After only two games, it is tough to gauge either of these teams because there have not been very many consistencies in their play. USC’s offense looked great during their victory 52-13 victory over Fresno State, but they won a low scoring, defensive battle this Saturday at Stanford, winning the game 13-10.
UCLA’s offense was lackluster in their season opening 28-10 win over Virginia, yet the defense saved the day by scoring three of four touchdowns. But, this past week against Memphis, their offense caught fire, while the defense struggled all night long in their 42-35 win.
What is known is that both teams are undefeated. They can take the wins any way they can get them, and figure out the issues later.
USC can hang their hat on one thing: they have a quality win, unlike UCLA. USC’s win at Stanford was a major victory for a program that is trying to regain control of the conference. Stanford has been the class of the PAC-12 over the past couple of years, and they have been a thorn in USC’s side for some time now. Traveling to the Bay Area and coming away with a win, albeit an ugly one, is a step in the right direction for USC. It shows that the team will be in the hunt for the PAC-12 title.
USC’s offense did not look anywhere near as good as it did in their victory over Fresno State, but USC did not make the mistakes that Stanford did.
UCLA, on the other hand, has been somewhat of a disappointment, even though they are undefeated. Not all wins are equal. Neither of their opponents are considered very good, and UCLA barely made it out of either of the games with the win. UCLA was supposed to open the season with two blowouts, and prove that they are real contenders, but instead they looked like a team that was just getting by.
There is nothing special about Memphis, but for most of the second half it appeared to be anybody’s ball game. UCLA had opportunities to put the game away, but as their offense continued to score, so did Memphis.
It is very early in the season, but as of right now, Los Angeles’ best college program appears to be USC. At least the polls think so. UCLA started the season ranked No. 7 in the AP poll, while USC was No. 15. UCLA has dropped each week, and now they sit at No. 12, while USC has jumped up to No. 9.
