Cross-town Rivalry

There are many great rivalries in college football today that span decades. Ohio State-Michigan, Auburn-Alabama, Texas-Oklahoma, Army-Navy, Harvard-Yale, Stanford-Cal just to name a few. USC-Notre Dame has the preeminent intersectional rivalry in the country.  In an era of conference realignments and chasing big money contracts, the sanctity of century old rivalry games are facing extinction. Texas-Texas A&M have likely ended their annual matchup which dates back to 1894 and this is just one of many. However there is only one rivalry with two teams from the same city; USC and UCLA. Both schools are located in LA and only separated by twelve miles.  There is no other rivalry in the country that has so much overlap in the same geographic region, often with family members, great friends, and co-workers on opposing sides of the rivalry. On one day every year, the city is divided into Trojan cardinal and gold and Bruin blue and gold. It is a special rivalry and one the players and fans love to be a part of. There is a certain energy to this game that is unique to all others. As a player on game day, it is amazing to arrive to the Coliseum or Rose Bowl and see the enormous crowds with the clash in colors, and the passion of all of the fans.  The rivalry against Notre Dame has a national following but there is nothing quite like USC-UCLA within the city of Los Angeles.

The Early Days

The Trojans were already an established football power under legendary Coach Howard Jones and had a major rivalry with Notre Dame when UCLA joined the Pacific Coast Conference in 1929. UCLA did not open as the University of California Southern branch until 1919, some 39 years after USC was founded.  UCLA began as a two-year institution, developed into a four-year school in 1924, and came of age quickly enough by 1929, that they were ready take on its cross-town rival for the first time in football. USC was already established and they had just won their first of 11 National Titles in 1928.  USC dominated the first two games over the fledgling Bruins 76-0 and 52-0, respectively.  In the first game, USC piled up a staggering 712 yards rushing! The game was suspended for five years 1931-1935 until UCLA was able to improve and they squeezed out a 7-7 tie and some much needed respect in 1936.  The rivalry began to flourish through the years, especially as UCLA's athletic prowess developed.  By the late 1930's, UCLA started getting star players such as Kenny Washington, Jackie Robinson, and Bob Waterfield which enabled UCLA to compete... 

To read the rest of this article from Shane Foley, of The Foley Report, click HERE .