USC vs. UCLA: Game Grades, Analysis for Trojans vs. Bruins
USC continued to roll through the back half of its football schedule following a 1-3 start, dispatching rival UCLA easily by the score of 36-14 to capture its eighth victory of the season.
Following a sluggish start by the Trojans, the win was about as thorough as it was expected to be for the final three quarters.
By the end of the night, the Battle for Los Angeles at the Rose Bowl wound up being a minor skirmish that barely registered on the radar screen of the Trojans. With head coach Clay Helton's decision to place Sam Darnold under center, they've found new life.
On Saturday, Darnold was dominant, and he had a lot of help from his friends on offense and defense. Even with JuJu Smith-Schuster limited for much of the night with various injuries, the Trojans didn't have any issue finding playmakers in the win.
It wound up looking like you'd expect with one of the nation's best teams playing a Bruins squad that is injury-riddled, searching for an offensive identity and with a bunch of late-season issues as it will miss out on a bowl game.
Let's take a look at the game grades.
USC: Offense
1 of 6
Let's get through the bad part first: Darnold tossed two interceptions, and neither one of them was a particularly good decision.
The first of which, Fabian Moreau jumped a crossing pattern and stepped in front of the USC receiver. Then, when the redshirt freshman quarterback should have thrown short for a few yards and picked up enough to attempt a field goal, he flung the ball toward the end zone and was intercepted yet again.
But those two blunders did little to take away from Darnold's brilliance. He finished with 267 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns. Eleven different receivers caught passes with Smith-Schuster unable to be on the field for much of the night, and player after player stepped up.
De'Quan Hampton entered the game with just four catches all season, but he had two touchdown grabs against the Bruins.
The Trojans didn't have any trouble running the ball, either, gaining 260 yards on a night when the offense rolled up 31 first downs and controlled the ball for 43 minutes, 47 seconds of the game. That's total domination.
It was a resounding response to some early-game adversity.
"I didn't see any panic," Helton said, according to Daily Trojan Sports' Twitter account. "They hit us in the mouth early, and I'm proud of our kids for how they stepped up."
The game wasn't flawless, but it was never in question after the first 15 minutes of the game. Once running back Ronald Jones II broke free for a 60-yard touchdown, it seemed the Trojans never lost the momentum.
Grade: A-
UCLA: Offense
2 of 6
It started so promisingly, but then it crashed to reality with a thud.
Following a first quarter that saw the Bruins rack up 145 total yards and run the ball with some authority— which was unexpected, to say the least—they couldn't get anything going.
During one stretch while USC built its lead, the Bruins had four consecutive possessions where they went three-and-out. After that nice little spurt to start the game, spearheaded by wide receiver Jordan Lasley's two touchdown grabs, the Bruins stalled. And they never recovered.
"Disappointing night for us," head coach Jim Mora told the press afterward.
In the second and third quarters, UCLA had 41 total yards. The Bruins returned to their old form that plagued the Josh Rosen-less era with no rushing game to speak of, gaining just one yard on the ground during that time.
Because of the inability to move the chains, the Trojans controlled the game and built their lead. UCLA had the ball for a little more than just 16 minutes of the entire game.
The Bruins ran for just 55 yards on Mora's 55th birthday.
Also, signal-caller Mike Fafaul isn't Rosen, even though he was forced into action due to the star quarterback's season-ending injury. He finished 15-of-31 passing for 181 yards and two touchdowns, but it wasn't nearly enough.
Grade: D
USC: Defense
3 of 6
The biggest part of the victory was the Trojans offense controlling the football game, but they were able to do that because USC's defense was a steel wall after the first quarter.
It's like a switch flipped following those first 15 minutes, and the wake-up call was evident.
The Trojans were bigger and faster and better defensively than UCLA's offense. They clogged up rushing lanes, and even though Fafaul wasn't particularly sharp, a lot of the reason was because of the strong coverage by USC's defenders.
Up front, the Trojans won the line of scrimmage consistently.
"It was a big man's game," Helton said, according to USC Annenberg Media's Paolo Uggetti.
After star cornerback Adoree' Jackson was burned twice early by Lasley, you never heard his name again. That's because the ball rarely went his way.
The Trojans allowed just 10 first downs all night and 266 yards of total offense. When you take into consideration that 145 of those came in the first half and 60 on one play, for much of the night, UCLA couldn't breathe under the suffocation from those cardinal and gold uniforms.
Darnold gets a ton of the credit, but this athletic, deep defense keeps holding opponents to season lows, and it's a big reason why the Trojans are winning games.
This defense is loaded with former top prospects, and they're being coached into marquee college football players. There are horses all over the field for a defense that looks like it's getting better every week.
Grade: A
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
UCLA: Defense
4 of 6
The Bruins made a couple of plays early with interceptions from Moreau and linebacker Jayon Brown, but as long as USC held the football, that unit got more and more tired as the night dragged on.
UCLA's inability to get the Trojans off the field on third down was a key reason why the Bruins couldn't stay in the game.
On the night, USC was 12-of-21 in third-down conversions, and it converted both of its fourth-down attempts as well. When they needed yards through the air, the Trojans got it because of a lack of push from the Bruins front and Darnold's poise in the pocket.
Also, the Trojans came up with a few big running plays, particularly Jones' 60-yard scamper that broke the early gridlock and got USC back into the flow of the game.
The Trojans finished with 527 total yards and averaged 5.6 yards per play. UCLA defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said his unit was "one step behind" USC all night, according to a tweet from B/R's Kyle Kensing.
A Bruins squad that was in the top 10 in passing defense tumbled down to 26th, and that's also its ranking in total defense nationally now. When the Bruins had to have that side of the ball dominate, they simply couldn't.
Whether that was because of Darnold or all the Trojans athletes or just because they wore down, it happened. It was probably a combination of the three things. This may have been the Bruins' worst game of the year on that side of the ball, and it came at a bad time.
Grade: C-
USC: Coaching
5 of 6
How Helton has turned this football season around from a 1-3 start is nothing short of remarkable.
Now, the Trojans have the potential to beat Notre Dame next week, and if Utah can upset Colorado, USC will play for the Pac-12 championship. Regardless if all that happens or not, it's been a great comeback after a start that had plenty grumbling about Helton having the interim label shed from his title.
To keep crediting Helton for making the move from popular team captain Max Browne for redshirt freshman QB Darnold early in the season may seem unfair, but it keeps paying dividends.
Against UCLA, Helton and offensive coordinator Tee Martin continued to be aggressive with their young gun.
Darnold has that swagger that makes him a great quarterback, and he has a short memory, too. He was able to scramble around in the pocket and was given the freedom to make important plays. That says a lot that the staff trusts such a young player in such a big game.
When they had to have running plays, the coaches put their athletes in a position to make plays. On potential drive-ending plays (third and fourth downs), the Trojans converted 14 of 23. That's an impressive number in its own right and a huge reason for the win.
UCLA couldn't get anything going against the defensive game plan of the Trojans, either, and everything worked in the rivalry victory.
It wasn't a flawless effort for the coaches, but it was close.
Grade: A-
UCLA: Coaching
6 of 6
On the other sideline, it was a forgettable night for Mora in what has proved to be a forgettable season.
The Bruins have rotated five running backs for a lot of the second half of the year, and given their struggles in that area, you've got to wonder if it's a good idea. Yes, a lot of the reason is because nobody has risen to the forefront of that race. But it's hard to get into a rhythm when you're constantly rotating, too.
Also, it's hard to punish the staff when your nationally recognized star quarterback (Josh Rosen) has been ruled out for the remainder of the season.
But the bottom line is the Bruins should at least be bowl-eligible. It's inexcusable they won't be.
Mora is in his fifth year at UCLA, and he has recruited well enough that the Bruins should be deeper and better than this. Of course, the Bruins have been stunted this year by the departure of five juniors and three seniors to the NFL draft a year ago.
Mora hasn't enjoyed his best season making decisions at the top, and while the defense has been a bright spot, it let the Bruins down against the Trojans on Saturday. That's why, while Mora's job is safe, some tough questions have to start being asked.
"So, remind me again why Jim Mora isn't on the hot seat," B/R colleague Barrett Sallee tweeted Saturday night.
At this point, with the Bruins watching the bowl season from their couches, it's at least a fair question.
Nothing went right for UCLA on Saturday, and in games like this, problems are magnified because everybody wants to win a rivalry. This looked like a team and coaching staff heading in opposite directions.
Grade: D
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
