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UCLA Bruins @ Cal Golden Bears Football Preview

The two Pac-10 teams that will do battle this weekend are similar in so many ways. It's enough to disturb the soul of any devotee of West Coast football.

First of all, on a purely non-football level, it's well known that UCLA stole Cal's fight song. Wikipedia notes the following:

"Kelley James, then Associate Director of the UCLA Marching Band and alumnus of the Cal Band, wrote an arrangement of 'Big C' [Cal's fight song] for a halftime show performed by the combined marching bands from UCLA, UC Davis, and Cal. Afterwards, UCLA continued using James' arrangement of 'Big C' as its fight song, adding their own lyrics and renaming it 'Sons of Westwood.' It was soon adopted as UCLA's fight song.

"Many Cal fans, most notably Cal band director James Berdahl, were enraged over what they saw as James' theft of their song. A bitter exchange ensued between Berdahl and James for the next several years concerning the legal and ethical grounds for James' adaptation of the song. Finally, on February 18, 1969, UCLA lawyers were told by the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress that 'Big C' had never been copyrighted, and [was] therefore in the public domain. However, whenever Cal plays UCLA and 'Sons of Westwood' is played, Cal fans sing a parody ending, "but damn you, it's 'Big C.'" Likewise, whenever Cal plays 'Big C' UCLA plays the signature 'tag' at the end, which is a part of 'Sons of Westwood' but not 'Big C.'"

Got it?

What's even more amusing, then, as we turn to football, is that UCLA and Cal seem to be engaged in a battle to steal each other's penchant for being endlessly mysterious and unpredictable.

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In week three of the season, everything changed. Cal went schizoid in a bad way, getting crushed by Nevada, 52-31. UCLA developed its own multiple personality in a positive fashion, wiping out Houston by a 31-13 score. In week four, these manifestations of the Cal and UCLA clubs continued to exist. The Golden Bears and Bruins - gee, very similar nicknames there, dontcha think? - affirmed the reversals that had begun to take root at each program. Cal suffered through a miserable performance in a stomach-punch 10-9 loss at Arizona. On the other hand, UCLA's win over Houston developed momentum which carried the Bruins into Austin and past the University of Texas Longhorns, 34-12. Few people had UCLA pegged to finish higher than Cal at the start of the 2010 campaign, but through September, the Bruins had definitely exceeded the Bears by any reasonable measure.

Oh, but the fun just couldn't last at UCLA. Yes, the Bruins won their week-five game against Washington State, but in light of the Cougars' pronounced woes over the past two-plus seasons (only four wins total and only one win in Pac-10 play), UCLA's 42-28 win almost felt like a loss. The Bruins were that bad.

Wazzu - in a 28-28 tie - actually had a first-and-goal at the UCLA 1 in the early minutes of the fourth quarter. It appeared that WSU had scored to take a lead, and the Cougars were just about to kick an extra point. However, just before the PAT was allowed (the kick was missed, but had it been considered an official play, the touchdown would have stood and WSU would have led, 34-28), the Pac-10 replay booth at the Rose Bowl stadium reviewed WSU's touchdown and eventually overturned the play. UCLA's defense stuffed the Cougars on four downs and gave the Bruins' offense the ball at the 1. UCLA promptly used a 72-yard run by Derrick Coleman to march downfield and score the (official) go-ahead touchdown on a keeper by backup quarterback Richard Brehaut with just over 10 minutes remaining. UCLA tacked on another touchdown for the 42-28 win that easily could have been a 35-35 tie heading into the final few minutes of regulation. UCLA clearly regressed on a weekend when the Bears had a bye week that will likely do them a lot of good.

These are two psychiatric patients who always display many different identities during the course of a college football season. Cal - really good, then really bad - has gotten its needed bed rest. UCLA - really awful, then excellent, and then horrible again versus Washington State - needs to regain its best self, which was found in Austin, Texas, on Sept. 25.

Which teams will show up? Who knows? It's clear from history that in fight sons and in football, Cal and UCLA like to imitate each other all the time. On Saturday, one of these teams will have to differentiate itself from the other.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer