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It would be hard to blame fans of the UCLA Bruins for celebrating the end of a six-year winless period against the USC Trojans, after UCLA bested USC on Saturday, 38-28. And over at Bruins Nation, the celebration is well under way.
Countless reactions — of the instant, recap and morning-after variety — from Bruins Nation sang the praises of coach Jim Mora's squad, which also locked up a spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game and the Pac-12 South division title. But it was the players' performances against the Trojans that truly turned heads.
Thanks to resilience of Johnathan Franklin, Brett Hundley, the Bruin offense, some resilient defense in spots and spectacular special teams play (punting is winning after all). ... Brett Hundley was cool like a veteran. Johnthan Franklin with another huge game including an iconic game clinching TD. Shaq Evans had some huge catches.
The performance of some key players and taking advantage of USC mistakes, especially early, were welcome sights to the bloggers. Many said they had "waited" to write recaps like the ones they were penning in the aftermath of the victory.
Southern Cal continues their self destruction in the first quarter, as the ball is pitched to Lee and he fumbles and is CONFIRMED. We take advantage with Hundley lifting the ball to Fauria for a touchdown. 17-0. YES. On defense, we force SC into a fourth down situation, and Barkley looks for his BFF Marqise Lee, and the ball goes... nowhere.
And when it came to coaching, the bloggers didn't shy away from wholeheartedly endorsing the personality that coach Jim Mora had instilled in the program, especially looking back at the victory Sunday morning.
Well, it's a good thing that one person who didn't bristle at such high standards was Coach Jim Mora. He said as much in his preseason camp. His goals paralleled ours. And his coaching staff didn't shy away from high expectations, either. And most importantly, neither did the players.