Davis, according to a report from KQED.
The protesters were taken off the field in handcuffs and taken to jail, a campus policeman said when asked. And thus, a fitting commencement of sorts to the final game in a historic USC-Cal rivalry.
Lincoln Riley returns
There seemed, for a moment – with analyst Kliff Kingsbury and wide receivers coach Dennis Simmons running out in pregame warmups – a chance that head coach Lincoln Riley might not man the sidelines Saturday against Cal, after a week-plus-long battle with pneumonia that he was still clearly recovering from in Thursday morning media availability.
But with little less than an hour before kickoff, Riley’s customary white visor emerged from the locker room, and he assumed the headset during pregame introductions.
Zion Branch injured
A USC secondary already hit hard with injury got hit worse Saturday, as redshirt freshman safety Zion Branch was helped off the field to the medical tent in the second quarter. Branch was starting in place of the injured Max Williams, who didn’t dress for the second straight day.
Branch didn’t return for the rest of the first half, with Bryson Shaw filling in on his snaps.
Bear Alexander serves suspension
The emotion was carved in the distraught furrow across Bear Alexander’s face, relegated to the sideline in the vital final seconds of USC’s game with Utah after crashing helmet-to-helmet into Utes quarterback Bryson Barnes for a brutal third-down targeting call that extended an eventual game-winning Utah drive.
He burst into tears after being ejected, emotions only partially veiled by a ski mask as he watched his defense fight on to no avail without him, captain Justin Dedich coming over for a few words of encouragement and a pat on the back.
“Bear has been an awesome player for us, and he was broken up about the penalty,” Riley said postgame. “That was the one that really gave them some life.”
After Alexander’s fearsome start creating havoc in the middle of USC’s defensive line, his impact had lessened ever since a tough game against Colorado. Against Utah, though, he recorded five pressures and three hits, as the rest of USC’s line struggled to keep tabs on shifty quarterback Barnes.
His ejection meant no Alexander in the first half Saturday against Cal – a major loss up front clearly felt on a first-half run defense that surrendered three touchdowns to running back Jaydn Ott. Arizona transfer Kyon Barrs started in his place, a chance to seize opportunity after he’d been given just a handful of snaps for weeks.
