Home field advantage is very important in sports. UCLA and USC both hope that the Rose Bowl and Coliseum will be just what the doctor ordered to help them win Pac-12 games on Saturday. The Trojans will face Arizona State at 4:30 p.m. at the Coliseum and the Bruins will take on Utah at 7:30 p.m. at the Rose Bowl.
Both teams are coming off of impressive wins last week. UCLA destroyed Arizona State 62-27 last Thursday in Tempe, Arizona and USC beat up on a good Oregon State team 35-10 at the Coliseum last Saturday. The Bruins are 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the Pac-12 South while USC is 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the Pac-12 South. The Bruins were led by quarterback Brett Hundley and defensive back/special teams returner Ishmael Adams.
The Trojans were led by the running of Justin Davis and Jarorius Allen, the passing of quarterback Cody Kessler and a defense that held one of the best quarterbacks in the nation to just 123 yards passing. Despite the great performance on defense the Trojans think they can play better.
“We haven’t been able to play a complete game yet,” star linebacker Hayes Pullard said after their win over Oregon State. “We have high expectations for this team.”
USC head coach Steve Sarkisian also believes that the Trojans can play at a higher level.
“We have to remain hungry,” said Sarkisian after the victory on Saturday. “We can get better. Every player on this team needs to improve. We are still learning but I am proud of this team. We are 2-0 in conference play and that means a lot.”
USC tailback Allen was also happy with the win.
“It was nice to come out on top but we still have some things to work on but winning is always a great feeling,” Allen said.
Speaking of USC and UCLA their women’s volleyball teams played each other last week and the No. 20 Bruins upset the No. 9 Trojans 3-0.
The Bruins were led by Karsta Lowe who had 22 kills. At the moment Lowe is one of the best outside hitters in the nation.
“It would be hard to find anyone better than Karsta right now,” UCLA head coach Michael Sealy said.
Lowe tends to down play her performances, turning her focus on the team.
“I try not to think about all the talk about how good I am,” Lowe said. “I just want to see our team get better and not get over confident. We are trying to play at a high level and we are just trying to stay hungry.”
USC’s coach, Mick Haley, now in his 14th season at USC is still trying to find the right combinations to put his team in the right position to win games.
“We have to serve better, block better and dig better,” Haley said. “If we correct these problems we will be a good team.”