Saturday, November 4, 2023
We joined a slew of old Husky alumni friends and some new Trojan friends as well today at the venerable, iconic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The occasion, you ask?
The 86th renewal of the
Washington vs. USC football rivalry
The high flying, #5 ranked Washington Huskies (8-0) were taking on a dangerous #20 ranked Trojan squad (7-2) that was led by their amazing, 2022 Heisman Trophy winning QB, Caleb Williams.
This series started 100 years ago with a 22-0 Washington victory in Seattle on October 20, 1923.
Despite that initial UW victory, the Trojans have a commanding lead in the series with a tally of 52 wins, 29 losses and 4 ties.
The Huskies have been hard pressed over the years to find wins in Los Angeles against USC. The Trojans have owned us in games played in the Southland where they have 32 wins vs. 11 losses against the Huskies.
Today's game was the first one in Los Angeles since 2015 due to PAC-12 scheduling quirks and the pandemic cancelling the 2020 game at the Coliseum.
Two EXCELLENT QBs with
2023 Heisman Trophy aspirations
would be in command of their teams
We arrived at the USC campus at about 10:30 am for the 4:30 pm kickoff.
The reason for our early arrival was threefold. We wanted to get a good parking spot, Jacob wanted to tour the campus and we wanted plenty of time to enjoy the splendid Husky tailgate set up by friends Dan and Diane Claridge.
Let's start with the campus tour.
"Fight On" indeed
Jacob trying to pull the
magical Trojan Sword from a stone
No dice.
We entered the outdoor USC Athletic Hall of Fame Walk.
USC's legendary, passionate
Assistant Football Coach
1950s RB "Jaguar" Jon Arnett
and
Olympic Swimming Champion
and movie star "Buster" Crabbe
The McKeever twins were
terrors on the football field
also in the 1950s
What a name!
Another great USC name from the
1950s-1960s
On to USC's Heritage Hall which was Jacob's desired viewing spot.
This year's National Championship Trophy
was on display, part of the TV broadcast
we assumed
We were correct as it turned out, more of this later.
There were several of these
trophies in Heritage Hall
Does anybody know what they represent?
Jacob posing with the
National Championship Trophy
As it turns out, the four jerseys
represent Trojans who won that
mysterious trophy I posted earlier
football coach John McKay
USC QB Matt Leinart won this
2005 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm award
Suddenly my phone exploded,
NEWS FLASH: USC's uniform choice today
YIKES, I needed a drink.
Wouldn't you know it they were
setting up a bar as we walked
Sharing a free tequila shot with
some of our newest Trojan friends
They assured me that the USC uniform news flash was 100% FAKE NEWS!
Thank goodness, it called for shots for everyone.
On to the tailgate . . .
Michael with Susie Johnson
One lone Husky tailgate set-up amid a sea of Cardinal and Gold.
Fortunately, everyone was friendly and cordial sharing food, libations and friendly banter.
The consensus was that the first team to 70 points today would win.
Jason Broussard, Dan and Diane Claridge
were our wonderful, gracious tailgate hosts
They put on a FABULOUS spread.
USC Roy, a 1992 Trojan graduate,
would be attending his 393rd straight
USC game, both home and away today
Jacob and I discussing the nuances
of the old USC Student Body Right Sweep
Dan and Michael bonding time
An old Husky jersey on a chair
with this good memory from our
beloved Freedom Bowl in Anaheim
The 8-4 Huskies defeated the 7-5, Emmitt Smith led Florida Gators, 34-7 on that long ago day.
Legal ticket broker to the Huskies,
Mark Johnson, distributing our tickets
Croatian confidant Paul Sabolić
Goodness Gracious!
What does this even mean?
Everyone had a delightful time at the tailgate but it was now getting close to Game Time.
As I said earlier,
100 years old this season
The Husky Band marching
by us outside the Coliseum
LOVE the tuba section!
A lone Husky in a sea
of Cardinal and Gold
Our entry gate was JAMMED but . . .
. . . we made it in eventually
Dawgs on the march
The game was just as offensively wild as we all thought, the score at the half was UW 35 - USC 28.
Defense? Forget about it . . .
Lots of USC Football history on
display if you blow up this photo
score!! Score!! SCORE!!!
GAME TOTALS
Passing UW 256 yards - USC 312 yards
Rushing UW 316 yards - USC 203 yards
Total Offense UW 572 yards - USC 515 yards
That is an incredible, defenseless, eye popping combined Total Offense of 1,087 yards!
I was so impressed with USC QB Caleb Williams again today. If he wins the Heisman Trophy again this year, I would be fine with it.
FINAL SCORE
#5 Washington (9-0) - 52
#20 USC (7-3) - 42
Now the series stands at
USC 52 wins - UW 30 wins - 4 Ties
In the Second Half of the game, Ryan Bolland sent me the photo below of his TV tuned into our game.
As it turned out, unbeknownst to us, they were filming a Dr. Pepper National Championship Trophy ad this morning while we were in Heritage Hall.
There we are in the lower left
corner of the ad!
The paparazzi just won't leave us alone!
Suffocating.
Besides the big win, I got a
ton of much needed exercise today
What a fun day we all had with our Husky family!
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