No. 15 USC Football Visits Crosstown Rival UCLA
November 13, 2016 | Football
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No. 15 USC, coming off an eye-opening road upset over No. 4 Washington, goes to the Rose Bowl to face UCLA under the lights on ESPN in the 86th version of the nation's most famous crosstown rivalry. The Trojans are on a 6-game winning streak (their longest since 2008) after starting off 1-3 in 2016, and not only are they once again nationally ranked, but they remain alive in the Pac-12 South Division race. At stake on Saturday are city bragging rights, the Victory Bell and Crosstown Cup points. Last year, USC beat the Bruins, who have won just 4 of last 17 meetings in the series. The Trojans have won 65% of the time against unranked UCLA teams. But beware, Trojans: this is the 10th anniversary of unranked UCLA's upset win that knocked No. 2 USC out of a third consecutive BCS Championship Game. It's just the 11th night game in the series (and the 7:30 p.m. kick ties for the series' second latest start). Both teams will wear their home jerseys. The game features players, coaches and athletic department staff with connections to the rival school (including UCLA's head coach, whose parents and an offspring have attended USC). The Rose Bowl stadium is USC's home away from home. It's the first of back-to-back games that USC will battle its traditional rivals, with Notre Dame coming to the Coliseum next week. The Trojans are playing one of the nation's toughest schedules. All 3 of Troy's losses in 2016 have been to AP Top 25 teams away from home. USC, guided by coach Clay Helton (who has 5 wins over ranked foes in his short career, including twice over Top 5 teams), has been hot since the start of October thanks to a revitalized offense and an aggressive defense. The offensive improvement correlates with the insertion into the lineup of mobile redshirt freshman QB Sam Darnold, who not only is statistically the top frosh signalcaller in the country but is an O'Brien Award semifinalist (he owns the USC freshman TD pass season record with 22 and is within range of the school all-class marks for passing efficiency and completion percentage). He does a nice job spreading his passes to a deep group of wideouts--including WRs JuJu Smith-Schuster, who is USC's No. 7 career receiver, Darreus Rogers and Deontay Burnett--and tight ends. Running behind an experienced line of OT Zach Banner (a Senior CLASS Award semifinalist) and company, USC's ground attack of late features explosive TB Ronald Jones II (he has 7 rushing TDs in the past 4 games). Troy's defense has 5 outings this year holding foes under 100 ground yards (Washing had just 17 last week) and has posted 14 sacks in the win streak. Leading the defensive charge are the likes of LBs Michael Hutchings, Porter Gustin, Cameron Smith and Uchenna Nwosu, DTs Rasheem Green and Stevie Tu'ikolovatu and CB-WR-RET Adoree' Jackson, who had 2 picks at Washington and also stars on special teams (he's in the national Top 10 in punt returns and kickoff returns). Jackson is a semifinalist for the Thorpe Award and Lott Trophy. Coach Jim Mora's UCLA team has struggled in 2016, but snapped a 4-game losing skid with a home win over Oregon State last Saturday. The Bruins' 6 losses this year have been by an average of just 7.0 points. UCLA needs to win its final 2 regular season games (USC and at California) to become bowl eligible. The Bruin offense is now directed by QB Mike Fafaul, who has started the past 4 games in place of injured QB Josh Rosen, a 2015 Freshman All-American. WR Darren Andrews is the squad's top pass catcher, while RBs Soso Jamabo and Bolo Olorunfunmi are the leading rushers. Although UCLA is 14th nationally in passing offense, it is 127th out of 128 teams in rushing offense. The Bruin defense is tough against the pass, ranking sixth in the nation in pass efficiency defense and 14th in interceptions. Defensive leaders include LBs Jayon Brown, who is 16th nationally in tackles, and Kenny Young, DB Jaleel Wadood and DL Takkarist McKinley, who leads the nation in tackles for loss and is second in sacks.
