Bruins over Trojans-Just like that!
It was supposed to be a crosstown rivalry where UCLA was to fall to USC in the 93rd meeting of the two teams. Things went south for the TROJANS after a 6-0 start an being ranked as high as #5 in the preseason polls. They entered the game after losing 4 of 5. games
Earl Heath | Contributing Sports Writer
It was supposed to be a crosstown rivalry where UCLA was to fall to USC in the 93rd meeting of the two teams. Things went south for the TROJANS after a 6-0 start an being ranked as high as #5 in the preseason polls. They entered the game after losing 4 of 5. games
It was the words of the late super sports fan Garry Heath: “Turnovers will kill you dead from this world.” That helped finish off the Men of Troy coughing up three turnovers in a 38-20 loss to in front of 78,432 at the L.A. Coliseum.
Early on Zachariah Branch had the ball stripped from him by Bruins DB Kenny Churchwell III. That led to a BRUIN TD.
Caleb Williams (13) finished the season with 3,633 passing yards, 30 TD passes and 11 more on the ground. (Photo: Sporting News)
The next TROJAN possession Caleb Williams threw an interception. It was the Heisman winners first since his three against Notre Dame earlier in the season. He did have a decent day completing 31 of 42 passes for 384 yards and a TD for the TROJANS (7-5, 5-4). The teams big highlight was a 75-yard bomb to Brendan Rice that brought the Coliseum crown to its feet.
“Very, very disappointing,” said head coach Lincoln Riley. “I mean, there’s no other way to put it. I told the guys in the locker room I’ve clearly not done a good enough job in the second half of the season getting this team ready to go. … We just didn’t play good enough in any way.”
Riley has lost three straight games for the first time in his seven years as a head coach at Oklahoma and USC. Williams and Riley won their first 11 games together at the Coliseum before losing the last three.
Ethan Garbers led the Bruins with 155 yards on 18-of-31 passing (58.1%) for three touchdowns and no interceptions. Tomarion Harden totaled 142 rushing yards on 22 carries (6.5 yards per carry), scoring one touchdown on the ground. He added two catches for 16 yards and one touchdown. Logan Loya totaled nine receptions for 60 yards (averaging 6.7 per catch) against the Trojans.
Hudson Habermehl caught two of the three TD passes by Garbers, while UCLA’s defense forced three turnovers and drastically limited Williams’ playmaking chances, leading to an upper of an afternoon.
“Today was probably one of the better days of my life, for sure,” said Garbers, an Orange County native. “I’ve had some dreams about this as a little kid. Great to get the W and go home.”
TJ Darden led all rushers with 142 yards on 22 carries. The Inglewood native had a nifty 58-yard run. Carson Steele chipped in with 50 yards on 12 carries for the BRUINS.
It was Williams 22nd birthday in the final game of the PAC 12. It appeared the offense had no juice, no pep as throughout the game the BRUINS just rushed only three men and still had four sacks and had the Walter Camp Player of the year running all day long. The BRUINS held USC to 2 yards rushing, they have the number one rush defense in the country giving up just 70 yards a game on the ground.
Williams finished the season with3,633 passing yards, 30 TD passes and 11 more on the ground.
“He came here and took a chance on this place and took a chance on being a part of restarting this program and getting it going,” Riley said of Williams. “He’s been a good player for us, a really good leader for us. He’s a special player, special competitor, and obviously we’ll see where it goes from here.”
