DG on PX - Near melee shames USC, UCLA

Carroll, Neuheisel embarrassed the schools they represent and put their players at risk with shameful actions.

LOS ANGELES – For 59:08, it was just a bad football game. In those final 52 seconds, however, it became something ugly.

The rivalry between USC and UCLA that splits the city of Los Angeles in half nearly exploded in a riot, only a handful of coaches, officials and a few levelheaded players standing between a repeat of the Orange Bowl brawl.

It was arrogance and chest thumping at its worst and both coaches, Pete Carroll of USC and UCLA’s Rick Neuheisel, were squarely at fault.

There was no chance in hell the Bruins could score two touchdowns in 52 seconds. There was no reason to exhaust his three remaining time outs and put his players and the opposition at risk for serious injury.

Carroll and playcaller Jeremy Bates didn’t need to order quarterback Matt Barkley to throw a bomb to receiver Damian Williams, even if they knew for a fact the junior would be wide open and able to stroll into the end zone.

Instead of rubbing Neuheisel’s nose in it, he should have been the bigger man.

He wasn’t.

It set off posturing and yelling and aggression between the two teams, with a Bruin player shoving an official to the ground, albeit by accident.

If one player had crossed to the opposing sideline, it would have been a riot.

Fortunately, cooler head prevailed.

In the post-game exchange, Carroll and Neuheisel barely said two words, though one side probably felt like channeling Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh and asking, “What’s your deal?”

Carroll and Neuheisel compounded their mess by trying to defend their action.

“I was trying to make them punt and maybe if they run, we cause a fumble,” Neuheisel said. “But our job is to cover and they have every right to throw deep. Our job is to stop the play. I don’t blame them for doing it.”

Said Carroll: “That was just competing, and it was flawlessly executed. It is just the heart of a competitor, just battling.”

Instead, it was players like Terrence Austin and Williams, who showed class and congratulated the other side.

Ironically, that last minute was the only thing worth remembering. It overshadowed a penalty-marred mess that made the 3-2 debacle between Auburn and Mississippi State look like an offensive masterpiece.

The two teams committed 17 penalties for 167 yards, converted 9 of 28 third-down opportunities and had five turnovers.

It was a ragged mess from start to finish.

Billed as some sort of referendum on the state of the two programs, it raised more questions than answers.

USC’s beleaguered defense intercepted four passes and allowed just 3.8 yards per carry, but still allowed the quarterback - whether it was Kevin Prince or Kevin Craft - to scramble for critical yardage.

The progress shown by Prince and Bruin offense in recent weeks was clearly the result of playing the three worst teams in the Pac-10. Prince was 10 of 22 for 90 yards with two interceptions and probably would have been pulled had he not sprained his right shoulder.

The Trojans are probably headed to the Holiday Bowl with a win next week against Arizona, the Bruins holding out hope for an at-large invitation to the Eagle Bank or Humanitarian Bowl, but neither deserves it.

Not after the shameful display they instigated.

Commissioner Larry Scott got his introduction to big-time football by participating in the decision to suspend Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount. He would be well served concluding his first season by bringing down the gavel once more.