The Bruins will not have the chance to play for a Pac-12 title this season, but they will get an opportunity to reclaim the Victory Bell from their crosstown rivals.
UCLA football (2-8, 2-5 Pac-12) will host USC (5-5, 4-4) at the Rose Bowl on Saturday afternoon in the 86th official installment of one of the most prestigious rivalries in the history of college football.
The Bruins have lost the last three meetings between the two schools – their last win came Nov. 22, 2014 – but redshirt junior linebacker Tyree Thompson said the team is only focused on this weekend.
“They haven’t really talked about it,” Thompson said. “We just talked about executing this week. We haven’t really spoken about the past. We’re just trying to execute and come out victorious.”
UCLA, however, is in the midst of a three-game losing streak that has been plagued by miscues and costly penalties.
The Bruins have committed 23 penalties for 162 yards over their past three games, including a number of back-breaking false starts. Last week against Arizona State, UCLA was flagged for back-to-back false starts with 33 seconds remaining in the game, forcing the clock to run off 20 seconds, virtually ending any chance the Bruins had at scoring the tying or go-ahead points.
Redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Michael Alves said UCLA’s home field advantage Saturday should help relieve the miscommunication issues. He added that the key to avoiding the false start calls is being able to hear the clap that signals the start of the play.
“You should be able to hear the clap no matter what, so we need to be able to snap the ball and we need to be able to all go off the ball,” Alves said. “It’s definitely going to help being at the Rose Bowl, being off our home field the last two games, especially this USC game.”
Despite the frustration over the past few weeks, the Bruins have found clarity at the quarterback position.
Since replacing freshman quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson during the second half at Oregon two weeks ago, graduate transfer Wilton Speight has proven to be a solid option under center.
Speight is 39-of-60 through the air for 482 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in the five-plus quarters he has played since taking over. The former Michigan signal caller also finished with a quarterback rating of 167.8 in UCLA’s 31-28 loss to Arizona State on Saturday – the highest rating recorded by a Bruin quarterback this season.
With Speight expected to start, he will face off against USC true freshman JT Daniels. Daniels ranks seventh in the Pac-12 with an average of 220.7 passing yards per game, but he has only thrown three more touchdowns than interceptions this season.
Coach Chip Kelly – who has been developing a true freshman quarterback himself in Thompson-Robinson – said he has been impressed by Daniels’ progression despite the lackluster numbers.
“(Daniels has) gotten better the more experience he gets, which is understandable because you knew how good he was in high school,” Kelly said.
Daniels is also throwing to arguably the most talented receiving corps in the conference, which consists of four-star recruits Tyler Vaughns and Michael Pittman Jr., as well as five-star recruit Amon-Ra St. Brown. All three are averaging over 50 yards per game, making the Trojans one of only three teams in the Pac-12 with three separate receivers hauling in 50-plus yards a contest.
The Bruins have allowed a 100-yard receiver in back-to-back games, and Kelly said the USC offense has the potential to be the toughest opponent UCLA has faced all year.
“On the offensive side of the ball, there’s a ton of talent,” Kelly said. “Probably the best wide receiver corps that we’ll face.”
If the Bruins are able to slow down the Trojans’ talented offense and claim a victory, USC would have to win its season finale against No. 3 Notre Dame (10-0) to be bowl-eligible.
Kickoff on Saturday is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. USC leads the all-time series against UCLA 47-31-7.