UCLA football tunes out expectations heading into USC game
Sophomore receiver Thomas Duarte said that growing up in Southern California really put perspective on the UCLA-USC rivalry game. Duarte said that people still congratulated him for beating USC even months after last season’s game. (Austin Yu/Daily Bruin senior staff)
By Jordan Lee
Nov. 19, 2014 1:05 a.m.
In the months leading up to this season, UCLA couldn’t escape the noise. Overwhelmed by those voicing what they could or should be and what they evidently weren’t, the Bruins struggled to deal with the cacophony of hype, expectation and disappointment.
Oddly enough, despite an underwhelming start and back-to-back losses at home, the Bruins now find themselves back where they started.
After two sound victories over then-No. 12 Arizona and Washington, No. 9 UCLA returned to the top 10 for the first time since UCLA’s first loss of the season to Utah. Nearly three months into the season, the Bruins finally look the part of the dark-horse title contender that experts projected them to be.
“I think maybe people put us in a place that we didn’t deserve to be yet,” said coach Jim Mora. “I think we’ve worked ourselves into a position where if we continue to stay focused and play well, we’ll see where we deserve to be.”
The adulation has returned, but the noise remains.
The clamor now, though, is altogether more deafening and defining. It’s a tone that echoes out of divided living rooms and driveways, reverberates from bus stops and billboards and spans all the way from the inner city to the international airport.
As UCLA preps for its annual crosstown rivalry game with USC on Saturday, that noise is all the more amplified. To the winner goes bragging rights that ring on long after the season’s end.
“Being a Southern California kid, it means everything,” said sophomore receiver Thomas Duarte. “All the activities leading up to the week, you see how serious people take it. … Still to this day, months after the game, people are coming up to you, congratulating you, ‘Thanks for beating ‘SC – it’s always nice to win that one,’ so it just puts it in perspective for you.”
The win catches the ears – and eyes – of coveted high school recruits as well. While the game is billed as a battle for city superiority and former L.A. prep stars fill both rosters, the ramifications of the game extend far beyond the 12 miles of freeway that separates the two schools.
“Last year, I didn’t really gain the whole grasp of it. I just knew obviously it was a big game. But going through a whole offseason and leading up to it, it’s everything,” said sophomore defensive lineman Eddie Vanderdoes, an Auburn, Calif., native who was at one point a USC commit. “Everybody wants to play for the winning team – the front-runner in L.A.”
Win, and UCLA will carry that distinction for the third year running and assert itself as the top team in the Pac-12 South with one game left in the regular season.
Lose, and the din returns, louder and more unpleasant than ever for the Bruins.
For now though, the priority for UCLA is tuning out the noise as best it can. After spending the majority of the season trying to do just that, the Bruins believe themselves to be well-prepared for the task at hand.
“I just think it’s important that we follow our mantra of don’t listen to the noise and control what we can control,” Mora said. “I think we’ve matured as a football team this year, (to the point) where we are much better equipped to handle that right now than maybe we were earlier in the year.”
Tuning out doesn’t necessarily mean devaluing, though many players have thus far been hesitant to voice what’s exactly at stake Saturday. However, after two straight wins in the series, the Bruins are well aware of just how resounding a win can be.
“I don’t think we have to downplay it at all. It is what it is. It’s a big game. Everyone knows that,” said sophomore tackle Caleb Benenoch. “We just have to go out here and do our job and not let the moment get too big for us.”
