Brett Hundley passed for 202 yards and rushed for 80 as No. 22 UCLA whipped No. 23 USC, 35-14, at the Coliseum on Saturday night.
UCLA improves to 9-3 overall and 6-3 in Pac-12 play while USC falls to 9-4 and 6-3.
It was the Bruins’ largest margin of victory over the Trojans since 1970.
And it may have put an end to whatever momentum that was behind USC interim head coach Ed Orgeron‘s bid to become the school’s permanent head man.
UCLA looked sharper than USC from the start and jumped out to a 14-0 lead behind Hundley’s arm and an array of well-time quarterback draws. The Trojans cut the lead to 14-7 at the half thanks to tailback Javorious Allen, scored USC’s first TD on his way to a game-high 123 yards on 20 carries.
But Hundley was just too good on this night. He drove the Bruins 85 yards in the third quarter and scored on a 12-yard run to push UCLA’s lead to 21-7. Trojan quarterback Cody Kessler responded with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Grimble, but Hundley’s five-yard run made it 28-14 at the end of the third quarter.
USC threatened to score on the ensuing drive, but Allen fumbled at the UCLA 20-yard line and the Trojans never crossed midfield again. UCLA tacked on a Paul Perkins 8-yard run in the fourth quarter to reach the final score.
UCLA has now beaten USC in back-to-back years for the first time since 1997-1998 and have back-to-back nine-win seasons for the first time since those years, too. Jim Mora Jr., is the first UCLA coach to beat USC in his first two meetings since Bob Toledo back in the mid-1990s.
Can Orgeron survive this kind of loss, which also snaps USC’s five-game win streak? Trojan athletic director Pat Haden is going to have a very difficult decision to make. The bet here is that this game probably ended any chance Orgeron has of being named USC’s permanent head coach.