2012: UCLA ends USC winning streak, 38-28

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Bruins quarterbacks Richard Brehaut (12) and Brett Hundley (17) celebrate with fans after their 38-28 victory over the Trojans on Saturday at the Rose Bowl. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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UCLA receiver Joseph Fauria celebrates after the Bruins defeated USC to earn a spot in the Pac-12 Conference championship game. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley, who ran for two touchdowns and passed for another, celebrates after defeating USC, 38-28, on Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Coach Jim Mora of UCLA and Lane Kiffin of USC shake hands after the Bruins defeated the Trojans, 38-28, on Saturday afternoon. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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UCLA Coach Jim Mora celebrates with players along the Bruins’ sideline as the final seconds tick away in a 38-28 victory over USC on Saturday afternoon. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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UCLA defensive end Cassius Marsh and linebacker Anthony Barr sack USC quarterback Matt Barkley in the second half Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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UCLA defensive tackle Datone Jones calls for the medical staff after USC quarterback Matt Barkley was injured on a sack in the fourth quarter Saturday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Trojans quarterback Matt Barkley leaves the field after sustaining an injury while being sacked by the Bruins in the fourth quarter Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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USC kicker Andre Heidari and UCLA linebacker Eric Kendricks react after a 38-yard field-goal attempt by the Trojans was blocked late in the game Saturday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Bruins running back Johnathan Franklin, who gained 171 yards in 29 carries, scores on a 29-yard run in the fourth quarter to help seal the 38-28 victory over the Trojans on Saturday. It was Franklin’s second scoring run in the game. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Bruins running back Johnathan Franklin crosses the goal line after one final block from receiver Shaquelle Evans during a 29-yard scoring run late in the game against USC on Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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UCLA defensive end Cassius Marsh, linebacker Erick Kendricks and linebacker Anthony Barr take down USC quarterback Matt Barkley in the second half Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Trojans safety Josh Shaw deflects a pass intended for Bruins receiver Jerry Johnson at the Rose Bowl on Saturday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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UCLA linebacker Anthony Barr wraps up USC quarterback Matt Barkley for a sack in the second half Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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UCLA cornerback Aaron Hester forces USC receiver Robert Woods to fumble after a reception Saturday. The Trojans retained possession on the play. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Trojans receiver Robert Woods hauls in a pass against Bruins safety Tevin McDonald during their rivalry game this fall. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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USC defensive lineman Morgan Breslin (91) high-fives team Anthony Sarao after he sacked UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley on Saturday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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USC running back Curtis McNeal, who finished with 153 yards rushing, breaks into the UCLA secondary on a run at the Rose Bowl on Saturday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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USC safeties Jawanza Starling (29) and Josh Shaw break up a pass intended for UCLA receiver Joseph Fauria on Saturday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley picks out a receiver during a pass play against USC on Saturday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Trojans receiver Marqise Lee makes a catch in front of UCLA safety Tevin McDonald (7) and cornerback Andrew Abbott on Saturday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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UCLA linebacker Eric Kendricks (6) flies over USC running back Curtis McNeal, who was upended by USC defensive back Randall Goforth in the first half Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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UCLA safety Tevin McDonald prevents USC receiver Marqise Lee from making a catch during their rivalry game Saturday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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USC Coach Lane Kiffin stares at the scoreboard as the Trojans trail, 24-0, in the second quarter Saturday afternoon at the Rose Bowl. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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UCLA running back Johnathan Franklin beats USC defenders Morgan Breslin, Nickell Robey, George Uko and Dion Bailey for a 16-yard touchdown run in the second quarter of their rivalry game last month. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Although USC receiver Marqise Lee couldn’t make the catch, UCLA cornerback Sheldon Price was called for interference on the play in the second quarter Saturday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Trojans safety Jawanza Starling can’t prevent a touchdown catch by Bruins receiver Joseph Fauria in the first quarter Saturday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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UCLA receiver Joseph Fauria reacts after making a touchdown reception against USC safety Jawanza Starling in the first quarter Saturday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Bruins running back Johnathan Franklin is hoisted into the air by teammate Joseph Fauria after scoring against the Trojans on a 16-yard run in the second quarter Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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UCLA running back Johnathan Franklin stretches toward the goal line after getting hit by USC linebacker Hayes Pullard on a run. Franklin came up short but the Bruins soon scored the opening points of the game. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Bruins quarterback Brett Hundley tries to evade Trojans defensive end Wes Horton during a play in the first half Saturday. (Harry How / Getty Images)

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USC linebacker Hayes Pullard wraps up UCLA running back Johnathan Franklin for a tackle in the first half Saturday. (Jeff Gross / Getty Images)

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Bruins quarterback Brett Hundley scores the first touchdown of the game against the Trojans early in the first quarter Saturday. (Harry How / Getty Images)

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Bruins quarterback Brett Hundley celebrates with teammates after scoring the first touchdown of the game against USC on Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

By Chris Foster

Nov. 18, 2012 8:56 PM PT

This was a voice long muffled.

UCLA’s defense took the field with 40 seconds left. A victory over USC was in hand. The echo throughout the Rose Bowl was “U … C … L … A,” a fan chant often left in cold storage against the Trojans for more than a decade.

“That gave me goose bumps,” linebacker Eric Kendricks said. “I started smiling.”

There was a lot for the Bruins to grin about after a 38-28 victory Saturday.

UCLA (9-2 overall, 6-2 in Pac-12) clinched the Pac-12 South Division championship and will play in the conference title game Nov. 30 for a spot in the Rose Bowl.

USC’s five-game winning streak in the series came to an end.

The Trojans (7-4, 5-4) were left to line up for bowl games with one of those long names — the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, perhaps?

All that was made possible by the UCLA’s defense. From the first play to the last moment, the Bruins proved a match for USC’s Matt Barkley, Marqise Lee and Co.

Aaron Hester intercepted a Barkley pass on the first play, setting up the first touchdown. At game’s end, Hester twirled and hopped to the student section — part Baryshnikov, part Easter Bunny — to celebrate only the second victory over the Trojans in the last 14 seasons. He stopped short of diving into the crowd, as other Bruins did.

“Too dangerous,” Hester said. “I’m just so happy.”

The Trojans were considered national championship contenders when the season began, but now they still must face Notre Dame, then await a lower-tier bowl bid.

Coach Lane Kiffin was unsure what caused the fall.

“I don’t know that exactly,” he said. “I think the No. 1 glaring thing in our losses is turnovers.”

UCLA forced three turnovers and blocked two kicks Saturday — a punt and a field goal.

Whether the Bruins were the better team, Kiffin said, “I can’t argue that.”

It wasn’t open for debate, as UCLA is in the Pac-12 title game for the second consecutive season. And with Stanford’s upset of Oregon, the Bruins can determine whom they play for the title.

If the Bruins defeat Stanford, and Oregon defeats Oregon State, UCLA would face Oregon.

If the Bruins lose to Stanford, they play ... Stanford.

It doesn’t matter to them.

“We wanted show the nation and world that we deserved to be in the Pac-12 championship game,” UCLA defensive end Datone Jones said.

They did, and the reason was simple to Jones.

“Matt Barkley didn’t know what he was up against,” Jones said. “He does now.”

The Bruins had plenty of offense as well.

Quarterback Brett Hundley completed 22 of 30 passes for 234 yards. He threw for one touchdown and ran for two others. Johnathan Franklin had 171 yards rushing and scored two touchdowns, including a 29-yard coup de grace for 38-28 lead with four minutes left.

But it was the defense that dictated terms.

Barkley threw for 301 yards and three touchdowns. He also had two passes intercepted. His afternoon ended when he was flattened by linebacker Anthony Barr with two minutes left.

“We knew we could play with them,” Barr said. “We tried to say it respectfully during the week. But we knew.”

USC finished with 513 yards, but UCLA made the big plays, doing so from the first play.

Barkley went to Lee. Hester went for the ball.

“When you kick off to a team like USC, you hope they don’t run it right down your throat and ruin all that emotion you had when you came out the tunnel,” UCLA Coach Jim Mora said. “To get an interception made us believe that [we could] play with these guys.”

It wasn’t only the interception. The turnover set up a short drive that ended in Hundley’s one-yard touchdown run.

“It was like, ‘We got the ball, let’s go, let’s score,’” Franklin said.

And they didn’t stop there, jumping to a 24-0 second quarter lead.

It wasn’t going to be that easy. Barkley threw two touchdown passes in the first half. A follow-the-bouncing-ball fumble recovered for a touchdown by USC defensive tackle George Uko in the third quarter left UCLA with a precarious 24-20 lead.

But there was a running theme for the Bruins: defense. And they kept it up until the end, with Kendricks intercepting a pass in the fourth quarter.

“We knew we had to bring our A game,” Kendricks said. “And we brought it from the first play.”

Follow Chris Foster on Twitter @cfosterlatimes