USC Football: 3 takeaways from 2019 Victory Bell win over UCLA

1. USC defense stymied UCLA running back Joshua Kelley

Over UCLA’s recent run of dominance, Bruins running back Joshua Kelley has emerged as one of the most solid threats out of the backfield in the entire Pac-12. Kelley offers a capable set of hands as a safety valve in the passing game, but most importantly he is able to grind out hard chunks of yardage against almost any defense in the country.

The running back did show an ability to grind out tough yards against the Trojans, and he did punch in a short touchdown early in the fourth quarter. He is the type of player that can start to hurt defenses the longer the game goes on. Yet even though he did get into the endzone, Kelley never looked like he was able to get up to top gear against a USC defense that was giving up an average of 167 yards per game on the ground.

In the end, Kelley finished with only 45 total rushing yards on his 15 carries. That touchdown pulled the Bruins within 10 points in the fourth quarter, but it was the closest they would come as USC kept extending their lead further into double digits.

The only way that UCLA was going to be able to pull off an upset against USC was if Kelley got his motor running and plowed over the Trojans out of the backfield. Defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast and the Trojans staff had the unit ready for Kelley, and they neutralized the biggest threat to USC’s efforts to reclaim the Victory Bell.