Maybe it was because they knew it was their last game of the season, but the USC Trojans showed the UCLA Bruins no mercy on their way to an absolute rout; winning 50-0. This was USC's highest point total since the 2002 meeting (the 66 point 2005 game was vacated), and the largest margin of victory since 1930 - the second time these two schools met on the gridiron. The last time USC shutout UCLA was 2001.
The quarterback behind USC's biggest drubbing of UCLA since 1930 was Matt Barkley, who broke several records on his own. When Matt Barkley threw his 34th completion he broke a USC single season record he set earlier in the year against Minnesota. Barkley threw his 39th touchdown pass tonight with a 41 yard strike to Robert Jones, that broke the Pac-12 all time single season record, and was his sixth touchdown of the night, tying the school record he set earlier in the year.
Of course, Matt Barkley couldn't have done it without an amazing receiving core. Marqise Lee and Robert Woods both had more than ten catches in the game, a USC first, and both went over 1,000 yards on the season (fourth time in USC history). They were able to set USC records for catches by teammates, yards by teammates, and touchdowns by receiving teammates.
Robert Woods also set individual records, breaking Keyshawn Johnson's record for catches in a season. He and Lee both went over 100 yards receiving today, with Lee gaining 224 yards. That's a bit easier to do when your quarterback throws for 423 yards.
Curtis McNeal ran for 124 yard tonight, which puts him over 1,000 yards on the season. It's not surprising that a ten win team has so many standouts, but largely because of the sanctions against USC, it seems like their accomplishments have been ignored by the national media. Still, Matt Barkley can probably expect to get an invite to New York after the performances he's had over the last half of the season.
There was one touchdown in the fourth quarter, a 41 yard strike from Barkley to Robert Woods. Three of Barkley's touchdown passes tonight were over 40 yards.
The only positive for UCLA is that their season doesn't end here. They get to travel to Eugene for the Pac 12 championship on Friday. However, they'll need to find something between now and then that they certainly didn't have tonight.