Plenty of blame in this one

Neither USC nor UCLA escapes blame for the way their football game ended Saturday night.
What should have been an ugly, 21-7 win for the Trojans turned into a 28-7 win, a near-fight in the middle of the field with less than a minute to go and black eyes for both coaches.
UCLA's boss is Rick Neuheisel. He's the one who started the problem by stopping the clock when his team had no chance to win. Yes, give your team a chance to win. But be realistic, too.
USC"s boss is Pete Carroll, the same Pete Carroll who was on the receiving end of a "run-up-the-score" effort by Stanford a couple of weeks ago (it wasn't called for either), nor was his decision to throw a long TD pass in response to the timeout. You took a knee once. You can do it two more times, hop on the bus and go home. It's quite easy. The pros do it all the time.
The reaction from both teams – a big stare down in the middle of the field and the restraint of some players – was predictable and uncalled for.
It could add some life to a rivalry whose game was pushed back to the evening hours this year because neither team is particularly good. Me? I'd rather see a good rivalry played out in the name of an athletic contest, not for the benefit of two grown-ups who think the game is about them and them alone.