Before Saturday, hundreds, and in some cases thousands of
dollars weren’t enough to buy a ticket for this year’s
rivalry game.
Yet by midway through the third quarter, fans on their couches
at home could have had their pick to sit almost anywhere they
wanted in the Coliseum.
By that time, USC’s coronation as Pac-10 Champion was well
underway, prompting Bruin fans to seek refuge in the parking lot
from the carnage they had seen on the football field.
On a windy afternoon near downtown Los Angeles, the hype
surrounding Saturday’s game was swept away quickly, and one
of the most anticipated games in the history of the rivalry turned
into one of the most lopsided, with USC’s 66-19 manhandling
of the Bruins.
“We’re a better team than what showed up
today,” UCLA coach Karl Dorrell said. “We knew we
needed a near perfect game in our three areas. We’re all
disappointed.”
Long after most of the 92,000 fans had departed, UCLA players
remained in the bowels of the Coliseum, searching hard and long for
positives emanating from Saturday’s game. Some pointed to
UCLA’s bowl game. Some mentioned that the Bruins could still
win 10 games this season. Some didn’t find any.
“There’s nothing good that can come out of
this,” UCLA offensive tackle Ed Blanton said.
“That’s the way it is. Now we just have to go onto our
bowl game.”
While No. 1 USC (12-0, 8-0 Pac-10) will invade UCLA’s home
field on Jan. 4 for a shot at a third-straight national
championship at the Rose Bowl against Texas, the Bruins will be
heading to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas on Dec. 30 in a showdown
with Northwestern.
But before they do, they’ll have to forget about a
performance that sent game officials scouring through the record
books for all of the wrong reasons.
Saturday’s loss was UCLA’s third-worst to USC in the
75 meetings between the two schools, and the most lopsided since
1930 when the Trojans won 52-0.
The 66 points the Trojans scored was the second-highest total
No. 17 UCLA (9-2, 6-2) has ever ceded to USC, and the most since
the teams’ first meeting back in 1929 when the Trojans scored
76 points.
But even more disappointing for the Bruins was what didn’t
show up in that stat sheet ““ another batch of seniors leaving
Westwood without having beaten the Trojans, and a USC winning
streak over UCLA that has now reached seven games.
“Hell no, this is not just another game,” sophomore
running back Chris Markey said. “It hurts like
hell.”
And the hurting never ceased, from just after the coin toss, one
of UCLA’s last correct calls on the afternoon, to the fourth
quarter, when USC fans taunted the Bruins’ first touchdown
with a standing ovation.
In between, there was a lot of Reggie Bush, who finished with
272 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns.
There was quite a bit of LenDale White, who rushed for 154 yards
and scored three touchdowns, the last of which made him USC’s
all-time touchdown leader with 54 and made the score 59-6.
And there were not enough ways for the Bruins to stop either one
of them, as the Trojans rushed for a season-high 430 yards on
Saturday.
Even on a day that Matt Leinart looked almost equally as bad as
he did last year against UCLA, his performance only became a
footnote.
“To be honest, I knew our offense was going to do
well,” USC fullback Brandon Hancock said. “Our defense
stepped up and played their heart out. I thought it was going to be
closer. But hey, when things go well for us, that’s the way
it comes out.”
While a lot was lost at the Coliseum on Saturday, the Bruins,
with their 9-2 record, still have ensured the program’s best
season since 1998, when UCLA went 10-2.
And though losing again to USC was not the way some seniors
envisioned ending their careers, a few left the Coliseum relishing
in the fact they were part of what they believe is the re-emergence
of a program they helped rebuild.
“Arizona did this to us, and we bounced back from that, so
I don’t question the character on this team,” senior
safety Jarrad Page said. “We’ll bounce back.
We’ll get the 10th win and take it into next year and be even
better.”