UCLA’s last rivalry game ended with a bomb. This one started with one, and the shots have kept coming the Bruins’ way.
A Matt Barkley-to-Marquis Lee 42-yard touchdown pass on the fourth play of the game opened the scoring for USC. Meanwhile, the Bruins failed to score in the first half as the Trojans cruised to a 29-0 halftime lead.
UCLA tried to keep up early, giving senior running back Derrick Coleman the ball on 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line, but Coleman was stopped short.
That was as close as the Bruins would get. USC promptly responded with a 99-yard scoring drive in just 1 minute, 42 seconds on the feet of running back Curtis McNeal, who sprinted to a 73-yard touchdown.
Barkley, who looks like he’s padding a Heisman resume in the Trojans final game of the year, has continually found the holes in the Bruin defense. He’s completed 22-of-27 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns.
The Bruins’ second-to-last drive of the half ended when redshirt junior quarterback Kevin Prince was intercepted in the end zone. Their last was stopped short when they couldn’t spike the ball at the end of the half, and a dejected team put its heads down and headed to the locker room.