The victor advances to the Pac-12 title game against Stanford on December 5, with the victor of that game playing in the Rose Bowl, a game in which USC has not appeared since the 2008 season. “I had my face planted and I knew it was a turnover and I said, ‘Finally.’ And then I heard the crowd….” “I think about the seniors and the rollercoaster ride they have gone through”.
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The Trojans also won each of their next three conference games, allowing them to remain in contention for a division championship even with last Saturday’s 48-28 loss at Oregon.
Helton has called his father “my hero”, but he also was exposed to coaches his father worked for, including Doug Dickey at Florida, Howard Schnellenberger at Miami and legendary USC coach John McKay with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Helton does not pay attention to chatter about a job that has been connected in some media reports to Pete Carroll, John Harbaugh, Chip Kelly, Brian Kelly, Bob Stoops and others.
The promise of 2007 turned sour when UCLA, preseason No. 14, missed a slalom gate at the Salt Lake Games and lost, 44-6, to Utah.
The 85th renewal of this crosstown rivalry contained enough dramatic turns and twists to create yet another exciting moment in this storied series.
“I know when the team’s down deep like that’s it going to be a quick punt”, Jackson said. The Bruins have often struggled to stop the run with their injury-riddled defense, and the Trojans’ emergent tailback tandem has racked up the bulk of USC’s 169 yards rushing per game in the past seven outings, including interim coach Clay Helton’s run-oriented tenure.
Green’s first career touchdown came mere minutes after UCLA running back Paul Perkins plunged in from the 1-yard line to give UCLA a 21-20 lead. Perkins scored the first of his two touchdowns to give UCLA a 7-3 first-quarter lead.
UCLA actually led 21-20 in the third quarter until the momentum swung in USC’s favor; Rosen was racked by SC lineman Claude Pelon. Jackson took the ensuing short punt all the way back, showcasing his track-star speed to put the Trojans ahead 20-14.
But Kessler stuck with it. For every time he’s had to try to put in perspective another coach being fired or another coaching search or the anguish of watching a coach he admired and respected get pulled down by personal demons, Kessler fastened his chin strap, went back to work and compelled his teammates to follow.
“I just felt like we made that defense look a lot better than they necessarily were”, Rosen said. “I just didn’t play like myself, and that’s frustrating”.
“There’s a tremendous amount of disappointment in our locker room”, UCLA coach Jim Mora said. But if we beat them, we go.
Whether you’re at the game or at home watching on TV, it doesn’t change the fact that you need to tell anyone wearing ketchup and mustard today to “Take off that red shirt!” Kessler’s statistics were not eye-popping.
USC was pounding UCLA with the run game, and opening up the passing game for Cody Kessler on Senior Day, throwing for 175 yards, and 2 touchdowns, with one on the ground as well. Sack-happy Utah got to Rosen just once last weekend. “I’m focused on trying to get the win not only for me and my team but so we get the chance to play Stanford and compete for the Pac-12”.
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Yet the local stakes loom equally large for Kessler and the Trojans (7-4, 5-3 Pac-12), who have lost three straight games to their closest rivals. Mora said. “That’s the key”. “They’re resilient and they’ll press on and be the best that they can be. They beat us, they go”. It’s disappointing. It’s like a bad dream, really.
