The focal point of college football today is in Hollywood -- not in Houston, where Texas plays Colorado; not in Atlanta, where Louisiana State plays Georgia. The center of the college football universe is Los Angeles, where a unique local rivalry between Southern California and UCLA has become a fascinating national game.
The Bruins have won 9 of 10 games this season. If USC is the team of the century, a UCLA victory would be a tremendous upset simply because of what the Trojans have done recently and where the Bruins have come from.
We -- and I'm referring to that monstrous, East Coast bias "we" -- tend to think of big-time college football rivalries blossoming in small towns where college football is effectively pro football. (I realize that this naturally leads into a discussion of the evils of big-time athletics, but I refuse to go there today. Let's celebrate the rivalry and let it go at that.)
PHOTO: AFP
It's odd that a big game plays itself out in Tinseltown and not Tuscaloosa, Auburn, Knoxville, Gainesville, Ann Arbor or Columbus.
This is an in-house football squabble between two major institutions that thrive in one of our greatest cities.
"This one's different because your rival is your next-door neighbor," UCLA coach Karl Dorrell said Friday. "It's here, in Los Angeles; it's everywhere you go. There's either USC or UCLA fans."
Dorrell said he dropped off his son at school Friday only to be confronted by a sea of competing colors. "It's USC-UCLA day," he said. "Teachers that are USC fans are wearing their colors and the teachers that are UCLA fans are wearing their colors."
I was raised in the Midwest and remember watching USC-UCLA, but California was so distant, otherworldly. A geographic bias continues.
College football was invented in the Northeast, nurtured in the Midwest perfected in the South, and -- except for a moment here and there -- lost in the West. Even now, despite USC's tremendous three-year run, the West, in many minds, consists of USC and a hazy bunch of others who provide background music.
"That's really the stereotype out here," Dorrell said. "There's one great team on the West Coast and that's it. Our conference doesn't get a lot of respect compared to the SEC, the Big Ten, the ACC."
The Heisman Trophy winner will be named next week, but perhaps the most significant award will be Coach of the Year. If USC's Pete Carroll doesn't win it, Dorrell is my choice. He took over a listing UCLA program and in three seasons has put it in position to at least look USC in the eye.
Monday, Dorrell praised Carroll in front of the annual Rotary Club of Los Angeles USC/UCLA football rally.
"I don't mind telling you this right now," he said, looking at Carroll. "I think the coach of the year is the man I'm playing against tomorrow; that's Pete Carroll."
The audience, with a preponderance of USC supporters, applauded.
"He's won 33-plus games in a row -- that's pretty impressive," Dorrell said. "I won eight in a row this year; that's just a blink for him. That's hard to do in this profession, particularly when you have 11 opponents that gave them their best shot and came up short. And for them to endure and still be undefeated -- and they've been the No. 1-ranked team from the beginning of the season until this point right now -- that says a lot about his staff and his players. And I just want to let you know, Pete, you give me a lot of motivation."
Carroll took the podium, thanked the master of ceremonies for his introduction, then looked over at Dorrell, the young UCLA coach. "Karl, thanks for your introduction, too; I'm not buying into it, buddy," he said. "I didn't buy one word of that."
The audience roared, and even Dorrell had to laugh.
This rivalry has brewed, simmered and is now close to boiling over. For cross-town rivals to play a game of this magnitude for local bragging rights and national acclaim is a script fit for Hollywood.
Regardless of what happens today, USC and Texas should play for the national title next month. Please. To the voters and pollsters, don't make the system any more of a joke than it already is. The Penn State-Joe Paterno story is fine, but Texas and USC is the championship game and the championship moment. USC has been too dominant for too long for one loss to a fierce cross-town rival to knock it out of the championship game.
Dorrell agreed. "They had a tough schedule and won a lot of games on the road," he said.
He said he didn't even want to entertain a notion that didn't involve a UCLA victory today.
Gamesmanship abounds in Hollywood, and even the deities have been pulled into the fight.
Before the Rotary Club meeting, Dr. Alvin E. Rudisill, the chaplain emeritus at USC, led 500 members and their guests in prayer. It was a partisan prayer. He spoke of the UCLA Bruin and the USC Trojan horse.
"The Bruin is fast and furious," he said, but the horse has a rider, "and the rider has a sword.
"That sword has stuck down the Bruin 33 times.
"Lord," he ended "pity that Bruin."
That's a request the good reverend might regret.
Matt Kubik threw three touchdown passes and Louisiana Tech capitalized on five turnovers to deny No. 23 Fresno State a share of the Western Athletic Conference title with a 40-28 victory Friday.
Fresno State (8-4, 6-2) was in control of the WAC after ending a four-game losing streak to Boise State with a 27-7 win Nov. 10. Then came the trip to Los Angeles when Fresno State put a scare into USC and caught the attention of the nation before falling 50-42.
That led to a Liberty Bowl bid even though Fresno State had two games left and hadn't wrapped up the conference title. The emotions of the two big games appeared to have taken a toll on Fresno State, which lost 38-35 at Nevada last week before the collapse against Louisiana Tech (7-4, 6-2).
Boise State and Nevada are co-champions of the WAC. Louisiana Tech tied Fresno State for third, but its chances at a bowl bid are slim. Louisiana Tech could go to the Las Vegas Bowl if Oregon makes the BCS and has an outside shot at the Motor City Bowl if Ohio State goes to the BCS.
Kubik threw two touchdown passes in the final 2:03 of the first half to put Louisiana Tech in control and added a 30-yarder to Eric Newman in the third quarter after Fresno State scored on its first drive of the second half.
He finished 13-for-22 for 251 yards.
Freddie Franklin, who missed the last three games with a sprained ankle, ran for 120 yards and a touchdown. Newman caught three passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns.
Paul Pinegar went 33-for-54 for 358 yards and three interceptions in his final home start, with most of the yardage coming after Louisiana Tech took the big lead. Pinegar threw eight interceptions in his final three games after throwing only five in the first nine.
Pinegar threw three touchdown passes and Quaadir Brown returned a fumble 77 yards for a score in the second half but it wasn't enough to overcome a mistake-filled first half.
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