By Steve Finley
Special to the BVN

Pasadena - The UCLA Bruins Football team will travel north to Palo Alto to battle Stanford for the second week in a row this Friday for a 5 p.m. kick off. This time the stakes are higher and a possible Rose Bowl invitation is on the line. This time they will be playing for the Pacific-12 Championship on channel 11.

Bruins hope the outcome will be much different than last Saturdays’ 35-17 loss to Stanford. “We came out a little flat but we will adjust,” said senior running back Johnathan Franklin. Stanford’s defense held Franklin, UCLA’s all-time rushing leader to 65 yards on 21 carries. Franklin has rushed for 4,175 yards in four years. That’s good enough for fifth place in Pacific-12 history.

If UCLA expects to upset the No. 8 ranked Cardinals they will have to open holes for the hard running Franklin. That’s easier said than done against a Stanford team that plays hard nose football and makes very few mistakes. “They are a very physical team,” said UCLA head coach Jim Mora. “They have experience and they have been doing this for a long time. They have been running the same offenses and defenses and they are consistent. They have had the same coaches in their system for the last few years. They run the ball well, they tackle well and they block well.”

UCLA will also have to do a better job of protecting red-shirt quarterback Brett Hundley. For the first time this season the Stanford defense seemed to confuse Hundley. Hundley was sacked seven times Saturday. At times it appeared that Hundley had running room but he decided to throw into tight coverage. “To be honest I tried to sit in the pocket as long as I can and try to make the throws I need to make,” said Hundley. “I probably should have run a little more but I just have to play my game and try to help my team win the games.”

Stanford head coach David Shaw expects to see a different Bruin team on Friday. “I expect them to give us everything they have,” said Shaw. “It’s going to be a real tough physical game. It’s going to be 10 times harder to beat UCLA again. It’s really hard to beat a team twice in one season not to mention twice in one week. They are going to come back with a chip on the shoulders.”

On defense the Bruins could not stop Stanford’s running attack led by senior Stepfan Taylor.

Two of UCLA’s top defensive players, linebackers Anthony Barr and tackle Datone Jones said they knew what was coming but they still could not stop the Cardinal. “It’s tough to prepare for something and you still can’t stop it,” said Barr. “We will go back to the drawing board and fix what we need to fix.”

Jones, who is one of the best defensive linemen in the Pacific-12 got Stanford’s attention from the beginning of the game to the end. The Cardinals double teamed him all day. “They did the same thing over and over again,” said Jones, “but we left a lot out on the field.”

Time will tell if the Bruins coaches and players can make the necessary adjustments that they need to make to win the Pacific-12 Conference game.

Steve Finley can be reached at sfinley50@aol.com

UCLA supplants USC as the top football power in Los Angeles and Pac 12 South Champions.

UCLA 38 | USC 28

By Gary Montgomery
BVN Staff

Pasadena – What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago the UCLA Bruins football team limped out of the Coliseum after a 50-0 shellacking at the hands of the Trojans. UCLA, dressed in their new all white uniforms couldn’t get into the end zone and were further humiliated by having to represent the Pac-12 south divisions a week later against the relentless Oregon Ducks, receiving more of the same punishment.

Fast forward one year and preseason No.1 USC (7-4;5-4 Pac 12) can’t seem to stop the slide from top dog to complete conference irrelevance to a Bowl game in San Diego, Las Vegas or El Paso. UCLA (9-2; 7-2 Pac 12) romped over around and through the Trojans on their way to a 38-28 victory.

Prior to Saturday’s win, the Bruins had only one win in the last 14 tries against their cross-town rival. In 2006, Carl Dorrell’s defense was able to squeeze out a 13–9 victory over the Trojans.

“This is a wonderful feeling, I’ve been around here going on four years and this is the first time we have ever beaten them. It’s a real special moment. It’s a new day in Los Angeles and things are not going to be the same anymore,” said former Corona Centennial star Ricky Marvray.

Saturday’s beat down at the hands of the Bruins marks USC’s third loss in its last 4 games. On the first play from scrimmage, Aaron Hester intercepted Matt Barkley’s pass on the 31 yard line and returned it 14-yards setting up a four play scoring drive culminating in a 1-yard TD run by Brett Hundley and a UCLA 7-0 lead that they would build on and not relinquish for the rest of the afternoon.

UCLA first year head coach Jim Mora was all smiles as he opened his post game press conference. “I’m especially happy for our seniors that finally got a chance to win their last one against USC,” said Mora. The Bruins certainly have a new attitude under Mora but the fuel that makes the Bruins’ engine go is red shirt freshman quarterback Brett Hundley. The Bruins, long hampered by poor quarterback play. It’s difficult to remember their last successful winning streak against USC.

Hundley was 22 of 30 for 234-yards, 1 passing touchdown and 2 running TD’s. “I told the seniors (before the game) that I would not let them go without (beating USC), and I’m going to give them my best effort to get it,” said Hundley.

Hundley’s pinpoint passing in the first quarter put the USC defense on its heels and running back Johnathan Franklin finished bowling them over.

Franklin rushed for 171-yards and two touchdowns including a 29-yard scamper with 4:02 remaining that put the game in the refrigerator for the Bruins.

With Saturdays win, UCLA locked up the Pac-12 south division championship and a date, with the north division champion which they also have a say in deciding. If UCLA beats Stanford at home on Saturday they will play Oregon for the Pac-12 Championship. If Stanford wins, they will play Stanford again on Nov. 30 for the Pac-12 Championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl.

As for USC, it’s not over by a long shot. Knocking off the newly crowned BCS No. 1 team on Saturday and becoming this seasons’ BCS wrecking ball will go a long way toward healing the wounds of a miserably disappointing season. The Fighting Irish come to the Coliseum of Saturday sporting an 11-0 record and the inside track to the BCS title game.

But, USC will have to do it without their senior leader. Adding major salt to an already ugly wound, UCLA linebacker, Anthony Barr zeroed in on Matt Barkley number 7 and flattened him on a blitz with less than two minutes left in Saturday’s game. Barkley lay on the turf for a full 8 count before going to a neutral corner and letting red shirt freshman Max Wittek finish the game. Barkley sustained a shoulder sprain and is scheduled to sit on Saturday. The Trojans will turn to Wittek on Saturday and hope he can out maneuver a very good Irish defense.

Wittek has appeared in six games so far this season, including the final minutes of Saturday’s loss to UCLA where he completed three passes for 45-yards.

I wouldn’t bet against the Trojans, stranger things have happened to college football teams in November.

G. Montgomery can be reached at sports@blackvoicenews.com

BVN Sports

Sports fans in Southern California are blessed with two of everything, except an NFL team. The landscape is covered with Angles, Dodgers, Lakers, Clippers, Trojans, Bruins, Kings, Ducks, Chivas USA and the Los Angeles Galaxy.

We can be demanding of these franchises. We expect performance and championships.

Currently, Los Angeles is the keeper of two championship trophies, the Stanley Cup and the MLS Cup.

The star studded Los Angeles Galaxy validated it’s David Beckham acquisition by winning it all in 2011. Beckham paired with perennial MVP Landon Donovan (Redlands East Valley High School) established their MLS dominance and won the MLS Cup in front of the home crowd at Home Depot Center.

Defending the cup this year will require the health of Landon Donovan and David Beckham, who are both on the mend. Donavan seems to have fully recovered from a nagging thigh issue and Beckham from a tender ankle.

Donovan’s has managed to play 25 games, scoring 9 goals and 14 assists, second most in MLS. Beckham’s year has been up and down. A variety of nagging injuries have reduced him to only one complete game of the last ten. The talented midfielder still contributed 7 goals, 9 assists in his 23 games.

The Los Angeles Galaxy appears to be peaking at just the right time. They disposed the Sounders on aggregate goals Wednesday night is Seattle, to win the Western Conference. Once again they draw Houston in a repeat match-up of 2011’s MLS Cup.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN on Sunday, December 1st, from the Home Depot Center in Carson.

By Steve Finley
Special to the BVN

The UCLA football team stepped up to the plate and hit a grand slam home run when they beat USC 38-28 last Saturday at the Rose Bowl. The Bruins out played the Trojans in every phase of the game during a rainy, cloudy day in Pasadena in front of 83,277 fans. What a difference a year makes. Last year USC beat UCLA 50-0.

Now the Bruins are the champions of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference and will play either Stanford or Oregon on November 30 for the conference championship.

The 9-2 Bruins have a different philosophy, a new coaching staff and one of the best quarterbacks in the nation in Brett Hundley. “I am really proud of this team,” said Mora after the victory over USC. “I am especially happy for our seniors who finally got a chance to beat USC.”

Once again the Bruins were led by red-shirt freshman quarterback Hundley. Hundley had the Trojans’ defense confused the whole game with his passing and running. He completed 22 of 30 passes for 234 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions. He also ran for 49 yards and two touchdowns. USC’s quarterback, pre-season Heisman Trophy candidate Matt Barkley completed 20 of 38 passes for 301 yards and three touchdowns but he also threw two costly interceptions.

“I thought Brett made key plays when he needed to,” said Mora. “He kept his eyes down field and he made the money throws, the hard throws at the important times of the game. We are just seeing the beginning of how great Brett Hundley can be. It’s going to take a lot of hard work but he is a young man who is willing to put in the work. He has great coaching and he is a tremendous leader.”

Hundley gives a lot of credit to his offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Noel Mazzone and his teammates. “I am so blessed to be a part of this team, “said Hundley. “The receivers, the coaches, the offensive line, special teams and the defense are all doing a great job. Remember defense wins championships.”

The Bruins can’t relax because they battle No. 14 Stanford Saturday at the 3:30 p.m. at the Rose Bowl. Stanford is coming off one of the biggest wins in school history, a 17-14 overtime win over No. 1 Oregon.

If the Bruins play with the same intensity Saturday they showed against USC, UCLA will be 10-2 for the Saturday night and will go into the conference championship game with a lot of momentum.

Steve Findley is a former Daily sports editor and columnist. Steve can be reached at sfinley@aol.com