Thursday, November 21, 1996
FOOTBALL:
Long ago, head coach Toledo was loyal to the Trojan causeBy
Brent Boyd
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Bob Toledo must be half-man, half-beast.
According to Toledo, when you live in Los Angeles you’re either
a Bruin or you’re a Trojan. Toledo’s a mixture of both.
Although he can be found pacing the Rose Bowl sidelines as
UCLA’s head coach, less than two decades ago, Toledo was loyal to
the scarlet and gold of USC.
For three seasons (76-78), Toledo served the crosstown rivals as
their secondary coach, tutoring the likes of Ronnie Lott, Dennis
Thurman, and Dennis Smith.
USC went to two Rose Bowls during his stint, but perhaps more
importantly to the Trojan faithful, USC defeated the Bruins all
three seasons.
Combine that with the two wins against USC he has under his belt
as offensive coordinator of UCLA the past two seasons, and Toledo
has a personal five-game winning streak in the matchup heading into
Saturday’s game.
"Luck’s been riding with me," Toledo said. "I’ve been on the
winning side and I want to continue that."
Although Saturday’s USC-UCLA game means little for the Bruins in
terms of postseason implications, Toledo knows the contest is
always important to everyone involved.
"This game is very special. You forget about everything Â
wins and losses and who’s going to a bowl game," Toledo said. "This
is a one-game schedule and this is the season. All year you shoot
for this game and now it’s here."
Toledo has coached in other big rivalries  the Civil War
between Oregon and Oregon State, and the annual Thanksgiving Day
game matchup featuring Texas and Texas A&M. During one of those
Thanksgiving battles, a brawl broke out between the two squads
before the coin toss.
But, according to Toledo, none of those rivalries can compare
with the annual intra-city game between USC and UCLA.
"I’ve been on both sides, and I can say there’s not a better
rivalry," Toledo said. "Opposing players (in the USC-UCLA rivalry)
went to high school together. People from all over the city work
together in law offices, school districts and business offices, and
they’re either a Bruin or a Trojan.
"It’s a big, big deal for everybody. That’s what makes (the
games) so much fun and so exciting. They are fun atmospheres to be
in."
They are especially fun for Toledo, who has never experienced a
loss in this series, which can make or break entire seasons.
He really enjoyed it at USC, where two of the three Trojan
victories during Toledo’s tenure sent Troy to the Rose Bowl.
However, it was that other win that Toledo most remembers.
The game that mattered the most for Toledo, was the one that
mattered the least for USC.
In 1977, Troy and UCLA were just trying to finish out mediocre
seasons. The USC-UCLA game of that year was anything but mediocre,
especially for Toledo.
With two seconds remaining in the contest, USC’s Frank Jordan
kicked a 38-yard field goal to defeat the Bruins, 29-27.
Jordan had transferred to USC along with Bob Toledo after UC
Riverside dropped football in 1975.
"That was really a special moment for me," Toledo said.
Another big moment in the rivalry for Toledo happened one year
ago. Based upon trickery, he engineered three scoring drives in the
first half, as the Bruins opened up an early 21-0 lead. UCLA
executed shovel passes, a reverse, and a reverse pass en route to
the early advantage.
The Bruins clinched the 24-20 victory when a quarterback sneak
was called on 3rd-and-13 with time running out in the third
quarter. It gained 21 yards and allowed the Bruins to run out the
clock.
Many consider his game plan against USC to be the chief reason
why he was hired as the UCLA head coach this season.
"I hate to think my job is based solely around one game," he
said.
Toledo will get a chance to prove his worth Saturday against his
former mentor.
In his first USC-UCLA game as a head coach, Toledo’s counterpart
will be John Robinson, the head coach at USC throughout Toledo’s
tenure across town.
However, bragging rights over Robinson aren’t at the forefront
of Toledo’s mind.
"We see each other at Pac-10 meetings, but we’re not golfing
buddies, no," Toledo said. "I was on his staff, but I wouldn’t say
we were close buddies at that point. We are friends, but we are
competitors."
Rivals is more like it.
So what is the big difference between the two schools in terms
of the rivalry?
UCLA is only one of two big rivals for the Trojans. USC is the
only rival the Westwood campus has got.
In fact, while Toledo was at USC, the Notre Dame rivalry was
bigger than the crosstown battles.
"Notre Dame was a big rivalry, and because USC was always
winning those games (against UCLA), Notre Dame became the more
important rivalry," Toledo said.
With a wink of an eye, Toledo added one more comment.
"I don’t think that’s true anymore."
Daily Bruin File Photo
USC quarterback Todd Marinovich refuses a friendly offer of
assistance from No. 43 Matt Darby during the rivalry of the ’92
UCLA-USC game.