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Sports Jan 19, 2023
UCLA defensive lineman Osa Odighizuwa, left, pass rushes against USC Trojans offensive tackle Austin Jackson in 2019 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. | Photo courtesy of Steve Cheng, Bruin Reporter Online/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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UCLA and USC released their 2023 football schedules Wednesday.
The Bruins will open their season with three nonconference games, two of which will be held at the Rose Bowl. The first game is Sept. 2 against Sun Belt Conference runner-up Coastal Carolina in the programs’ first meeting.
UCLA will then travel to Snapdragon Stadium for the first time to play San Diego State on Sept. 9, before returning home Sept. 16 to play North Carolina Central, which went 10-2 last season and captured the HBCU national championship.
Pac-12 play begins for the Bruins on Sept. 23, with a challenging game against defending conference champion Utah in Salt Lake City.
The Bruins’ Pac-12 home games are Oct. 7 against Washington State, Oct. 28 against Colorado, Nov. 11 against Arizona State and Nov. 25 vs. California.
UCLA will play its annual crosstown rivalry game against USC on Nov. 18 at the Coliseum. Other road games are Oct. 14 at Oregon State, Oct. 21 at Stanford and Nov. 4 at Arizona.
Each of UCLA’s 12 regular-season games will be played on a Saturday.
The Bruins finished 9-4 in the 2022 season, including a 37-35 loss to Pittsburgh in the Sun Bowl.
USC’s 2023 football schedule is highlighted by trips to Oregon and Notre Dame and a grudge match at home against Utah.
The Trojans will play seven home games and five road games this season, beginning with a matchup against San Jose State at the Coliseum on Aug. 26.
USC’s other home games are against Pac-12 rivals Stanford, Arizona, Utah, Washington and UCLA, and nonconference foe Nevada.
The Trojans’ road games are at Arizona State, Colorado, Notre Dame, California and Oregon. The team’s trip to Oregon will be its first since 2015.
USC’s game against Washington — another team from the Pac-12’s north division — will be the Trojans’ first home game against the Huskies since 2015.
USC will travel to South Bend, Indiana, to take on their traditional rivals from Notre Dame on Oct. 14.
The Trojans will have byes on Sept. 16 and the final week of the regular season on Nov. 25.
One of the highlights of USC’s season will be the Oct. 21 game against Utah at the Coliseum. The Trojans’ 2022 season was essentially wrecked by its two losses to the Utes.
They suffered their first loss of the season, 43-42, on Oct. 15 in Salt Lake City when Utah quarterback Cam Rising ran in a 2-point conversion with only seconds left in the game.
The Trojans won the rest of their regular season games to earn a rematch with Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game on Dec. 2, when a win would have ensured them a spot in the four-team college playoffs. Utah derailed those hopes, however, with a 47-24 victory.
USC finished the season 11-3 after blowing a late lead and losing to Tulane, 46-45, in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 2.
The Trojans will be hoping to exceed that mark in 2023 with the return of Caleb Williams, their Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, for one more season.
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