SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 22, 2014
No. 12 UCLA 38, No. 24 USC 20: Brett Hundley threw for 326 yards and three touchdowns as the Bruins dominated the visiting Trojans to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive.
Paul Perkins rushed 24 times for 93 yards and a score for UCLA (9-2, 6-2 Pac-12), which won its third straight against USC and can secure a spot in the Pac-12 championship game by defeating Stanford at home Friday. Hundley completed 22-of-31 passes while Thomas Duarte had 95 receiving yards and a score.
Cody Kessler passed for 214 yards and one touchdown with one interception for USC (7-4, 6-3), which was held to 276 total yards. Javorius Allen had 14 carries for 60 yards and a late touchdown while Nelson Agholor tied a season low with three receptions for 24 receiving yards.
Anthony Sarao gave USC a short-lived lead when he intercepted a pass and returned it 17 yards for a touchdown on UCLA’s first possession before Hundley responded with TD passes to Devin Lucien and Duarte. After the Trojans pulled even early in the second quarter on Kessler’s 2-yard TD pass to Justin Davis, UCLA seized control with 24 consecutive points.
Hundley went 15-of-19 for 201 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, including a 13-yard strike to Eldridge Massington with 45 seconds left to give UCLA a 24-14 lead. Perkins capped an 84-yard drive with a 10-yard TD run to open the second half and the Bruins cruised to their fifth straight win.
GAME NOTEBOOK: UCLA recorded a season-high six sacks and improved to 24-0 under coach Jim Mora when leading at the half. … Agholor was coming off back-to-back 200-yard receiving games for USC, which has lost three in a row to UCLA for the first time since 1996-98. … The leader at halftime has won eight straight games in the crosstown rivalry game.