Saturday afternoon’s crosstown rivalry showdown might come down to which team can clean things up enough to take advantage of the other’s weakness.
UCLA’s offense and USC’s defense will try to put its respective struggles behind with the Victory Bell on the line at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. and will air on ABC.
As the Bruins (6-4, 3-4 Pac-12) look to avenge last season’s 48-45 loss and repaint the Bell, hovering like a cloud over the program is the future of head coach Chip Kelly.
The Trojans (7-4, 5-3 Pac-12) are nearly two weeks removed from their own decision, firing defensive coordinator Alex Grinch after their College Football Playoff aspirations diminished after each porous performance.
Here’s what to watch for Saturday:
Win one for the Chip-ster?
Nothing is set in stone, but another rough outing would only further fuel speculation that Kelly could find himself unemployed before the end of the weekend.
While the tone at practices were considerably more somber this week, Kelly did his best to downplay any concerns that this is where his six-year tenure comes to an end.
If UCLA needed any added inspiration to end its current two-game skid, rallying around Kelly could be the avenue.
“My concern is playing USC,” Kelly said. “We always focus on being the most prepared and the least distracted, so anything that isn’t the upcoming opponent is just distracting us from our job.”
