USC versus Cal and UCLA versus Arizona State both showed us on Saturday night why the big Nov. 19 game between the Trojans and Bruins promises a lot of offensive fireworks and defensive ineptitude. Both teams contain the same basic identity: Their offenses are elite and will be extremely hard to stop. Their defenses are ordinary at best, terrible at worst, and have to find a way to make a few leverage-bearing plays each game. They don’t have to be amazing, but they do have to be remotely competent and handle key moments.
This leads us to the discovery of just how similar UCLA’s and USC’s Saturday games were in Week 10. Let’s go through the details: