It All Comes Down to the Bruins

We hope that everyone had an enjoyable and relaxing Thanksgiving holiday with their friends and family. Unfortunately for Notre Dame Fighting Irish fans, their happy holiday weekend became somewhat unpleasant at about 6:30pm on Saturday as the Trojans turned up the heat in second half to beat the Irish 41-10. In what has become typical for Trojan football, USC got off to a slow start but completely dominated the Irish in the second half.

Tailgate Review and UCLA Logistics

• This was a long day of tailgaiting in the cold and rain, but there was still a great turnout
• Some of the younger Trojan fans stayed home to watch the game on TV, but still had the spirit

• There are a lot of "thank yous" to hand out this week so here we go. Thanks to Phil Navarro for bringing and cooking the tasty lobster and albacore
• Thanks to Aaron Wooler for the keg...AT has taken care of us well this year!
• Huge thanks to Andy Hoover, Matt & Dan Cherrie, Marcus & Aaron Wooler, Phil Navarro and Brendan Grubbs for showing up early (real early!), securing our location and helping set up...we are counting on you again this week!
  
• Thank you to Jennifer Ignacio and Curt Himebauch for the nice warm gumbo
• We have fond memories of tailgating at the Rose Bowl (UCLA game 2002 and Michigan game last year) and we are going all out again this year
• This is the last tailgate of the year and needless to say this is a huge game for the Trojans
• We will be set up in Lot H (Click here for Rose Bowl Maps), which opens at 6:30am. We will be there when the lot opens and be set up by 7am to watch GameDay. Kickoff is at 1:30pm
• Lot H is a large grass lot on the South side of the Rose Bowl (South of the golf course, but North of swim stadium)
• Exact location in the lot will depend on parking attendants, but look for our 3 USC flags and satellite dish
• Breakfast will be served (eggs, pancakes, bagels, coffee) and we will likely have a light lunch(burgers, etc)
• We are fortunate to have some great football games to watch while tailgaiting. Virginia Tech plays Miami at 10am with the winner advancing to a BCS bowl. This should take us right up to kickoff.
• We plan on having an extended tailgate post-game as Rose Bowl traffic is just unbearable and we can watch the second half of the SEC Championship game and the first half of the Big 12 Championship game
• Please let Tim know if you plan on attending the tailgate this week

Looking Back at the Irish and Ahead to the Bruins

• The Irish are an improved team and had a nice scheme against the Trojans in the first half
• USC made some adjustment in the second quarter and dominated the game from that point forward
• It was great to see Steve Smith and Chris McFoy back on the field and healthy...their presence was a huge boost to the Trojan offense
• Leinart threw for a career high 400yds and a career tying 5TD passes....ND had never given up 5TD passes in one game and has now done so two games in a row (Pitt, USC)
• Alex Holmes played his best game of the year....Alex and Dominique Byrd make it difficult for defenses to cover the middle of the field
• UCLA is clearly a better team this year than last year....though different. The strength of this team is their running game led by Maurice Drew, Manuel White and Chris Markey
• The Bruin OL is solid and has propelled the Bruins to a the Pac 10's second leading rushing team while allowing a Pac 10 low 14 sacks
• The Bruin have talented pass catchers with Craig Bragg, Junior Taylor, Tab Perry and TE Marcedes Lewis....make no mistake, this is a very talented and dangerous Bruin offense
• The UCLA defense has really struggled and is currently ranked 5th in the conference in pass defense, 10th in run defense (109th nationally) 7th in scoring defense and 10th in total defense
• Look for the Trojans to come out passing to set up the run....probably some early throws to the tight ends and backs to loosen up the Bruin LBs
• Expect the crowd to be about 40,000 Trojans and 55,000 Bruins
• Congratulations to Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush who were named Pac-10 Co-Offensive Players of the Year. Shaun Cody was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year as well
• 7 Trojans made first team all conference including Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush (at RB and Kick Returner), Shaun Cody, Mike Patterson, Lofa Taputu, Matt Grootegood and Tom Malone
• This is a heated rivalry game on the road which is never easy. Let's hope the Trojans can grind out another hard fought victory over the Bruins

Fight On!