Friday, November 22, 1996
FOOTBALL:
Rivalry heightens as Bruins try to sour USC’s bowl bid By Rob
Kariakin
Daily Bruin Contributor
So what if Saturday’s game against USC won’t affect UCLA’s bowl
hopes, chance for a winning season or an overall feeling about this
season. Does that mean the outcome of the game is meaningless?
Of course not. Not when the Bruins can still stick it to
USC.
For UCLA (4-6, 3-4 in the Pacific 10 conference), the most
powerful motivator this weekend may be pure, unadulterated spite.
After all, wrecking the Trojan’s chances at a bowl game would be
almost as sweet as the Bruins getting one themselves.
Saturday will mark the first time in 13 seasons that neither
team will be ranked among the Top 25. Moreover, it will be the
first meeting since 1958 that both teams come in without a winning
record. It could also be the first time in 16 years that neither
team winds up in a bowl game.
"Obviously, (the rivalry is) more exciting when there’s national
significance involved: Rose Bowls or national rankings," USC head
coach John Robinson said, "This year it doesn’t have that, but it
still has its own interests.
"For us the game is huge."
Which just might make it huge for the Bruins as well.
Standing at 5-5 (3-4 Pac-10) with two games remaining, USC needs
only one more win to become eligible for a bowl bid under the
NCAA’s six-victory minimum requirement.
However, in their final game, the Trojans face No. 10 Notre Dame
in Fighting Irish coach Lou Holtz’s final regular season game.
Already heavy favorites, one can only guess at the level of
intensity the Irish will reach for to honor their coach of 11
seasons.
With a loss likely in that game, the outcome of USC’s season
rests on its performance against the Bruins. Win, and the Trojans
could possibly spend Christmas in Honolulu. Lose, and they will
definitely spend it in South Central.
The key to the Trojans’ holiday plans may lie in the Bruins’
pass defense. USC has sputtered at times on offense, and comes into
the game eighth in the Pac-10 in total offense, seventh in scoring
offense and eighth in rushing.
However, they will test UCLA with the conference’s fifth-best
passing efficiency offense. If the Bruins’ fourth-ranked passing
efficiency defense performs as it did against Washington State two
weeks ago (surrendering 231 yards and only one passing touchdown),
things will go smoothly.
If they play like they did against California earlier in the
year (435 yards, three touchdowns), they’re in for a long
afternoon.
For his part, John Robinson seemed less concerned about how the
separate facets of the offense performed than about when.
"Our No. 1 problem," he said, "seems to me to be that we only
play half of games, offensively at least.
"If the games lasted 30 minutes, we’d be tied for first place in
the conference."
Another key is Bruin running back Skip Hicks. The junior,
currently ranked third in the Pac-10 in rushing, will face a
defense ranked in the bottom three in the conference against the
run, giving up 164.9 yards per game.
What’s more, of the three schools ranked lower in rushing
defense, UCLA slaughtered the only two they played, largely as the
result of big days by Hicks. Hicks will need to have another if the
Bruins hope to rain on USC’s parade on Saturday.
And don’t think UCLA wouldn’t love that.
"I think this game is special," Bruin head coach Bob Toledo
said. "I mean, this is a one-game schedule, and this is the
season.
"All year you shoot for this game, and now it’s here."
And USC is the bull’s eye.
In his last game as a Bruin, senior strong safety Abdul
McCullough will try to graduate having never lost to USC.