USC, UCLA clash at Rose Bowl in Pasadena as teams seek bowl eligibility

PASADENA, Calif. (CNS) — UCLA will host USC Saturday night at the Rose Bowl in a matchup of teams looking for a win over their cross-town rival to cap a lackluster season.

The 5-5 Trojans need either a win over the Bruins or sixth-ranked Notre Dame next Saturday in their regular-season finale to become bowl eligible for the fifth time in six seasons.

The 4-6 Bruins must both beat USC and Fresno State next Saturday in their regular-season finale to become bowl eligible for the fourth straight season.

In their first seasons in the Big Ten Conference, both teams are 3-5 in conference play, tied for 12th in the 18-team conference.

USC is a 4 1/2 to five point favorite, depending on the oddsmaker.

The Bruins won last year’s game, 38-20, with Ethan Garbers throwing three touchdown passes and UCLA’s defense, then coached by D’Anton Lynn, sacking Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Caleb Williams four times and limiting the Trojans to 3 rushing yards .

Lynn left the Bruins 13 days later to become the Trojans’ defensive coordinator. Cornerback John Humphrey and safety Kamari Ramsey joined Lynn in the move from UCLA to USC after being starters in 2023. Ramsey leads the Trojans with five passing yards and is fourth with 43 tackles.

Jayden Maiava will make his second straight start at quarterback for USC. He threw for 259 yards and three touchdowns in his first start as a Trojan in last Saturday’s 28-20 win over Nebraska, which ended USC’s five-game losing streak in one-score games.

Garbers, a redshirt senior, has thrown for multiple touchdowns in each of his past four games, the first time he has accomplished that feat.

Statistically, the Trojans’ strongest facet is their punting game, leading Football Bowl Subdivision teams in net punting with a 46.18 yard average. Their second-highest ranked area is the passing offense, 13th in the FBS, averaging 288 yards.

UCLA is seventh in rushing defense, allowing 100.6 yards per carry. game and 11th in kickoff return defense, allowing 16 yards per carry. return.

USC leads the series 50-34-7, not including wins in 2004 and 2005 that were vacated as part of the sanctions issued by the NCAA for improper benefits accepted by 2005 Heisman Trophy-winning running back Reggie Bush and his family. The Bruins have won just seven of the last 25 meetings.

The winner will receive the Victory Bell, a 295-pound bell that originally hung atop a Southern Pacific freight locomotive and was given to the UCLA Alumni Association in 1939. In 1941, it was taken by a group of USC students who hid it on a number of different locations for more than a year.

After an intervention by school administrators, the student council presidents of both schools signed an agreement in 1942 that the winner of the football game would keep possession the next year, a tradition that has continued, along with painting the school bell’s cart the winner’s color.