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Bruin Football, Bruin Nation, Bruins, college football, Crosstown Rivalry, Crosstown Rivalry Clash, ESPN, football, L.A. Memorial Coliseum, Pac-12 Conference, Pac-12 South, Pasadena, Rose Bowl, UCLA, UCLA Bruins, UCLA Football, University of California Los Angeles, University of Southern California, USC Trojans, Victory Bell
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UCLA running back Johnathan Franklin carrying the ball, with USC linebacker Lamar Dawson (#55) in pursuit, in the 2012 Crosstown Rivalry game. Photo courtesy of flickr.com
OUR ANNUAL CROSSTOWN RIVALRY COVERAGE CONTINUES WITH A CELEBRATION OF THE 40th, 30th, & 10th ANNIVERSARIES OF MEMORABLE UCLA WINS OVER USC
It seems like with regards to this Crosstown Rivalry of SoCal’s, every year marks an anniversary of a victory by one or the other team that is forever embedded in a positive way into fan’s hearts.
As it turns out,
This season is pretty significant in the historical annals of UCLA football, because there are three anniversaries of victories over USC that provoke memories in the Bruin nation that are quite pleasant.
Or at least they should.
I’ll go ahead and cover these three Crosstown Rivalry wins over ‘SC that came to pass forty, thirty, and ten years ago this year, emphasizing my personal memories of such;
Although I only saw one of these classics in person, my memories of all three of these clashes are big.
Let’s start with the triumph that came to pass exactly four decades ago…
UCLA 20 – USC 19, NOVEMBER 20, 1982
It was the Bruins’ first year in the Rose Bowl after 53 years of sharing the Coliseum with the Trojans.
It was arguably the Bruins’ greatest year as they had only lost one game and were on the verge of a top ten ranking going into what was the very first time that the crosstown rivals would face each other in Pasadena.
And it was first year of high school as I was a fifteen-year old sophomore at Santa Monica (“Samohi”) High School and a member of the Viking Marching Band who admittedly was having trouble adjusting to the demands of a group that was among the top high school bands in the region; in other words, I wasn’t doing too well in that band that year and was fairly lost.
The afternoon of the Crosstown Rivalry clash was also the same day as the Samohi Band’s biggest competition.
I was an alternate for the competitions that fall, and while the rest of the band was warming up and preparing for the Los Altos Tournament in Hacienda Heights a couple of other alternates and myself were in the band office listening to the Bruins and Trojans battle on the radio.
There was quite a bit of interest in that game not only among the band members, but for the rest of Samo’s students in general as the UCLA and ‘SC loyalties were split 50/50 among both that student body and the band.
There I was with the two other alternates, rooting for UCLA (OF COURSE! Though I MOST regretfully rooted for USC in football during my junior high days, I saw the Bruin light that fall), feeling pretty good about the game as the Bruins led 20-10 in the fourth quarter before the Trojans mounted a furious comeback, coming within one point with no time left and then-coach John Robinson electing to go for two and the win.
Imagine my elation when Karl Morgan brought Scott Tinsley down, the announcer yelling “SACK!”, ending the game and ultimately putting UCLA into the Rose Bowl – which they won in beating Michigan and, along with beating ‘SC the following two years, solidifying my determination to become a member of Bruin Nation.
Which I achieved six years later after transferring from Santa Monica College.
More than anything else, that sack was the beginning of a Golden Era for UCLA football that saw the Bruins…
- Win four Pac-10 Conference championships
- Win at least ten games three times
- Finish in the AP’s top ten poll three times
- Play in seven straight bowl games, including the Fiesta Bowl in 1985 (where they beat big, bad Miami), the Cotton Bowl in 1988 (I was at that game as a member of the UCLA Band), and the Rose Bowl three times in a four year span – and winning them all.
Needless to say, it was fun having the bragging rights over my USC friends in those days.
Right now I’m asking myself,
“Has it really been FORTY years?!”
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UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley (#17), with USC defensive end Leonard Williams (#94) in pursuit looking to pass in the 2012 Crosstown Rivalry game. Photo courtesy of flickr.com
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The Victory Bell, painted in the color that Bruin Nation always wants it to be…
UCLA 38 – USC 37, NOVEMBER 21, 1992
Notre Dame had Rudy.
UCLA had John Barnes.
Barnes was a young man who, for lack of a better way to put it, didn’t have what anyone would consider a decent college football career as he went through three schools, including UC Santa Barbara (yes, they actually had a team!), before appearing in then-coach Terry Donahue’s office before the ’92 season in a suit and asked to try out for a walk-on spot with the Bruins.
He spent the year fifth on the depth chart, no doubt quarterbacking the scout team, when due to a rash of injuries he was told that he would be starting the Crosstown Rivalry clash and try to lead UCLA to a winning season as they went into that USC game with a 5-5 record.
He had a very good night behind center, completing 16 out of 28 passes for 385 yards and three touchdowns.
Those three scoring passes all came in the fourth quarter, which was where he sealed his spot in UCLA history as with the Bruins down by 14, he threw two touchdown passes to JJ Stokes to tie the score.
However, Barnes’ biggest moment came with a little over three minutes left and UCLA on their own ten-yard line.
That’s when he floated a pass to Stokes, who caught it at the 30 and then proceeded to zig and zag the next sixty yards, dragging a Trojan across the end zone to give the Bruins the lead!
After Nkosi Littleton knocked down what would have been the winning two-point conversion for ‘SC with 41 seconds left, Barnes’ place in Bruin Nation lore was secured.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t there that evening as like ten years before I listened to it all on the radio as my family didn’t get ESPN, who was showing that game.
But one of my friends, who was there, told me that he got an obnoxious USC fan ejected for shoving a foam finger into his face.
And I got to meet Barnes a year later when, at a luggage store where I was working, he walked in.
Which was obviously quite cool.
That all of this happened thirty years ago is quite the eye-popper.
UCLA 38 – USC 28, NOVEMBER 17, 2012
Unlike the other two games listed above, this was a Crosstown Rivalry Clash that I attended.
And where something happened that hadn’t happened at a UCLA vs USC game in fifty-one years…
It rained.
Which I think only added to the intensity of the affair as the Bruins and the Trojans – who were ranked #1 in the country in the preseason – were playing for the Pac-12 South title and a spot in the conference championship game.
To add fuel to this metaphoric fire UCLA, in Jim Mora’s first year as head coach, was looking for some significant revenge after losing 12 of the last 13 clashes to ‘SC and getting humiliated 50-0 in the Coliseum the year before.
As the 83,277 fans at the Rose Bowl were getting wet, the game indeed turned out to be an intense, heavyweight championship level fight as the two teams traded punches throughout.
The big moment happened with the Trojans down by only three points with the ball and driving to take the lead as the fourth quarter clock was starting to wind down.
With USC approaching the red zone, quarterback Matt Barkley dropped back to pass when Bruin linebacker Anthony Barr made a tackle for the ages, not only dropping Barkley with a vicious sack that looking back reminded me of a Mike Tyson knockout punch,
But also ended Barkley’s college career as with the sprained shoulder that he received thanks to Barr, he never suited up for the Trojans again.
That hit galvanized the Bruins, Johnathan Franklin putting the dagger into USC’s hopes with his 29-yard touchdown run with four minutes left that sealed the issue as the rain fell.
The clock hitting three zeroes set off a pretty nutty celebration, UCLA’s players high-fiving the fans.
That I was ecstatic over what had unfolded that wet afternoon, my over sized hooded sweatshirt getting soaked in the process, should go without saying.
It set off a nice run that saw the Bruins win the next two games over the Trojans and enjoy back-to-back ten win seasons and bowl wins in 2013 and 2014 and an 8-5 campaign in 2015, which the Bruin Nation saw as disappointing.
UCLA would not see a year with a winning record again until 2021.
Meaning that while I can’t speak for anyone else,
Those three years from 2012-14 will serve as pleasant memories from me.
Ten years certainly goes by fast!
TOMORROW,
THE OFFICIAL PREVIEW OF THIS 92nd MEETING BETWEEN THE TWO LARGEST INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING IN FOOTBALL WILL APPEAR ON THIS BLOG,
FEATURING THE SITUATIONS, WHAT I SEE ARE THE MINDSETS AND MOTIVATIONS, AND KEYS TO THE GAME FROM THE PERSPECTIVES OF BOTH TEAMS.
BE SURE TO NOT MISS IT!
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I like this shot of the line of scrimmage from 2012! Photo courtesy of thecoli.com