Bombs Away! L.A. Riots?

Most viewers had turned their TVs off.

In fact, from a purely football standpoint, even defensive enthusiasts would have called the night game in L.A. garbage.

Of course, in recent memory, the Trojan-Bruin showdowns haven't held the same meaning (aside from 2006) but the revivals have managed to do some pretty interesting things to keep the crosstown-showdown meaningful.

Last year, they brought back the dual home-team jerseys which immediately sparked a new football trend.

This year, they brought back the passion.

I'll go ahead and step out on a limb as a USC alum and say no one was really at fault for the bench clearing play that will undoubtedly be referenced in the coming week a gazillion times on ESPN.  In fact, most people will probably blow the actual bench clearing out of proportion.

Pete tried to do the classy thing.

With a 21-7 lead and less than a minute in the game, he put his offense on the field and instructed his freshman quarterback to take a knee to wind out the clock.

Neuheisel had three timeouts left, and clearly wanted to end the game on his own terms.  That would have been fine, but he forgot he was playing against Pete Carroll.

On second down, Barkley threw a deep bomb to Damian Williams, which was caught for a touchdown, and the home crowd erupted with cheers and laughter.

Now before anyone blames the play call, keep in mind that Rick could have let the clock wind down on the QB kneel.

What followed in Los Angeles was the UCLA bench clearing and progressing over to the wrong sidelines followed by a less aggressive advancement from the USC sideline.  The coaches spent plenty of time separating it.

Now I understand both coaches wanting to maintain the respect and dignity of their programs and Pete's initial move was an obvious attempt to let UCLA do that.  However, when Neuheisel called the timeout (something he had to do in order to show that his team would "fight until the end") he forced Pete Carroll's hand.

Want the game to keep going?  Then you better be ready to play.

By the end a couple of guys from both teams showed each other some love, but there was an overall feeling of increased importance to what the match-up means for each school as the crowd blasted: "We are... S.C.!"

Was the disrespect from either team intentional?  Probably not to start with.  Both teams just wanted to end a rivalry game on their own terms.

Unfortunately in a rivalry there can only be one winner per year.

This year it was the Trojans.

Whoever it is next year is definitely going to have a lot more to brag about, because Carroll and Neuheisel are showing that things aren't always "chill" in sunny SoCal.

In fact, the L.A. opponents are just starting to rehash some bad blood that should make things much more interesting in the coming years.