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UCLA, USC Set For Rivalry Showdown in Front of Sold Out Rose Bowl

Over 70,000 fans and a record student section will bear witness to the vicious Battle for the Victory Bell on Saturday.
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The Battle for the Victory Bell holds a special place among college football rivalries.

The Bruins and Trojans, whose campuses are located just 13.1 miles away from each other, will wage war over the city of Los Angeles for the 90th time on Saturday, resuming a local time-honored tradition. Opposing players have long played Pop Warner and high school football together, and many grew up as close friends.

There will be plenty of outsiders taking part in the Southern California showdown in 2022, though, with both No. 16 UCLA football (8-2, 5-2 Pac-12) and No. 7 USC (9-1, 7-1 Pac-12) utilizing hoards of transfers to fuel their respective turnarounds heading into the matchup. While it took the Bruins five years to build a conference title contender under coach Chip Kelly, the Trojans' resurgence took place virtually overnight with the arrival of coach Lincoln Riley and the top-tier talent that followed him there.

Among those superstars to join USC last offseason were former Pittsburgh wide receiver Jordan Addison and former Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams. The latter told reporters that he admittedly hasn't picked up on the buzz around the rivalry yet, despite the history and significance it holds in the city.

“Haven’t learned much to be honest with you," Williams said. "Just treating it like another game.”

On the UCLA side, meanwhile, former former Texas A&M receiver Kam Brown and former Duke receiver Jake Bobo compared the buildup to the game to Oklahoma-Texas, Texas A&M-Alabama and Duke-North Carolina. Riley, who left the Sooners a year ago, said the game reminded more of Oklahoma-Oklahoma State due to the proximity and late-season stage.

Kelly, a New Hampshire native who made it big in the Pacific Northwest, dismissed a question about how UCLA-USC may measure up to Oregon-Washington, but he still used his answer to highlight just how special the Bruins' rivalry game is.

"At Oregon, you could say that the Oregon-Oregon State game is the biggest game," Kelly said. "I think at this school, there's one game."

Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who hails from Las Vegas, didn't have any comparisons for the game. The fifth-year signal-caller was much more direct with his thoughts on his crosstown foes, who he torched for six total touchdowns last season.

"Obviously we hate those guys across town," Thompson-Robinson said. "It’s a bitter feeling with those guys."

Thompson-Robinson is 1-2 against the Trojans – not including the Bruins' 2018 victory when he played one snap – with the teams splitting their last two matchups. According to Thompson-Robinson, USC cussed at UCLA's players and flipped them off following the 2020 matchup, which the Trojans won 43-38.

With fans back in the stands in 2021, the Bruins did plenty of showboating of their at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum en route to their 62-33 victory. Thompson-Robinson notably signed a hat and tossing it into the stands following one rushing touchdown and hurdled a Trojan defender to get into the end zone to ice things late.

There will be plenty of fans at the Rose Bowl to witness what goes down Saturday, with UCLA announcing a sellout crowd of 70,865 – some of the tarps that covered the upper decks have been removed, while others have remained in place – as well as a record student section of 16,700.

For the local players taking part in the rivalry matchup – some transfers who came came, like former Michigan running back Zach Charbonnet, and others longtime mainstays, like cornerback John Humphrey – having family and friends on both sides brings a special feeling to the game.

"Just growing up out here, you hear about it all the time," Charbonnet said. "I'm just happy to be a part of it, especially being at UCLA, and I'm just excited to go out there with my brothers and play as hard as we can for as long as we can."

The crosstown showdown will also double as Senior Night for the Bruins, who have over 20 graduate students on a veteran-laden roster that could feature some high-profile outgoing talent, including Thompson-Robinson, Charbonnet and Bobo.

UCLA and USC will kick off at 5 p.m., and the contest will be televised on FOX. The game may not have the stakes it appeared it would a week ago – before the Bruins got upset by Arizona – but UCLA can still keep its hopes of Pac-12 title game and Rose Bowl appearances alive with a win.

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