USC 40, No. 22 UCLA 21

Stanford surpassed Washington State for sole possession of the No. 2 position after clinching the Pac-12 North division title with a win over California. The victor gets the Pac-12 South title and a berth in the conference championship game next week against No. 13 Stanford.

UCLA, which had beaten USC three straight times, was never seriously heard from again. But it’s awesome. It’s the way you want to go out. “It was tough walking off that field for the last time, but this was the way I wanted to do it”. USC fired its coach early in the year but the Trojans can still win the Pac-12.

“We’ve got no one to blame but ourselves”.

While the Trojans’ offense held the ball for 40 minutes, USC got its game-changing plays on defense and special teams. In attending the games at Autzen Stadium, the Alamo Bowl has had representatives at the last two games in Eugene, against USC and also against Cal three weeks ago.

Win or lose, Kim Helton said his son already has proved this: “There’s no question he’s a head coach”.

“This is a great story for our players and especially our seniors”, he said. Likewise if players buy in to this same belief they too could step up in a major way.

But a victory over the Bruins is anything but a given with UCLA at 3-0 against USC since Jim Mora became its coach in 2012. “He’s not necessarily going to scramble or move in the pocket to find a running lane, he’s going to do it to keep the play going and find an open receiver and he does it pretty well”.

“Obviously it goes without saying that there’s an incredible amount of disappointment in our locker room today”, Mora said. “The game turned, obviously, on the punt return there right before the half and the turnovers in the second half”. The Cardinal are clinging to the outside chance they may get in with a win and lots of help.

Freshman cornerback Iman Marshall jumped a route to intercept Rosen, ending the freshman from Westwood’s school-record 287 consecutive pass attempts without a pick, setting up Kessler and the offense with a short field that culminated with a beautifully outstretched touchdown catch by junior Darreus Rogers to give the Trojans a 33-21 lead that they would not relinquish. “Coach Helton has all the confidence in me and that makes me play that much harder. No shots at them at all, we just didn’t execute like we did, like we should have”.

Both teams wore their home jerseys in the revived rivalry tradition on a crisp, clear day at the Coliseum, and Kessler sneaked into the end zone to cap an 85-yard USC drive early in the second.

UCLA offensive lineman Caleb Benenoch compared Rosen’s overlooked mobility to that of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck.

Pelon heard the crowd’s roar while he was face down on the turf. He just plays the game. “I looked up, and it was seven points”. Starting at safety for the first time in his career, he led USC in tackles and broke up two passes. The impressive part was the fourth quarter, when the Trojans flexed like Popeye and the Bruins faded into the grass.

Safety Chris Hawkins blamed the defense’s issues on uncharacteristic lapses in concentration, allowing touchdown passes of 48, 52, 37, 30, 21 and 26 yards.

Davis was not alone in soaking in the limelight as Jones scampered for 63 yards on 17 attempts, setting a new USC freshman single season rushing record with 890, breaking Heisman victor Charles White’s record of 858 set in 1976.