No. 7 USC Football Visits Rival No. 16 UCLA In Crucial Crosstown Showdown
CROSSTOWN SHOWDOWN
*The nation will be watching, but this is a local feud. No. 7 USC and No. 16 UCLA meet this Saturday at the Rose Bowl for the 92nd version of the nation's most famous crosstown rivalry. It will be shown live nationally on FOX.
*With No. 12 Oregon losing to No. 15 Washington over the weekend, USC now officially controls its own destiny. City dominance will be determined in this game, but a win over the Bruins would guarantee USC's spot in the Pac-12 Football Championship Game in Las Vegas.
*UCLA has won just 6 of the last 23 meetings in the series with USC, but the Trojans were victorious the last time the game was in Pasadena. The Trojans have won just 48% of the time when both USC and UCLA have been nationally ranked.
*Also at stake on Saturday are city bragging rights, the Victory Bell and Crosstown Cup points. Both teams will wear their home jerseys.
*This game will feature two of the nation's top 2 QBs, leading Heisman candidate Caleb Williams and Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
*The Rose Bowl stadium is USC's home away from home, as Troy has played more than 50 games there.
*USC is ranked No. 7 in the AP Poll and No. 6 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
*In the second round of CFP Rankings, USC was No. 8.
*The last time both teams were ranked for this matchup was 2014 when USC was No. 24 in the AP Poll and UCLA was No. 11.
*The 9-1 start is USC's best since the 2008 team started 9-1 and went on to finish 12-1 and defeat Penn State 38-24 in the Rose Bowl.
*Lincoln Riley is the first USC head coach to start his career 9-1 since John Robinson started 9-1 in 1976.
COLORADO GAME RECAP
*Leading Heisman candidate QB Caleb Williams went 14-of-26 (.538) for 268 and 3 TDs and 1 INT to lead USC to a 55-17 victory over Colorado in the Coliseum under the Friday night lights in front of a crowd of 61,206.
*Williams totaled 5 TD, 3 through the air and 2 rushing.
*This was the fourth consecutive game that Williams has accounted for 5 total TDs. He threw just his second pick of the season.
*Williams has accounted for 37 total touchdowns in 10 games at USC.
*Williams is the first USC QB to have 2 games with multiple rushing TDs in the same season since complete records were first available for this stat in 1972.
*Williams now has 3,293 total offensive yards which ranks 12th on USC's single-season total yards list. He also has 3,010 passing yards this season which ranks 15th on USC's single-season passing yards list.
*He is No. 3 in the nation in passing TDs (No. 1 in the conference) with 31, No. 3 in the nation in points responsible for per game with 22.2 and No. 4 in the nation in points responsible for with 222.
*Former Trojan Cody Kessler, currently holds the record for the lowest rate of interceptions in a season with 1.1% (5 in 452 attempts during the 2014 season). Williams is on pace to overtake that record since he is currently at 0.6% (2 in 342 attempts).
*Williams distributed the ball to 9 different receivers during the game.
*RB Austin Jones led the team with 4 receptions, while Kyle Ford had the most receiving yards with 73.
*Jones also was USC's leading rusher collecting 74 yards on 11 carries.
*RB Travis Dye's collegiate career ended with an injury as he went down after an awkward tackle.
*Before his injury, Dye had 9 carries for 27 yards. It ended his consecutive games scoring a rushing TD streak at 8. The last Trojan with a rushing TD in 8 or more consecutive games in one season was Marcus Allen in 1981, when he scored a rushing TD in 9 consecutive games.
*WR Tahj Washington's 61-yard TD catch in the third quarter was the longest scoring catch of his USC career. His previous long catch as a Trojan was 47 at Arizona on Oct. 29. He has a career-long catch of 92yards while with Memphis in 2020.
*DL Tuli Tuipulotu recorded 2.5 sacks, 3 tackles and a forced fumble.
*He now has 11.5 sacks this season which are the most in a single season by a Trojan since Kenechi Udeze set the USC record with 16.5 sacks in the 2003 season. Tuipulotu now has 19.0 career sacks.
*DB Calen Bullock had an INT in the 3rd quarter. It was his 6th career INT and a team-leading 4th this season.
*The USC defense held Colorado to 124 passing yards and 259 total yards, both lows this season for an opponent. The 124 passing yards by Colorado were the fewest by a Trojan opponent since holding Oregon to 108 on Dec. 18, 2020. The 259 total yards by Colorado were the lowest by a Trojan opponent since holding Colorado to 242 total yards on Oct. 2, 2021.
*The 55 points USC scored are the second most it has scored in a game against Colorado (56 in 2014). USC has scored 30 or more points in a game 11 times against Colorado and 40 or more points seven times. USC has also held Colorado to 20 points or less in 11 of the 16 games.
*USC has now scored 40 or more points in four consecutive games in a single season for the first time since scoring 40 or more in seven-straight games during the 2003 season.
*USC was credited with its first safety since September 20, 2019 vs. Utah, when Colorado QB J.T. Shrout was called for intentional grounding while in the end zone in the first quarter.
*USC scored 55 points in the game and has scored 424 points through 10 games this season. The 424 points are the most by a USC team through 10 games in school history (the 2005 team scored 484 points through 10 games, but those wins were vacated due to NCAA penalty).
*USC now has 8 games this season in which it has scored 40 or more points which ties the school record for most 40-point games in a season, set in 2003 (USC did have 9 games with 40 points in the 2005 season, but those wins were vacated due to NCAA penalty).
UCLA SCOUTING REPORT
*The UCLA Bruins are 8-2 overall and 5-2 in Pac-12 Conference play.
*QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson is 180-for-251 with 19 TDs and 4 INTs. He is also the team's secondleading rusher with 439 yards on 73 carries and 7 TDs.
*RB Zach Charbonnet leads the Bruins with 971 rushing yards on 128 carries with 10 TDs. He also has tallied 20 receptions for 232 yards.
*WR Kazmeir Allen and WR Jake Bobo are UCLA's top two pass catchers. Allen has 43 receptions for 331 yards and 1 TD, while Bobo has 38 receptions for 590 yards and 6 TDs.
*On the defensive side of the ball, DB Mo Osling III leads the Bruins with 58 total tackles on the season.
*LB Laiatu Latu has 8.0 sacks on the season and 9.5 tackles for loss.
*LB JonJon Vaughns, DB Stephan Blaylock, LB Carl Jones Jr., DB Jaylin Davies and DB D. J. Justice have each recorded at least 1 INT.
*PK Nicholas Barr-Mira is 12-for-16 on field goals this season with his long being 49 yards.
*In their last game, the Bruins were upset by Arizona 34-28 in the Rose Bowl.
RANKINGS
*USC is ranked No. 7 in the latest AP Poll and 6th in the USA Today Coaches Poll. UCLA is ranked No. 16 in both the AP Poll and USA Today Coaches Poll. In the second round CFP rankings (which comes out on Tuesdays), the Trojans moved up to the No. 8 spot, while UCLA was No. 12.
SERIES
*USC leads the series with crosstown rival UCLA, 49-33-7 (dating to 1929, a 76-0 Trojan win), not including Troy's 2004 and 2005 victories that were vacated due to NCAA penalty (original record: 51-33-7). UCLA only has been victorious 6 times in the last 23 meetings dating to 1999.
*In games against UCLA in the Rose Bowl, the Trojans are 8-11, with wins in 6 of the past 10 Pasadena contests (not including 1 win and appearance vacated due to NCAA penalty; original record 9-11 and 7 of the past 11).
*QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw 2 touchdowns each to WR Kyle Philips and RB Kazmeir Allen (who also had a 100-yard kickoff return) and Thompson-Robinson ran for another 2 scores as visiting UCLA walloped USC, 62-33, in front of 68,152 fans in the Coliseum and a FOX audience.
*It was the most points scored by UCLA in the series and tied for the most points ever scored against USC. It was also UCLA's largest winning margin against USC since 1954. The combined 95 points were the most in series history. It was just the second win in the Coliseum by UCLA since 1999.
*UCLA piled up 609 total yards, the most allowed by USC since Arizona State's 612 in 2013.
USC AND UCLA BOTH RANKED
*USC is 11-13-1 in this matchup when both USC and UCLA are ranked in the AP Poll (not including 1 win vacated due to NCAA penalty; original record 12-13-1)
IN ROSE BOWL STADIUM
*USC is 35-20 in regular and post-season games it has played in the Rose Bowl, including 25-8 in the Rose Bowl Game, 8-11 versus UCLA and 2-1 in the 1922 regular season (not including 1 win over UCLA and 1 Rose Bowl loss vacated due to NCAA penalty; original records 36-21 overall, 25-9 in Rose Bowl Game and 9-11 versus UCLA). Incidentally, USC played the first-ever football game in the Rose Bowl, a 12-0 loss to California in 1922.
VERSUS PAC-12 CONFERENCE
*USC has won 69.8% (489-203-29) of its games against current Pac-12 opponents (does not include 9 wins later vacated due to NCAA penalty; original record: 498-203-29, 70.2%).
IN NOVEMBER
*USC has a 268-136-20 (.656) all-time record while playing in the month of November (not including 3 wins vacated due to NCAA penalty; original record: 271-136-20, .658).
AT NIGHT
*USC is 188-76-4 (.709) at night, including 112-35-4 in the Coliseum, 61-33 on the road and 15-8 at neutral sites (does not include 5 wins and 1 loss vacated due to NCAA penalty; original record: 193-77-4, .712 overall, 115-35-4 in the Coliseum, 17-9 at neutral sites).
HOME JERSEYS
*For the first time since 1982, both USC and UCLA wore their home jerseys in the 2008 game (a UCLA home game in the Rose Bowl) and the teams have continued to do so since (except for 2011 when the visiting Bruins chose to wear white jerseys). Per an NCAA football-playing rule (no longer in effect beginning in 2009), because the 2008 Trojans were not in their white road jerseys, they were charged with a timeout at the opening kickoff. UCLA responded by calling a timeout immediately after to even things up. The tradition of USC in its cardinal jerseys and UCLA in its blue jerseys, regardless of whose home game it was, went from 1949 to 1951 and then 1957 through 1982 before an NCAA football rule change required the visiting team to wear white.
VICTORY BELL
*The winner of the annual USC-UCLA football game gets year-long possession of the Victory Bell, a 295-pound bell off a freight locomotive. Originally given to UCLA in 1939 as a gift from the UCLA Alumni Association, several USC students took the bell in 1941 and hid it in a variety of locations for more than a year. A controversy ensued and school administrators had to intercede. In 1942, the bell resurfaced and, by agreement, became the trophy given to the game's winner. However, tradition calls for the Victory Bell to spend most of the year in storage…or, rather appropriately, in hiding. Since the bell became a trophy, its carriage has been painted cardinal 44 times while in USC's possession and blue 33 times while in UCLA's custody (there were 4 ties) (not including 2 USC wins vacated due to NCAA penalty; original record: 46).
CROSSTOWN CUP
*The winner of the USC-UCLA football game scores 10 points toward the Crosstown Cup, a trophy awarded annually to the school with the most successful athletic year against the other. The competition was formerly known as the Crosstown Gauntlet. Points are awarded to the winner of each Trojan-Bruin head-to-head contest and the Crosstown Cup will be awarded to the school with the most points at year's end (100 points is the magic number). USC has won the Crosstown Cup 12 times in the competition's 19 years, including a span of 5 consecutive years: 2001-02, 2003-04, 2005-06, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010- 11, 2011-12, 2013-14, 2015-16, 2018-19 and 2020-21. (The 2019-20 competition was suspended in the spring when collegiate athletic events were cancelled due to COVID-19.)
USC-UCLA CONNECTIONS
*USC ILB Ralen Goforth's brother, Randall, was a cornerback at UCLA (2012-2016)
*USC CB Ceyair Wright's cousin, Darnay Holmes, was a cornerback at UCLA (2017-19)
*USC SNP Nathan Weneta's brother, Jay, was a long snapper at UCLA (2011-12).
*USC WR Terrell Bynum, ILB Ralen Goforth, P Will Rose and TE Jude Wolfe were high school teammates with UCLA DB Stephan Blaylock, WR Logan Loya, LB JonJon Vaughns and LB Jake Newman at St. John Bosco.
*USC QB Miller Moss and DB Jaylin Smith were high school teammates with UCLA DB D.J. Justice at Bishop Alemany.
*USC RB Matt Colombo and DL Kobe Pepe were high school teammates with UCLA DB Jax Harley and LB Jalen Woods at St. John Bosco.
*USC WR Ty Shamblin and PK-P Garth White were high school teammates with UCLA LB Carson Schwesigner at Oaks Christian.
*USC WR Josiah Zamora, DB Domani Jackson, WR CJ Williams, ILB Raesjon Davis, WR Kyron Hudson and RB Raleek Brown were high school teammates with UCLA DB Jaylin Davies at Mater Dei.
*USC RUSH Solomon Tuliapupu was high school teammates with UCLA DB William Nimmo Jr. at Mater Dei.
*USC ILB Shane Lee and UCLA LB Ale Kaho were college teammates at Alabama.
*USC DL Solomon Byrd and UCLA DB Azizi Hearn were college teammates at Wyoming.
*UCLA OL Liam Douglass was a member of the USC football team from 2018-21.
*USC men's volleyball head coach Jeff Nygaard was a 3-time (1993-95) All-American and 2-time National Player of the Year at UCLA.
*USC women's volleyball head coach Brad Keller was previously an assistant women's and men's volleyball coach at UCLA. He has worked with all four indoor volleyball programs at both USC and UCLA.
*USC women's soccer head coach Jane Alukonis spent the last four years (2018-21) as an assistant coach at UCLA.
*USC athletic medicine director of operations Russ Romano spent 1997 at UCLA.
*USC associate athletic director/Trojan Athletic Fund Scott Wandzilak held a similar position at UCLA.
*UCLA LB JonJon Vaughns is the brother of former USC wide receiver Tyler Vaughns (2017-20).
*UCLA OL Duke Clemens' grandfather, John Kamana (center in 1953-54), and uncle, John Kamana (fullback and wide receiver in 1980-83), played at USC.
*UCLA DL Jay Toia spent the spring of 2021 at USC.
*UCLA offensive analyst Tim Drevno was USC's offensive line coach in 2014 and from 2018-2020.
*UCLA defensive analyst Greg Burns was a USC assistant coach from 2002 to 2005 and in 2019.
*UCLA director of football performance Keith Belton was an assistant strength and conditioning coach at USC in 2017 and 2018.
*UCLA baseball coach John Savage was USC's pitching coach from 1996-2000.
*UCLA women's water polo assistant coach Amanda Longan played at USC from 2016-19, finishing her USC career ranked as the Trojans' No. 3 all-time goalkeeper with 580 career saves. In 2018 she was named the National and MPSF Player of the Year.
*UCLA senior associate athletic director/senior woman administrator Dr. Christina Rivera previously worked in USC's student athlete academic services department.
*UCLA assistant athletic director/sports medicine Mark Pocinich previously was an assistant athletic trainer at USC.
*UCLA student services coordinator Lindsay Lopes was a Pac-12 high jump champion at USC and ranks fifth on USC's all-time heptathlon list.