Facing USC, the numbers don't add up well for the Bruins
UCLA FOOTBALL FYI
The fifth-ranked Trojans are a 30-point favorite. UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel's hopes for an upset may depend on keeping the score close near the end.
UCLA goes into this week's crosstown rivalry game as a 30-point underdog to fifth-ranked USC. But that's just the start of the lopsided numbers.
This season, the Trojans are outscoring UCLA by almost 20 points a game. And their defense is surrendering an average of 21 points less.
On the ground, USC is doing almost 120 yards a game better. Through the air, the advantage is 36 yards.
UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel has been saying all season that his team's best chance for success is to keep the score close into the final minutes and hope for a close victory.
It worked in the season opener against Tennessee, and it almost worked last weekend at Arizona State, where UCLA was driving for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, down 17-9. "We were fighting hard to stay alive," Neuheisel said.
But the Bruins fall apart at the end, as they have so often this season. Their coach said it was simply a case of "not being quite good enough."
Any hopes for an upset against USC are equally simple. As Neuheisel put it, "We have to be better."
Wharton is a Times staff writer.
david.wharton@latimes.com
