A Literal Backyard Brawl<\/h3>\n
The schools are only 13.2 miles apart from each other, the closest of any rivals in major college football. The two schools recruit many of the local high school talent. As such, there is a long history of high school teammates going to opposite schools and becoming the hated enemy for the next four years. This is about having to spend the next 364 days enduring the loss at every college party you go to in town. Every time you want to go back and hang out with friends or old high school classmates for a weekend, this is the first topic. This is a game that separates family members, fathers from sons, and brothers from each other. Red Sanders, who coached UCLA in the 1950\u2019s, used to say, \u201cBeating USC is not a matter of life and death. It is more important than that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rivalry has seen a little bit of everything. Fourth string quarterbacks stepping in to claim unexpected wins. A match-up of Heisman candidate quarterbacks, with one allegedly not practicing all week due to a reported case of the measles, only to dominate the game. A stunning rushing game by a Heisman winner who would later become much more well-known for a double homicide. Last minute blocked field goals, sacks on two-point conversions, bobbled game winning catches. It has had everything an intense rivalry is supposed to have.<\/p>\n
The fans don\u2019t care for each other. UCLA fans wave their car keys as the Trojan band plays, as a taunt for USC being an expensive private school in the middle of the inner city. USC fans mock UCLA for being the poor public school, even though it is nestled in the cradle of Bel Air and Westwood.<\/p>\n
Where Are They Going?<\/h3>\n
This year may be unique in ways previously unimagined. The Bruins come in 2-8 and the Trojans 5-5. Yet it is USC who is appears to be playing for their coach\u2019s future. Bruin fans expected more out of year one in the Chip Kelly<\/strong> era but are trying to look down the road. For USC fans on social media, the Trojans\u2019 \u201cdown the road\u201d does not include Clay Helton<\/strong>, despite his having won a conference championship and a Rose Bowl in three years at the helm.<\/p>\n The 13 combined losses are the most ever in the nearly nine decades of the series. Yet UCLA fans go into Saturday with more So Cal \u201cchill\u201d than do the SC fans. Do SC fans just care more? Are UCLA fans more accepting of the poor season because of the coaching change?<\/p>\n USC has struggled for its record. True freshman quarterback J.T. Daniels<\/a> was the choice of Helton from week one. He beat out redshirt freshman Jack Sears,<\/a> and it is a decision that 10 weeks later is still not sitting well with some of the fan base. Daniels was ordained with a story line that had him skipping his senior year of high school to get to USC early. Of course, he would have been 19 years old by his high school graduation anyway, having repeated eighth grade for the purposes of developing as a football player. If all you do is look at Daniels\u2019 stats, they would reflect a typical true freshman playing big-time football. He has a mediocre 57% completion rate with only 11 touchdown passes and eight interceptions.<\/p>\n What you must dig into is the lack of performance in the losses. Sixteen of 34 for 215 with no touchdowns and two interceptions in a loss to Stanford in week two will jump out at you. He was six of 16 for 89 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions when he left the Utah game with a concussion in mid-October. The Trojans lost. He would miss the next game, another loss, against Arizona State. Of USC\u2019s five losses, four are in conference. They also lost to Texas and they have Notre Dame at home on Thanksgiving weekend.<\/p>\n The offense is ranked 94th<\/sup> in the country. \u00a0Helton took over the play calling duties from offensive coordinator Tee Martin two weeks ago. SC beat Oregon State and lost to Cal since then, scoring only 14 points at home against the Golden Bears. USC lost a lot of talent to the NFL off last year\u2019s squad, but they also had the number four recruiting class in the country this year according to 247Sports. That\u2019s one spot higher than Alabama. Is the group too young? Is too much being expected of them too soon? Or is it the wrong mix? Scott Wolf has been covering USC for 20 years. He says the Trojans are in trouble.<\/p>\n Usually, when a coach is on the hot seat, you hear a segment of people say to keep him so the recruiting class does not break up. But #USC<\/a> doesn't really seem to have a recruiting class to hold together<\/p>\n — InsideUSC (@InsideUSC) November 12, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nHelton On The Edge Or The Ledge?<\/h3>\n
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![\"UCLA](\"https:\/\/lwosoncfb.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2018\/11\/Helton.jpg\")
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