Go Joe Bruin continues our early 2018 previews with a look at UCLA football’s annual crosstown rivalry game with the USC Trojans.
Continuing our previews of UCLA football‘s season schedule, we now look at one of the biggest games on the schedule – the rivalry game against the USC Trojans.
UCLA Football Early 2018 Schedule Previews
Cincinnati | Okla | Fresno State | Colorado | UW | Cal | Arizona | Utah | Oregon | ASU
USC Trojans
Head Coach: Clay Helton | Overall Record 27-10 (3rd Season at USC)
2017 Record: 11-3, 8-1 Pac-12
2017-18 Bowl Game: Cotton Bowl lost to Ohio State (24-7)
What: UCLA Bruins vs. USC Trojans
Where: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA
When: Saturday, Nov. 17
Clay Helton hasn’t lost to UCLA since 2014 – his first year as head coach – and he’ll need to beat the Bruins’ new head coach to keep the streak going.
Since then Helton’s been building the kind of program Bruin fans dream of. But with Chip Kelly now sitting in the head coach’s office in the Wasserman football center, Helton will be feeling the pressure to follow up a Pac-12 Championship and 11-3 season with even better 2018 campaign.
That means no ugly losses to teams especially to ones picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12 South if the Trojans want to reach the College Football Playoffs.
USC’s Five-Year Win Trend
- 2017 -★★★★★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 11-3
- 2016 – ★★★★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 10-3
- 2015 – ★★★★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆ 8-6
- 2014 – ★★★★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆ 8-5
- 2013 – ★★★★★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ 10-4
But even with new motivation after their loss to Ohio State, USC could be sloppy heading to Rose Bowl. They’ll be coming off games against Oregon State and Cal – picked to finish fifth and sixth in the Pac-12 North – and have another rivalry game against Notre Dame looming.
Even so, USC on a bad day has the talent and experience to run all over a young UCLA team on their good day.