Bruins emphatic in beating their crosstown rival
PASADENA — When Anthony Barr roared through the line and hit Matt Barkley squarely in the No. 7 on his back, the roar rising out of in the Rose Bowl was loud enough for a whole city to hear.
After so many years trailing USC, UCLA is on top of Los Angeles and the Pac-12 South, thanks to a first-year head coach and a freshman quarterback who don’t realize they’ve done something unusual.
“Well, it is for me,” Jim Mora said.
Brett Hundley passed for 234 yards and a touchdown and rushed for two more scores as No. 17 UCLA beat No. 21 USC 38-28 Saturday, clinching the Pac-12 South title and snapping a five-game slide in their crosstown rivalry.
Eric Kendricks blocked a punt and made a fourth-quarter interception for the Bruins (9-2, 6-2 Pac-12), who overcame intermittent second-half rain and USC’s star-studded lineup with a steady effort.
“When the season started, obviously nobody thought we were going to do what we’re doing now,” said Hundley, who went 22-for-30 and didn’t throw an interception. “But we all knew deep down inside that we could do it, that we had the talent.”
A year after USC obliterated the Bruins 50-0 in a game that led to a coaching change in Westwood, UCLA punctuated its one-year revitalization under Mora with its first win over the Trojans (7-4, 5-4) since 2006 — just their second in 14 years.
Johnathan Franklin rushed for 171 yards and two touchdowns for UCLA, including a clutch 29-yard scoring run with 4:02 to play after USC trimmed its deficit to three points, 31-28.
Shaquelle Evans had eight catches for 114 yards for UCLA, which clinched a spot in the Pac-12 title game in two weeks with its fifth consecutive win. The Bruins also played in that game last year, but only by default after finishing two games behind postseason-banned USC.
USC was the preseason’s No. 1 team, but will return to the postseason in a lower-tier bowl after next week’s finale against Notre Dame.
“You wouldn’t think we would lose this game with a senior quarterback versus a freshman,” USC coach Lane Kiffin said. “We’re extremely disappointed with this season. We’re too talented to have that many losses.”