Key May Be Staying Within Margins

The answer to the question many are wondering about but don’t want to ask: 39 points.

That’s USC’s largest margin of defeat against UCLA, and it came in a 39-0 loss in 1950.

USC’s largest margin of victory is 76 points, in the first meeting, a 76-0 Trojan victory in 1929.

No. 7 UCLA has opened as a 10 1/2-point favorite for Saturday’s game at the Coliseum.

But the last 10 games between the rivals have been decided by an average of only 4.9 points.

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The quirk in the Trojans’ 6-4 record is that their losses are against such good teams and their victories are against such . . . mediocre ones.

USC’s four losses have all been against ranked teams: No. 2 Florida State, No. 11 Washington State, No. 12 Arizona State and No. 17 Washington. Together, those teams are 34-7.

Of USC’s six victories, though, none have has come against teams a team with a winning record. Notre Dame and Oregon are .500, and California, Nevada Las Vegas, Stanford and Oregon State have losing records.

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A few more defensive numbers from USC’s 23-0 victory against Oregon State, the Trojans’ first shutout in two seasons: The Beavers’ 152 yards were the fewest against a USC team since Stanford managed only 134 in a 1989 game, and the Trojans’ four interceptions were their most since they had four against Oregon State in 1990.