Once again the UCLA and USC are coming off of two different types of victories last weekend. The Bruins barely beat Memphis 42-35 at the Rose Bowl and USC edged a top ranked Stanford team 13-10 in Palo Alto. On Saturday both teams will be on the road as UCLA will travel to Texas to take on the Longhorns and USC will be on the east coast to face Boston College. Both games will start at 5 p.m. and the UCLA game will televised on channel 11 while the USC game will be on channel 7.
Both teams are 2-0 and are ranked in the top 25 in college football. At the beginning of the season the Bruins were ranked as high as seventh but two close games against Virginia and last week against Memphis has shown that the Bruins may not as good as advertised. Although Virginia and Memphis are good football teams the Bruins were supposed to be a great team.
“We have a lot of work to do but our main objective is to get a win,” UCLA head coach Jim Mora said after the win over Memphis. “There is no satisfaction in the way we played. We protected the quarterback better but I was disappointed in the way the defense played.” Against Memphis the Bruin’s defense gave up 164 yards on the ground and 305 yards passing.
On offense UCLA stepped up. Quarterback Brett Hundley passed for 396 yards and three touchdowns but he threw a costly interception in the fourth quarter that almost cost the Bruins the game. Give Hundley credit. Right after the intercep-tion he marched the Bruins down the field on a game winning drive. When asked about the interception Hundley responded, “stuff happens.”
Over all UCLA’s offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone was happy with the offense. “I think we made progress tonight but our offensive line needs to play like a nickel and not five pennies.” Mazzone said. “I think Brett is really playing solid football.”
Hundley hopes the Bruins can put it all together against Texas. “When we can put together a solid game on offense, defense and special teams we will be a special team,” Hundley said.
USC moved up in the rankings with their upset win over Stanford. Two weeks ago against Fresno State the Trojans unleashed a powerful offense and last weekend USC played a great bend but don’t break defense. Even after star linebacker, Hayes Pullard was ejected for an illegal hit on Stanford running back Ty Montgomery the Trojans came up with the plays to beat a very good Stanford team.
Along with a great defensive effort the stars of the game were running back Javorius Allen and kicked Andre Heidari. Allen gained a career high 154 yards against one of the best defenses in the nation. Heidari kicked a 53-yard, game-winning field goal with 2:30 remaining in the game to put the Trojans ahead 13-10.