USC last won a Pac-12 title in 2008, but has never won a divisional title since divisions were formed prior to the 2011 season.
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Particularly because the path led straight through UCLA.
SAN FRANCISCO-The USC Trojans captured the Pac-12 South Division title as they defeated rival UCLA, 40-21, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Saturday afternoon.
The Pac-12 may be eliminated from the College Football Playoff party, but there’s still plenty on the line when USC (8-4) and Stanford (10-2) meet on December 5 to determine the conference champion.
“I lost it a little bit up there at the end”, said Kessler, the three-year starter who beat UCLA for the first time. “It’s the way you want to go out”. “It was tough walking off that field for the last time, but this was the way I wanted to do it”.
But Helton, Kessler and USC’s leaders have restored stability and consistency to a program rocked by Steve Sarkisian’s firing in October.
“This was the goal and the plan all along”, linebacker Su’a Cravens said.
The victor gets to represent the conference in the Rose Bowl, while the other team most likely goes to the Foster Farms Bowl.
Helton also served as the Trojans’ head coach for one game in 2013 after the departures of Kiffin and Ed Orgeron. And he was not hired because he is a Trojan.
Haden said beating UCLA was not the reason Helton was hired. “They’re leaving their mark not only for now in the immediate moment, but for years to come”.
The Bruins clearly hoped that message would resonate with recruits, especially with the chaos surrounding Southern California including NCAA sanctions and coaching turmoil at the same time as Mora’s tenure with UCLA. The quarterback would love to collect every reward still available to the Trojans in the final game of a tumultuous regular season.
The Trojans would continue to manage the clock behind the extraordinary running of tailback Justin Davis.
“I’m totally humbled, and I’m proud of the job that we’ve done as an entire team”, Helton said in a hastily called news conference amid his preparations for Saturday’s title game. “We couldn’t get any, and they did, and they capitalized”. After that play, Rosen threw two interceptions to put the game on ice, giving USC the Victory Bell for the first time in four years.
Personally, I think Brett Hundley said it best. “They did everything they could to play their best and we just didn’t perform as well as we needed to get the W”.
Defensive End Rasheem Green Recovers Fumble for Trojan TD. USC showed they do not need to do anything fancy to find opportunities on offense but only play their game and control the time of possession. Jackson took the ensuing short punt all the way back, showcasing his track-star speed to put the Trojans ahead 20-14. The Trojans converted fourth-and-1 on an 18-yard run by Tre Madden, but the drive stalled at UCLA’s 4-yard line.
Pelon heard the crowd’s roar while he was face down on the turf.
“I couldn’t believe the ball was on the ground for a second and I just picked it up because there was no one around it and I scored”, Green said about scoring the first touchdown of his life. “I looked up, and it was seven points”. Marshall’s first interception snapped a streak of 246 consecutive pass attempts without an interception.
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Darius Rogers caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Kessler to boost the Trojans to a 33-21 margin with 1:44 left in the third quarter.
