It didn't take long for the USC Trojans to strike first in the City Championship. On the first drive of the game, Matt Barkley drove the men of Troy 72 yards down the field with four plays in one minute, 45 seconds to score the game's first touchdown. The UCLA Bruins were in a position to tie it up, but went for it on fourth down in USC's red zone and failed. That led to the second Trojans touchdown, and they lead 14-0.
Matt Barkley has been excellent, using short accurate throws to get the Trojans down the field. On the first drive, he went 4/4 as the Trojans gained all their yards through the air. On the second scoring drive, two passes for less than ten yards set up a ten yard Marc Tyler run. Then two plays later, Curtis McNeal found a seam and ran 73 yards down the sideline for the touchdown.
UCLA's first drive went 79 yards even though it ultimately ended on a turnover on downs. On fourth and goal on the USC one yard line, UCLA elected to go for it but the handoff to Derrick Coleman went nowhere. UCLA's second drive ended three and out.
At the end of the quarter, USC is in UCLA territory threatening to score again. Matt Barkley has thrown for 140 yards already, McNeal has 84 yards rushing, and Marqise Lee has 83 yards receiving. UCLA needs to turn it around in a hurry, or this game could get out of hand.