USC Football: Can The Trojans Continue Their Dominance Of UCLA?

Look ahead to USC's matchup with UCLA. What do the Trojans have to do to handle their rivals?

DC Trojan, Conquest Chronicles - Pay attention, pay attention, pay attention. Jim Mora has been able to do something with the talented players recruited by Neuheisel, and UCLA can put together a balanced game - although I don't want to sell short the tremendous season that Jonathan Franklin has been having. The defense is going to have to work hard to avoid giving up big plays to Franklin and Hundley. That said, I think SC matches up reasonably well with UCLA, there's no one WR that UCLA can use to try and wreak havoc, and SC can gain yards especially in the passing game. Also, UCLA is as penalized as SC has been. If SC can simply limit penalties, do what they do well on offense, and the defense wins a few series, they should be able to get the win. Nothing fancy, in other words.

Josh Webb - Reign of Troy - Honestly? Just play their game free of mental mistakes. Look, as good as the Bruins might be, the Trojans have too much talent on both sides of the ball for the Bruins to keep up if they play mistake-free football. I realize that this is rivalry week and people might view this as a "shots fired" response, but USC is the only team in the nation to put 50+ on Oregon. I think that UCLA is much better than any team fielded under Pistol Rick, but I don't think they're quite where they want to be when it comes to depth and veteran playmakers. I think that the Trojans just need to keep their emotions in check and play their game. Whether or not they can do that.......

Trevor Wong, Conquest Chronicles - Be 100 percent focused and not turn the ball over. Cliche answers, I know, but it's the truth. The Trojans have a combined 13 turnovers in their last three games. Giving your opponent that many more opportunities to score certainly won't get it done, especially in a rivalry game on the road.

What's your score prediction for USC-UCLA and why?

DC Trojan, Conquest Chronicles - it's hard to see this being a middle of the road game; either it's another in the range of 13 - 9, or there will be smoke coming out of the scoreboard at the Rose Bowl. If I were optimistic, I'd say USC 54 - 28, but I think it will be within a couple of scores, hopefully 42 - 31 or in that range. (Now watch UCLA win by 30 or some such thing...)

Josh Webb - Reign of Troy - This is difficult given the emotions headed into this game and USC's problems with penalties. Additionally, Robert Woods is displeased with his role in the offense enough for him to complain about it on Twitter. That said, I think that this game will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 48-35 USC. The why is simple: UCLA hasn't proven that they can hang with the Trojans for most of the new millennium.

Trevor Wong, Conquest Chronicles - Calling it 45-34, USC. Both teams will put points on the board, but the Trojans will take care of the ball, be efficient on offense and do just enough on defense to slow down Brett Hundley and Johnathan Franklin.