UCLA Football vs. USC 2018: Limiting mistakes will determine the winner

Both the USC and UCLA football teams have been plagued by mistakes this season. The team that can limit those mistakes in the Crosstown Showdown should come out the victor.

There is a certain air about a rivalry game, especially the one that will take place this weekend at the Rose Bowl as the USC and UCLA football teams square off for the 86th time.

The UCLA Bruins (2-8, 2-5) are having an underwhelming first year with Chip Kelly as it is apparent that this season has been dedicated to the rebuild. The USC Trojans (5-5, 4-4) are in a different position as their head coach, Clay Helton, is not having a lot of success in his third full season in charge of the program.

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That puts both teams in an interesting position going into the latest edition of the Crosstown Showdown. The Bruins have nothing to lose, whilst the Trojans have quite a bit to lose.

Now that is all well and good, but both teams have been plagued with mistakes which have been deciding factors in several of their losses.

In the last three weeks, UCLA has had to incur mistakes in all three facets of their game. Special teams kept them out of the Oregon game, dropped balls have disallowed the Bruins to advance the ball through the air (even more than they have), the defense has not been great at stopping the run, and all those penalties are stunting the Bruins’ growth (check out UCLA’s last drive of the Arizona State game, oi!).

But the mistakes are not limited to Westwood. The school south of downtown is having their issues as well.

Snapping the ball has been a problem, the offense could only gather 41 yards of total offense in the second half against Cal, the defense is allowing 216.1 yards on the ground, and veteran defenseman Iman Marshall was called for a senseless unsportsmanlike conduct in Cal’s final drive, guaranteeing that USC would not get the ball back with just over three minutes left and USC down 15-14. This is a veteran-laden team and there is no reason they should look as bad as the young Bruins.

Still, it does not matter who has the better players, the better coaches, or the better record. Whoever wins this game will be the team to make the least amount of mistakes. This is a rivalry game and once the ball is kicked off, it does not matter what happened before or what will happen after. UCLA and USC are going at each other for 60 minutes.

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Emotions will be high and focus will be sharper. Yes, anything goes in a rivalry game, but mistakes will play a key role in this contest. The team that keeps those in check will keep the Victory Bell for another year.