Who Has The Better Football Team, UCLA or USC?

Nov 30, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins running back

(24) is defended by Southern California Trojans linebacker

(18) on a 37-yard reception in the second quarter at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

There is still a lot of time before the college football season arrives, but here at Go Joe Bruin, we believe there is enough evidence to answer a very important question about UCLA and USC Football right now. Thank you College Game Day for the prompt.

Based off of this four statistic graphic, who is the hotter team? Well, It is not that easy. Thank you for playing ESPN, but there is more to it than that. So now, let us examine some of the major differences between UCLA and USC post-spring practice and heading into next season.

QUARTERBACK COMPARISON

Brett Hundley vs. Cody Kessler 

There is no comparison here. Hundley’s name has been associated with Heisman candidacy since the end of last season. Hundley is a QB that few were able to stop last season. Kessler is a guy that was not sure he had the starting QB job for USC until the third game of last season. Let us compare statistics:

Hundley

Passing – Yards: 3071, Completion: 67.2%, TDs: 24, INTs: 9

Rushing – Yards: 748, Average Per Carry: 4.7, TDs: 11

Kessler 

Passing – Yards: 2968, Completion: 65.4%, TDs: 20, INTs: 7

Rushing – Yards: -124, Average Per Carry: -3.0, TDs: 1

Advantage: Hundley and UCLA 

OFFENSIVE LINES 

Let us start with USC. They are rebuilding and have depth issues. Last season they allowed 34 sacks and had a slew of linemen bitten by the injury bug. That takes a while to solidify.

UCLA has a two-deep line with some change. They recently added 6’7″, 327 lbs. Miami University transfer Malcolm Bunche who has three years of experience on the O-line. He will be aiding Caleb Benenoch, Jake Brendel and Alex Redmond who all played significant times last year. One thing that has been weak for UCLA in the last decade is the O-Line. That does not seem to be a problem anymore.

Advantage: UCLA

COACHES

Jim Mora Vs. Steve Sarkisian

Mora is more of a solid coach. This is evident from his first two years in Westwood. He has completely turned around a team that was mired in mediocrity. He is averaging 9.5 wins in his first two seasons and even captured the the Pac-12 South Division in his first year. Against USC, he is 2-0.

Sarkisian averaged 6.8 wins in five seasons as a head coach, all with the Washington Huskies. This past season, he managed to get 8 wins for the first time in his head coaching career. If the Trojans were looking to get a big-time hire, they sorely missed out.

Advantage: UCLA

#BruinRevolution Vs. #TurnUpSC

This may be the battle of hashtags, but it puts into perspective the mindset of both schools. The #BruinRevolution is dominating, thought provoking and above all, it is self-explanatory. As for #TurnUpSC, well it sounds like an advert for a new garden at Southern Cal.

Advantage: UCLA

USC VS. UCLA

USC is not the team they were when they beat UCLA 50-0, three seasons ago. They are the team that lost to UCLA 38-28 and 35-14 in the last two. USC is on the down swing from such recent issues involving NCAA sanctions, the Lane Kiffin affair and a bad break-up with former interim head coach, Ed Orgeron.

UCLA is on the upswing, there is no doubt about that. The Bruins are the team to beat, not just in LA, but also in the Pac-12. Mora has this team running on all cylinders at a break-neck speed and they are only getting better. It is no doubt who the better team in LA is right now. Just ask Brett Hundley.

Overall Advantage: UCLA

Go Bruins!

Mike W.R.

Twitter: @TheBigDisco