Q&A with Daily Bruin football writer


USC’s biggest test of the season so far is finally here, as the No. 19 Trojans head across town to take on the No. 9 UCLA Bruins. UCLA has won the battle of L.A. the last two years, and the Trojans are hungry to take back the Victory Bell. The matchup features two of the Pac-12’s most accurate passers, in USC’s Cody Kessler and UCLA’s Brett Hundley. With a loss, USC would be knocked out of Pac-12 South championship contention. Daily Trojan sports editor Aubrey Kragen sat down with the Daily Bruin football beat writer, Kevin Bowman, to give fans a better picture of what to expect this Saturday.

 

Daily Trojan: This matchup features the top two running backs in the conference in USC’s Javorius “Buck” Allen and UCLA’s Paul Perkins. What style of a runner is Perkins?

Kevin Bowman: Perkins has really evolved this season under the tutelage of former USC running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu. Nothing about Perkins’ physical skills is all that eye-popping. He lacks break away speed, isn’t overly powerful and doesn’t have the slickest of juke moves. But what Perkins does have is intelligence. He has incredible vision and patience, and his ability do just run downfield and not try to dance around too much in the backfield like many young running backs is key to his success.

 

DT: UCLA QB Brett Hundley entered the season as a potential Heisman candidate and is one of the most efficient passers in the nation, so why has Hundley dropped out of the Heisman conversation as the year has gone on?

KB: Brett Hundley never really was a legitimate Heisman contender, and his fall from that conversation is largely due to the public finally realizing that. On paper, Hundley’s had a great season. He’s completed over 70 percent of his passes, thrown just four interceptions and been dangerous on the ground as well. But the reasoning for those impressive stats is also the reason he’s not a Heisman candidate.

Hundley has proven this year that he still lacks quality vision from the pocket. He often stares down one receiver too long, struggles to cycle through his reads and rarely throws a pass unless his target is wide open; he hasn’t shown enough faith in his receivers, or maybe in his own arm, to let them make difficult plays. So the result is Hundley throwing a whole lot of screen and swing passes – artificially boosting his completion percentage – and giving up on pass plays to just run. He’s been effective with his legs recently, but has a tendency to rely on them too heavily at the expense of the passing game.

 

DT: The Bruins’ offensive line struggled early in the season, but has drastically improved over the last couple games. How will they fare against USC’s vaunted front seven?

KB: This year’s O-line may be the best group UCLA has had in several years. The Bruins have probably at least eight lineman capable of starting and have been very effective in the five games since allowing 10 sacks to Utah. USC’s defensive line, however, will be the best group UCLA has faced since Utah. Coach Jim Mora and several players commented on the enormous talent of Leonard Williams and he’ll obviously be a challenge to contain. Still, the offensive line has developed into a strong group and likely won’t be dominated by the Trojans. It should definitely be an interesting battle to watch, though.

 

DT: UCLA recently climbed to No. 9 in the College Football Playoff poll and No. 11 in the AP rankings? Are the Bruins deserving of such high rankings? 

KB: UCLA came into the season ranked No. 7 in the AP poll. Back then, that was a gross over-ranking of the Bruins. Now, however, this UCLA team feels pretty deserving of its accolades. The Bruins have been dominant in their past two games, nearly shutting out a potent Arizona offense then running away from Washington in a challenging road environment. UCLA is also on pace to finish with one of the strongest strength of schedules in the nation, with early season “gimme” games against Texas and Memphis looking like good wins now that the Longhorns and the Tigers are both bowl eligible. UCLA is playing its best football of the year, is on a roll, and is deserving of its rankings.

 

DT: Who will be UCLA’s impact player of the game?

KB: As much as there is to critique Brett Hundley for, he’ll still be the biggest key to UCLA’s success. If he’s able to stay in the pocket and read the defense well – as he did last game – he could pick apart USC’s secondary through the air like he did Washington’s. However, even if he chooses to scramble more regularly, Hundley’s effectiveness on the ground has been critical in several of the Bruins’ wins this year. Whichever style Hundley ends up going with Saturday, UCLA needs him to excel at it.

 

DT: Final score?

KB: I have UCLA winning 38-24. USC clearly has some incredibly dangerous skill players on offense, but UCLA’s defense has stepped its performance up over the past two games. Combine that with USC’s tendency to struggle at the end of games and I think UCLA will be able to pull away. The one potential factor that could work against the Bruins is the return of national media attention and hype. They admitted to struggling with the College Football Playoff expectations at the beginning of the year and now that the possibility of reaching the playoffs has returned, if the Bruins get too emotional or tense for this game, things could get away from them.