There's not many places where you can attend two spring scrimmages in one day. But if you happened to be in the City of Angels on Saturday, it was the day to pull off this rarest of feats.
USC staged its spring finale at 1 p.m. at the Coliseum and UCLA started its festivities at 7 p.m. at the Rose Bowl. The two venues are only 17 miles apart, but there is risk involved — namely congested freeways.
I was one of the few, the proud to pull it off and live to tell about it. Here are some images from both scrimmages.
That's Mitch Mustain under center. The one-time Arkansas quarterback has tumbled to third on the USC depth chart.
Freshman Matt Barkley launches a pass. ESPN analyst Mel Kiper said this on Saturday about Barkley: "I said three-and-a-half years ago, Matthew Stafford to be the No. 1 pick and I'm going on record now to say ... three years Matt Barkley — who will be a true freshman this year — will be the No. 1 pick in the draft. Three years from now."
Barkley wasn't perfect. In this sequence, he throws an interception.
Starting quarterback Aaron Corp, when told that Ohio State drew 95,722 for its spring scrimmage compared to only 22,565 for USC: "Ohio State doesn't have a beach! I don't blame our fans. It gets loud in here in the fall."
An estimated 12,000 were on hand to check out the Bruins at the Rose Bowl.
Rick Neuheisel addressed the fans several times during the scrimmage. He introduced Dick Vermeil, who 33 years earlier coached the Bruins to an upset of Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. Vermeil told the crowd that UCLA "got the right guy" when it hired Neuheisel.
UCLA alumni cheerleader Geoffrey Strand was in the stands. Check out this YouTube video of Strand at the 2006 USC-UCLA game.
Korey and Kyle Bosworth posed for photographs after the scrimmage. Uncle Brian Bosworth was nowhere to be found.
The end of the road. No better way to complete a memorable day.
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