And then the fifth-year senior turned around, spied Helton and walked toward the interim coach with arms outstretched to share a long, tight embrace. But the Eagles’ season ends January 3 and USC would nearly certainly need a coach in place during December, which makes it more hard to hire a current National Football League coach. The victor of the Pac-12 contest will earn a spot in the 102 Rose Bowl game. Helton’s supporters tout his character and stability after the tumultuous tenures of Lane Kiffin and Sarkisian – and they point to the example of unheralded Dabo Swinney, who shed his interim tag at Clemson in 2008 and eventually built the nation’s No. 1 team. “I just felt like we made that defense look a lot better than they necessarily were”. Stanford is 60th in the country in yards allowed per play (5.48), while USC is even worse at No. 79 (5.69). Kessler echoed those sentiments, “The guys really came together and made a decision. Big picture, it would be unbelievable, but we have to take it one game at a time”.
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Paul Perkins gave UCLA (8-4, 5-4) a 7-3 lead with a 19-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter, but Kessler answered it with his touchdown run to cap an 85-yard drive in the early second. UCLA’s 35-14 win at the Coliseum in 2013 was its first in the Bruins’ former home arena since 1997.
The victory increased USC’s on-field lead in the series to 47-31-7, although its victories in 2004 and 2005 were later vacated due to the NCAA penalty. A victory would send USC to the New Year’s Day Rose Bowl for the first time since 2009.
“It would be great for me to go out there and get this one, man”, Simmons said. The Cardinal only took a three-point lead into the fourth quarter, before a 46-yard field goal with a little under seven minutes left gave us the 41-31 final score. He has faith and trust in every one of his players no matter what, and that goes a long way. Goff was almost unstoppable after the break, though, as Cal scored touchdowns on five consecutive possessions before driving 60 yards to set up Matt Anderson’s game-winning 26-yard field goal as time expired.
The Bruins answer quickly with a touchdown pass to receiver Thomas Duarte, 10-14. “Everything was on the line. Everything was right there for us and we didn’t execute”. Colorado (4-9, 1-8) ends a season in which it was more competitive than in the past, but still struggled to win games. “They put so much into this year”.
Rosen, a freshman, was involved in three turnovers, but he said the Trojans did “absolutely nothing” to throw him off.
“He keeps plays alive”, Trojans linebacker Su’a Cravens said. “The whole secondary staff has helped me become the player I am today”. Notre Dame will likely be without running back C.J. Promise and cornerback KeiVarae Russell, starters who were injured last week.
The Trojans also had control on offense as they continually ran the ball down the Bruin’s throat.
“With this loss, it kind of brings the team back to earth (after the USC upset) so that we aren’t too cocky as we head into the tournament”, Drolson said. “Our game was kind of confused”. “We knew we were suppose to be here”. “They were playing well but just couldn’t quite finish things, and they’re coming off two very, very impressive victories now”.
Senior defensive lineman Greg Townsend Jr. redshirted in 2011, so Saturday’s victory enabled him to finally take part in a win over the Bruins.
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“It’s such a great feeling”, said Kessler, a Centennial graduate.
