USC vs. UCLA: Score and Twitter Reaction

The Victory Bell will remain in Westwood. 

In one of college football's most famous rivalries, No. 9 UCLA remained right in the thick of the College Football Playoff picture with a dominant 38-20 win over No. 19 USC. Pac-12 Networks highlighted the victory:

After five consecutive defeats in the all-Los Angeles matchup, the Bruins have now won three in a row. And as ESPN Stats & Info noted, they have done so in emphatic offensive fashion:

Brett Hundley threw for 326 yards and had a total of four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing), Paul Perkins ran for 93 and a score, and UCLA doubled up the Trojans in total yards, 458-226.

The junior QB, who is now 3-0 in his career against USC, put it simply afterward, via Sports Illustrated's Stewart Mandel:

While the overall performance or final numbers don't suggest so, it was a nightmarish start for Hundley. On the Bruins' second offensive snap of the game, he forced a throw that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by linebacker Anthony Sarao.

Just like that, the Trojans had a 7-0 lead less than five minutes into the game, and Hundley was the target of easy criticism and jokes, via CBS Sports' Pete Prisco and EDraft.com's Vincent Frank:

But a massive mistake from USC gave Hundley an immediate opportunity to turn things around. Nelson Agholor muffed a punt just two minutes later, setting up a 10-yard touchdown strike between Hundley and Devin Lucien.

NFL.com's Bryan Fischer noted the ongoing problem for the talented Agholor:

Things remained close until the Bruins offense began clicking at the end of the first half.

Spanning a stretch between the second and third quarters, Hundley led three consecutive scoring drives that totaled 218 yards on just 24 plays. During that run, he entered the UCLA record books, as The Associated Press' Greg Beacham noted:

With Perkins and the running game creating big lanes after a slow first half, Hundley was able to take advantage of an off-balance defense and methodically march down the field.

On the other side of the ball, the Bruins were creating endless pressure in the backfield, forcing USC's offense to become completely stagnant. Rotoworld's Josh Norris noted a problem for the Trojans:

Scott Wolf of the Los Angeles Daily News simply wasn't thrilled with the team's effort:

Javorius Allen added a three-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter to end a streak of 24 consecutive points for UCLA, but the game had already been decided long before that point.

The Bruins will move up at least one spot with No. 8 Ole Miss' loss to Arkansas Saturday, but such a comprehensive victory against a ranked opponent could potentially help them climb a few more rungs on the ladder.

Even if not, a win over Stanford next week sets up a Pac-12 Championship battle against No. 2 Oregon, meaning the Bruins are still in excellent position to make a run at the Top Four.

As for the Trojans, they'll finish the regular season against a reeling Notre Dame squad, looking at their third straight season with at least four defeats.

If it wasn't already clear, it certainly is now: The balance of power in L.A. has shifted.