UCLA Football: 5 reasons the Bruins will be better than USC in 2018

Chip Kelly, Michigan transfer Wilton Speight, and experience on defense will all contribute to UCLA football being the top team in Los Angeles this year.

Like most cities with two major sports teams, there is a significant divide in the side one takes. You’re either born a fan of one team or born a fan of the other…and you stay that way for your entire life. You’re either a Yankees fan or a Mets fan. Jets or Giants. Well in Los Angeles, the rivalry and passion for UCLA and USC is no different.

In order to keep a rivalry healthy, there needs to be a reasonable chance that either team could win from year to year. For example, after Navy beat Army for the 13th year in a row in 2015, the rivalry started to die for everyone but those who played in the game. Luckily, for the health of the rivalry, Army has won the past two games.

And the UCLA-USC rivalry is no different. Historically, we have seen primarily 3-6 year streaks where one team will dominate the rivalry. From 2007-2011, USC won every game and had the better team. In the three years from 2012-2014, the trend swung in favor of the Bruins. The past three years the Trojans have been the better team.

However, in 2018, the UCLA Bruins will reestablish themselves as the top team in Los Angeles. The first reason the Bruins will be better than USC is the return of Chip Kelly to college football.

1. Pac-12 Coaching Guru

Not only is Chip Kelly one of the best coaches in the Pac-12, but he is also one of the best coaches in the country. Prior to leaving for the NFL, Coach Kelly kept Oregon in contention for the National Champion and best team in the country for years. Chip Kelly has a great track record in the Pac-12, and has no reason not to continue his dominance in the conference.

UCLA struggled last year on offense, despite having one of the top quarterbacks in the country. Coach Kelly has shown his strength in coaching is in improving offensive efficiency. With three viable options at quarterback (Wilton Speight, Devon Modster, and Dorian Thompson-Robinson), two capable running backs (Bolu Olorunfunmi and Soso Jamabo) and a solid offensive line, look for the Bruins to dominate Pac-12 defenses.

Additionally, when Chip Kelly was hired, along came a great set of assistant coaches that will contribute to improving UCLA’s game, particularly on defense. Coach Kelly has brought in Coach Jerry Azzinaro to be the defensive coordinator. Coach Azzinaro has served under Kelly at all of his past three coaching jobs as a defensive assistant. Azzinaro brings tons of experience to a defensive group that underperformed last year.

As for USC, Coach Clay Helton is a good coach, who has done well thus far with the Trojans. Though, Clay Helton is no Chip Kelly. Furthermore, Coach Helton had a Sam Darnold quality quarterback leading his offense for the past two years. This won’t be true for the coming seasons, and therefore, will require more of Coach Helton to prepare his offense.

2. Options at Quarterback

As previously mentioned, the UCLA Bruins have three candidates for the starting quarterback job. The first, who was last year’s backup, is Devon Modster. Modster has two starts under his belt. The first being when Josh Rosen was out with an injury, and the second being when Rosen decided to sit out the Cactus Bowl in preparation for the NFL draft. While Modster looked solid in these performances, especially in the Cactus Bowl, he was nothing spectacular.

This spring, former University of Michigan quarterback, Wilton Speight, met with Coach Kelly regarding his interest in transferring as a graduate student to UCLA. In 2016, Speight passed for 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions with a 62 percent completion rate. Keep in mind, these numbers were earned in a very tough Big 10 conference. A Chip Kelly ran offense, with a mature, experienced quarterback, has the potential to run up the score on many Pac-12 teams.

However, there is another name in the hat for the starting job.  Dorian Thompson-Robinson is a notable incoming recruit who has a chance to give Speight and Modster a run for their money. Thompson-Robinson, from Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, is an athletic quarterback who has good mobility. My money is on Speight to win the job early this fall. Should an injury sideline Speight, look for Thompson-Robinson to take over the starting job.

There is also a three way competition at quarterback on the other side of town. And there doesn’t appear to be a favorite out of the three. Sophomore Matt Fink and red-shirt freshman Jack Sears are the veteran quarterbacks…who have very little experience. On the other hand, freshman JT Daniels is the new kid on the block with the lots of excitement buzzing around his name. Regardless who starts for the Trojans, none are even close to the quality of Wilton Speight.

3. Defense Wins Championship

Now I’m not suggesting that UCLA will be in contention for the Pac-12 Championship. However, with USC likely starting freshman, JT Daniels, the UCLA Bruins will have the upper hand in the rivalry game. UCLA’s defense struggled significantly last year, and injuries were a big factor in the lack of defensive performance.

The team returns over 15 defensive players who saw relevant playing last year. Therefore, with one more year of development for many of these players, Coach Azzinaro has a handful of weapons to put together a forceful defensive group. Furthermore, UCLA should have a lock-down secondary by returning Nate Meadors and Darnay Holmes at cornerback and Adarius Pickett at safety.

There’s no way of telling how injuries are going to impact the Bruins this year. However, with such depth on the defensive side of the ball, Coach Azzinaro can rest easy that “the next man up” will fill in any role with little to no issue. So at the end of the year, when other teams are fatigued and broken from the season’s grind, the Bruins will be able to maintain their defensive performance…especially in a rivalry game.

USC’s defense was fairly good last year…much better than UCLA’s. But with foreseeable issues on offense for the Trojans, their defense will be on the field much more than they were last year. Simply, with a worse offense, the likelihood for defensive struggles increases.

4. Schedule and Predictions

UCLA’s schedule is not necessarily easy. However, the schedule does give the Bruins a better opportunity to win many of the games that can go either way. UCLA opens up the season at home against Cincinnati. Although UCLA would be favored were this game to be played in Cincinnati, a home game allows the Bruins to get their feet underneath them early in the season with many new faces on the field and sidelines.

Heading to Oklahoma will be a challenge for the Bruins and a likely loss. However, this will also give UCLA an early look at the highest level of play in college football. Fresno State at home and Colorado in Boulder should both be wins for UCLA. This will bring their record to 3-1. After a tough game against Washington, the Bruins will head up to Berkeley to face the Cal Bears.

UCLA should be at 4-2 before heading into the toughest part of their season. The Bruins are fortunate to face Arizona and Utah both at home. Halfway through the season, Coach Kelly should have this offense firing on all cylinders and be able to win both of these games, bringing their record to 6-2. Furthermore, these wins will give the team a boost in confidence. The Bruins then have to head to Oregon and Arizona State for the next two weeks.

Those two games are essentially toss-ups. After the two road games, UCLA gets to host USC for the big game. With home field advantage, UCLA and Chip Kelly are poised to take back the rivalry in a blowout game against the Trojans. After a big win and confirmation that the Bruins are the best team in Los Angeles, UCLA plays Stanford at home. UCLA should finish up the season at 8-4 and a chance to be in first place in the Pac-12 South.

5. Cultural Differences

In Los Angeles, there are significant cultural differences between the fans of UCLA and the fans of USC. Furthermore, there are large differences in the nature of the two schools and many of the students who attend the school.

The University of California, Los Angeles is a public school. UCLA is one of 32 public, four-year institutions in California. USC, however, is a private university. According to the LA Times, the one year estimate for tuition at USC in 2016 was approximately $70,000. For that reason, many people refer to USC as the University of Spoiled Children. This nickname sheds light to one of the generalizations made regarding the culture of USC.

Although, there are indeed some contradictions to the generalizations when comparing USC and UCLA. USC is located in downtown Los Angeles where crime and homeless rates are raging. UCLA, on the other hand, is located in Brentwood, which is located between Beverly Hills and Malibu.

You can decide for yourself on the way in which you view the two schools. However, I would suggest the humility maintained by those who associated with UCLA, both fans and members of the institution, will give UCLA the edge over USC this season.