USC Football: UCLA Taking Extreme Precautions Ahead Of Trojans Battle

Tradition.

As rivalry week kicks off, the longstanding USC-UCLA tradition of attempting to damage the other team's statues is in full-swing. 

While USC protects Hecuba and Tommy Trojan, UCLA protects The Bruin and John Wooden statue. That's just the way the cookie crumbles, as James H. Williams of The Orange County Register notes.

UCLA is already preparing for rivalry week against USC. The football game will take place at the Coliseum next Saturday.

The Bruin and John Wooden statue are being covered up. pic.twitter.com/ciUd19bwU6

— James H. Williams covers UCLA football (@JHWreporter) November 7, 2023

This tradition of historic vandalism is long-standing, and while encouraging the commitment of a crime is never a good idea, it's no secret that this is something that come rivalry week, everyone on both sides lets fly. 

It's part of the beauty of a century-long rivalry that USC leads 50-33, as they look to put up back-to-back wins for the first time since the 2019 and 2020 NCAA seasons. 

Further, Lincoln Riley's Trojans look to avoid a 7-5 season, which would likely put them in a low-end bowl game. Chip Kelly's 6-4 Bruins have their own series of issues going on, as their offense was held to just one touchdown during a 17-7 loss to the Arizona State University Sun Devils team that had been 2-7 entering their Rose Bowl matchup last night. 

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