There is a time and a place to make the college football world local. Every school has that built in rivalry and USC has is fortunate to have 2.5. I say two and a half because Stanford was starting to look pretty good but it hasn’t quite built up the fanbase craziness that UCLA and Notre Dame have withstood the test of time over. The Victory Bell is painted the colors of UCLA today. That having been the spoils of their victory over the Trojans in 2018 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score showed.
To the fans the game is beyond every other. This is pure hunger to dominate the opponent every day and on one day a year in either the Coliseum or the Rose Bowl. Badges are distributed with special slogans that represent each sides feelings for the other. This is why college football is so special. This is why we go through years of hope when things are down with the expectation that things will turnaround right around the corner with the coming of a new set of recruits or staff. USC has a new AD a new President but they have chosen to stand by their coach in Clay Helton. This is a huge issues for the fan base and will forever define new AD Michael Bohn very quickly.
The UCLA Bruins find themselves two games out of a Bowl offer. The Trojans are in. But how do the Trojan fans feel? Is this the bar they set? Hell no. This is the problem. This game has everything for UCLA to gain as their bar is never set as high as a Trojan fan will set. They look at this game every year as their Bowl. Whether or not they go to a bowl or not the Victory Bell is their Rose. The Trojans under Clay Helton are becoming the Bruins and the fan base is erupting like no other time. There is no middle. You either support Helton or you want him out of here. The Bruins are probably funding a Keep Clay Go Fund Me account just to keep things competitive.
Today’s game is at 12:30p PST. The newly renovated Coliseum seats about 77,000 fans. A small resemblance of its glorious past. Under Clay Helton the seats are more visible than the fans sitting in them. The networks work hard to not show the empty seats but they are there and they do show up as a reminder that the team is setting it’s bar way too low with the support of the past four plus years should it continue in Arlington, Texas next year against Alabama. I cannot imagine this team going in the Texas against Bama with Clay Helton at the helm. It is what drives all the Trojan fans crazy as Clay sets the bar too low. He has to win today. He has to win his bowl game he seeks love from his players and at the same time doesn’t truly embrace the USC Bar and why his tenure has not been a good experience.
Chip Kelly began to show progress. A three game winning streak was turning heads until they ran in to a Tier 1 team in Utah and were clobbered spiraling back to earth and now trying to get back up for the Trojans today. That won’t be hard. The Bruins will be emotionally ready as this is their Bowl Game every year. The Trojans are heading in to a trap and MUST wake up. The Trojans have to step on this Bruin team and NOT let it up. They can ill afford to give them hope. The past is the present and under Helton giving Hope has resulted in losses and disappointment and lot’s of Viewing of the Tape.
Fight On! Beat The Bruins Today!
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