Well, almost.
With just seconds remaining, USC had the game all but wrapped up. They were up two touchdowns with the ball, and all they needed was two more running plays to send everyone back to the locker rooms.
Not so fast my friend!
Pete Carroll dialed up a senseless 48 yard playaction touchdown from freshman Matt Barkley that sent both sidelines into a frenzy. With UCLA completely unsuspecting of anything other than a QB kneel, the Trojans sideline erupted with laughter and started taunting the Bruins from their sideline, now up 28-7.
UCLA wasn’t so thrilled with the play. Their entire team migrated halfway across the field, and about 3-4 skirmishes broke out. The coaching staffs did their best to prevent any real throwdown from happening, but it’s clear the line has been drawn in the sand. Carroll and Neuheisel can finally get over this puppy love they have for each other – even if Rick publicly blames his defense for not being on their toes, deep down there has to be some newfound ire directed towards the men of Troy.
USC fans do have a counter argument that holds at least some weight. Neuheisel called a meaningless timeout the play before to stop the clock with a minute remaining, even though the game was beyond over. Carroll’s play call might have had something to do with Rick taking the timeout to delay the inevitable, but it’s hard to tell. Both coaches are obviously going to take the high road for now, but there’s no way to avoid it come next year at the Rose Bowl.They’ll play the final week of the season on December 4th.
Most people wouldn’t make much ado over this if it wasn’t for Carroll’s disdain towards Jim Harbaugh, the coach of the Stanford Cardinal. His team clearly ran up the score on the Trojans, going for a meaningless two point conversion up 28 with just minutes left in the game. It was a statement game from Stanford, but there’s no way USC’s entire football department swallowed that easily.
UCLA’ s season is over, and are drawing serious interest from the Humanitarian Bowl. USC, with a win next week against Arizona, will probably earn a bid to the Holiday Bowl.
Here’s some video footage of what went down in the Coliseum.
Travis Yost is a native New Yorker and recent Arizona State University product . He is the team beat writer for the Ottawa Senators over at Hockey Buzz, and covers all sports here at The Prose. 
The way sports center showed it, Barkley had taken a knee with around 1 minute to go. Which, well, is pretty embarrassing for another team. At that point, USC was up by a large margin.
However, after seeing the kneel, Neuheisel decided to take a timeout. “Woa woa woa,” is what I can hear Carroll saying in my head.
So? He decides to go with a play. If you are going to take a timeout, then I won’t bother kneeing it again. Boom, touchdown. Even if the play hadn’t resulted in a touchdown, I can’t imagine the result would be much different. Both coaches took shots at each other, though it is clear that Carroll got the best of it with the win, the statement touchdown, and the angst of UCLA.
Can’t wait for this rivalry to truly heat up when Neuheisel gets his recruiting in order.
Pete Carroll is so fucking classless. IDC so much about the play call but his reaction afterward pretty much tells the story. Sure it’s a heated rivalry and it added some personality to the game I suppose but just win with some dignity. I agree Neuheisel probably shouldn’t have used the timeout but most head coaches would probably just use it anyway especially if it’s their last one.
Just win with some class for Christ’s sake.
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