Interim coach Helton leads USC into Pac-12 title game

And then the fifth-year senior turned around, spied Helton and walked toward the interim coach with arms outstretched to share a long, tight embrace. But all but one of their combined six conference losses came to Pac-12 North teams, leaving the Bruins and Trojans tied atop the Pac-12 South. Saturday’s victor will play for a Pac-12 title, and an improbable Rose Bowl appearance. And it could enhance Helton’s bid to retain his job, minus the “interim” tag. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz and oddsmakers both seem to think Nebraska is better than its record would suggest. “They’ve lost the last three years”, said Joseph Vasquez, a Trojan fan.

Whereas Bricio carried the USC attack nearly single-handedly, producing twice as many kills as any other Trojan, UCLA relied on a balanced attack, as four players produced double-digit kills: middle blocker Claire Felix and outside hitters Reily Buechler, Jordan Anderson and Jessyka Ngauamo. Kessler echoed those sentiments, “The guys really came together and made a decision. Big picture, it would be fantastic, but we have to take it one game at a time”.

Darreus Rogers and Taylor McNamara caught TD passes while the Trojans (8-4, 6-3 Pac-12) scored 20 consecutive points in the second half before raising the Victory Bell. Rosen finished with 227 yards, a TD, but threw two second-half interceptions to Iman Marshall.

The victory was the Trojans’ first over the Bruins since a 50-0 rout at the Coliseum four years ago.

The victory increased USC’s on-field lead in the series to 47-31-7, although its victories in 2004 and 2005 were later vacated due to the NCAA penalty.

But this is a resurgent Trojans team with a different attitude and style, playing for a chance to return to the Rose Bowl for the first time in seven seasons.

There were several contributing factors to this loss – and one can go so far as to say that these were common themes throughout the season – but one of the more prominent was the offensive play calling which stalled on several drives. Give credit to the Trojans’ defensive line as they produced pressure on the freshman quarterback, sacks, and a forced fumble that led to a Rasheem Green touchdown.

“I could see how much they wanted to win”, the sophomore said, “how much they wanted to go out with a bang”.

Duarte said, “It all hurts”. “Everything was on the line. Everything was right there for us and we didn’t execute”.

Paul Perkins rushed for two touchdowns for the Bruins (8-4, 5-4), who lost to USC for the first time in coach Jim Mora’s tenure.

Rosen, a freshman, was involved in three turnovers, but he said the Trojans did “absolutely nothing” to throw him off.

“The run game was going to be a huge part of trying to establish ourselves as a physical football team”, Helton said. “I understood I made a lot of mistakes (against Oregon) and made sure I prepared myself (last) week”.

The Cardinal followed that up with a 38-36 win over Notre Dame on a last-second field goal on Saturday, thrusting themselves back into the CFB conversation while knocking the Irish out.

With redshirt senior running back Tre Madden back in the mix to complete the three-headed monster of junior Justin Davis and freshman Ronald Jones II, the ground game took over. Quarterback Josh Rosen and the Bruins are coming off a win over Utah by a 17-9 final score.

“Toward the middle of the season, we kind of didn’t know what type of team we were”, Davis said. “He knew who we were and we knew who he was”. “So this week is very important, but even the weeks after that will be important for us to leave a legacy”.