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UCLA football strives to seize Victory Bell in crosstown clash with USC

Senior quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson throws a pass in UCLA football’s loss to USC in 2020. Thompson-Robinson threw for 364 yards and four touchdowns in the Bruins matchup against the Trojans a year ago. (Daily Bruin file photo)

Football


USC
Saturday, 1 p.m.

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
FOX

By Jared Tay

Nov. 19, 2021 12:01 a.m.

The Bruins prepare the same way for every home game.

They stay the night at the Luskin Conference Center, walk over to the Wasserman Football Center for warmups in the morning, and then board a bus headed for the Rose Bowl, nearly 17 miles away.

The Bruins will proceed through that same routine Saturday, waking up and stretching out on campus ahead of the game. But they’ll embark on a bus that is instead bound for enemy territory at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, less than 13 miles from UCLA’s campus.

In the 91st iteration of Los Angeles’ crosstown rivalry, UCLA football (6-4, 4-3 Pac-12) will make the journey down the Interstate 10 to the campus of USC (4-5, 3-4) with the chance to return the Victory Bell to Westwood for the first time since 2018.

“Every kid in this program looks forward to this game,” said redshirt senior defensive back Qwuantrezz Knight. “It’s for everything. It’s for bragging rights. It’s for who runs the city.”

About a 20-minute drive – without the LA traffic – separates the two campuses, differing from other rivalry matchups in college football. Michigan and Ohio State, Auburn and Alabama, and Oklahoma and Texas, among others, are all separated by at least 100 miles.

“It’s the familiarity and the closeness of the two schools that I think makes it unique,” said coach Chip Kelly. “There’s so many players that play there that played high school with our guys. There’s kids that went to high school together and grew up together. They just went to different colleges.”

Players from each team had either teammates or high school opponents who went on to attend their rival school. One such player is senior linebacker Bo Calvert, who said he recognizes many players from the Trojans’ squad after having initially committed to USC during his sophomore year at Oaks Christian School in 2016.

“You’re playing against the little boys across the street,” Calvert said. “It’s almost like playing a little bit of backyard football.”

(Daily Bruin file photo)
UCLA senior linebacker Bo Calvert defends a pass against USC. Originally a Trojan commit in high school, Calvert accumulated a 1-2 record against USC in his three years as a Bruin. (Daily Bruin file photo)

The familiarity didn’t necessarily breed trash talk between the players this week, according to Calvert, but rather added anticipation for the rivalry matchup. Although they may not be playing for Pac-12 South title hopes – both teams are mathematically out of contention – players this week said there was added energy on the practice field.

“Everybody wants to beat their rival and have those bragging rights,” said senior quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson. “There’s a little more passion and a little more juice and a little more energy.”

Saturday will mark Thompson-Robinson’s fourth time playing the Trojans, although he did not start in UCLA’s 2018 win at the Rose Bowl. In last year’s contest in Pasadena, the signal-caller threw for 364 yards and four touchdowns in the Bruins’ loss after a game-winning drive by the Trojans in the closing seconds.

At stake for UCLA this week is qualification for a higher-tier bowl game after securing postseason eligibility with a 44-20 win over Colorado at home last week. If it sustains two more losses, USC is at risk of failing to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2018.

Earlier this season, USC parted ways with its head coach of six years, Clay Helton, after a 48-42 loss to Stanford. The Trojans will also be without their leading receiver, Drake London, who sustained a season-ending ankle injury Oct. 30 against Arizona.

“Obviously ‘SC is up and down throughout this season,” Calvert said. “We’re looking to kind of put the final dagger in them this week.”

The Trojans’ usual starting quarterback, Kedon Slovis, will also be unavailable after he sustained a lower leg injury Nov. 6. In the past two meetings with the Bruins, Slovis has passed for 859 yards combined with nine touchdowns through the air.

Instead, freshman quarterback Jaxson Dart will be under center for the Trojans. Dart has played in three games this season, although Saturday will be his first collegiate start.

“Their offense doesn’t change with Jaxson in as opposed to Kedon,” Kelly said. “They’re still a version of the Air Raid.”

UCLA has won five times in the past two decades, and USC lead the all-time series 49-32-7. The Bruins have won twice in their last 11 trips to the Coliseum.

The game will air on FOX with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m.

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Jared Tay | Sports senior staff
Tay is currently a Sports senior staff writer on the men's basketball beat. He was previously an assistant Sports editor for the baseball, men's soccer, men's tennis, cross country and women's tennis beats. Tay was previously a contributor on the men's tennis beat.
Tay is currently a Sports senior staff writer on the men's basketball beat. He was previously an assistant Sports editor for the baseball, men's soccer, men's tennis, cross country and women's tennis beats. Tay was previously a contributor on the men's tennis beat.
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