USC defense plans to test UCLA’s Rosen in rivalry game

USC finished the regular season 5-2 under Helton, winning five of its last six and roaring back to win the division. In 2014, they were walloped by Stanford on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

According to oddsmakers from online sports book Mybookie.ag, the Trojans are 2.5-point home favorites over the Bruins after opening as a 3-point favorite. “They did everything they could to play their best and we just didn’t perform as well as we needed to get the W”.

Las Vegas Bowl: USC.

But Helton, Kessler and USC’s leaders have restored stability and consistency to a program rocked by Steve Sarkisian’s firing in October. USC has forced 19 turnovers, while committing nine turnovers, for a margin of plus-10, which leads the Pac-12. USC is unranked for its crosstown rivalry game for the first time in Kessler’s career and just the second time since 2001.

“They’ll bounce back”, Mora said. “We didn’t do well enough in those areas”.

“It’s like a bad dream”, Bruins receiver Thomas Duarte said. Much of that success comes from improved pass protection and Rosen’s understated ability to avoid pressure.

Josh Rosen’s third quarter interception was his first in his last 246 pass attempts.

“There’s a lot of plays that I wish I had back”, Rosen said. Yet for UCLA’s defense, it was concerning how long it was on the field Saturday afternoon against USC. The Trojans are favored on Saturday, so we’ll see if that run of success continues. But Mora-coached teams have three straight victories in the series entering Saturday’s game.

If the 7-4 and 5-3 Trojans expect to win their defense will need to come ready to play and stop Rosen. Some of it is appearance – he jokes easily about his hairline – but most of it is maturity gained during 21 years of coaching.

In several of UCLA’s losses this season, special teams were a significant factor. ASU QB Mike Bercovici passed for 395 yards and four touchdowns, but the defense collapsed and the offense settled for too many field goals as the Sun Devils squandered a 21-point first-half lead. In the loss at Stanford, Christian McCaffrey took a kickoff 96 yards to the UCLA 4-yard line.

The score was tied 31-31, in the fourth quarter and USC had first and 10 at the Irish 38. However, a 42-yard punt return late in the second quarter gave the Trojans a 20-14 lead and momentum heading into the half.

UCLA opened up the third quarter with an 11 play, 78-yard touchdown drive that was capped off by Perkins. We’ve had personal things go on and guys with maybe family issues and different things like that, and he was always there for us to lean on also.

It was written in this space a couple of weeks ago that USC should make him the permanent coach, and when I told him I was going to write it again, he tugged the brim low again.

The challenge will be getting to Rosen and bringing him down, which has usually been a key indicator of success under interim coach Clay Helton. Or is the school able to hire a big name like Chip Kelly?

If an upset happens, Stanford (assuming here it beats USC) likely would battle one-loss Ohio State for an available spot. Has UCLA reached some ceiling?

A win against the Cardinal would send the Trojans to their first Rose Bowl since 2009. But I’m not buying that.

A year later, the student body presidents of both schools signed an agreement providing that the victor of the game would keep possession for the next year, a tradition that has continued. That’s a pretty thin margin.