Victory Bell (UCLA–USC)

Victory Bell (UCLA-USC)

Teams	UCLA Bruins USC Trojans
First meeting	1929
Trophy originated	1942
First meeting	1929 (USC 76–0)
Last meeting	2016 (USC 36–14)
Next meeting	TBA
Series	USC leads, 46–31–7 (2 wins vacated)
Trophy series	USC leads, 40–31–4
Longest streak	UCLA, 8 (1991–1998)
Current holder	USC

The Victory Bell is the trophy that is awarded to the winner of the UCLA–USC football rivalry game. The game is an American college football rivalry between the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans.

The Victory Bell is a 295-pound brass bell that originally rang atop a Southern Pacific railroad locomotive. It is currently mounted on a special wheeled carriage.

History

The bell was given to the UCLA student body in 1939 as a gift from the school's alumni association.^[1]^[2] Initially, the UCLA cheerleaders rang the bell after each Bruin point. However, during the opening game of UCLA's 1941 season (at the time, both schools used the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for home games), six members of USC's Trojan Knights (who were also members of the SigEp fraternity^[3]) infiltrated the Bruin rooting section, assisted in loading the bell aboard a truck headed back to Westwood, took the key to the truck, and escaped with the bell while UCLA's actual handlers went to find a replacement key. The bell remained hidden from UCLA students for more than a year, first in SigEp’s basement, then in the Hollywood Hills, Santa Ana, and other locations. At one point, it was even concealed beneath a haystack. Bruin students tried to locate the bell, but to no avail. A picture of the bell appeared in a USC periodical. Tension between UCLA and USC students rose as each started to play even more elaborate and disruptive pranks on the other. When the conflict caused the USC president to threaten to cancel the rivalry, a compromise was met: on November 12, 1942, the student body presidents of both schools, in front of Tommy Trojan, signed the agreement that the bell would be the trophy for the game.^[4]

The winner of the annual football game keeps the Victory Bell for the next year, and paints it the school's color: "True Blue" for UCLA, or cardinal for USC.

Team traditions

USC

The bell, painted red, while in USC's possession

Before home games, when the bell is in USC's possession, it sits along Trousdale Parkway for fans to ring as they participate in the "Trojan Walk" to the L.A. Coliseum. During home games, and whenever USC faces UCLA at the Rose Bowl, the Victory Bell is displayed at the edge of the field for the first three quarters of the game. Members of the Trojan Knights ring the bell every time the Trojans score. The carriage is painted cardinal red.

UCLA

UCLA's possession of the Victory Bell, painted blue.

When the bell is in UCLA's possession, the carriage is sandblasted and painted "True Blue". While in the possession of UCLA, the bell is safeguarded by the UCLA Rally Committee.^[5]^[6] During UCLA home games at the Rose Bowl and whenever UCLA faces USC at the Los Angeles Coliseum, it resides on the field in front of the student section. It is rung by members of the Rally Committee after each score. The Bruins also ring the bell using a rope attached to the handle, swinging the whole bell, as opposed to the Trojan style of attaching a rope to the tongue or clapper on the inside of the bell. The bell also makes special appearances at rallies and athletic events. It has been used to accompany the UCLA Band during halftime shows. In particular the bell will make an appearance at a major gathering if the bell returns to UCLA.^[7]

Series record

The first victory for UCLA in the series occurred after the agreement over the Victory Bell, making the Bruins the first winner of the trophy. The Bruins made their post-season appearance in the 1943 Rose Bowl. The teams played each other twice in the same season in 1943, 1944, and 1945. This was due to travel restrictions during World War II.

UCLA took the bell back following the 38–28 victory over USC on November 17, 2012. The Victory Bell was held by USC during the 1999–2005 and 2007–2011 football seasons. USC leads with an overall record of 48–31–7 in football contests with UCLA (including 2 wins vacated due to NCAA penalty).^[8] Before the streak of seven Trojan wins, the Bruins had won the bell for the eight consecutive years from 1991–1998, the longest streak in the rivalry. There have been 7 ties and one overtime game (1996, 2OT) in the history of the series. In the event of a tie, the Victory Bell was retained by the last winner. Since the institution of the overtime rule in college football, the tie rule became obsolete.

Game results

From 1929 until 1981, the two teams played in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. In 1982, the Rose Bowl became UCLA's permanent home.

UCLA victories	USC victories	Ties / Forfeits / Vacated win

#	Date	Location	Winner	Score
1	September 28, 1929	USC	USC	76–0
2	September 27, 1930	UCLA	USC	52–0
3	November 26, 1936	USC	Tie	7–7
4	December 4, 1937	USC	USC	19–13
5	November 24, 1938	USC	#14 USC	42–7
6	December 9, 1939	UCLA	Tie	0–0
7	November 30, 1940	USC	USC	28–12
8	December 6, 1941	UCLA	Tie	7–7
9	December 12, 1942	USC	#13 UCLA	17–14
10	September 23, 1943	UCLA	USC	20–0
11	November 27, 1943	USC	USC	26–13
12	September 23, 1944	USC	Tie	13–13
13	November, 25 1944	UCLA	#8 USC	40–13
14	September 21, 1945	UCLA	USC	13–6
15	December 1, 1945	USC	USC	26–15
16	November 23, 1946	UCLA	#4 UCLA	16–13
17	November 22, 1947	USC	#4 USC	6–0
18	November 20, 1948	UCLA	USC	20–13
19	November 19, 1949	USC	USC	21–7
20	November 25, 1950	UCLA	UCLA	39–0
21	November 24, 1951	USC	#18 UCLA	21–7
22	November 22, 1952	UCLA	#4 USC	14–12
23	November 21, 1953	USC	#5 UCLA	13–0
24	November 20, 1954	UCLA	#2 UCLA	34–0
25	November 19, 1955	USC	#5 UCLA	17–7
26	November 25, 1956	UCLA	USC	10–7
27	November 23, 1957	USC	UCLA	20–9
28	November 22, 1958	UCLA	Tie	15–15
29	November 21, 1959	USC	UCLA	10–3
30	November 26, 1960	UCLA	USC	17–6
31	November 25, 1961	USC	UCLA	10–7
32	November 24, 1962	UCLA	#1 USC	14–3
33	November 30, 1963	USC	USC	26–6
34	November 21, 1964	UCLA	USC	34–13
35	November 20, 1965	USC	#7 UCLA	20–16
36	November 19, 1966	UCLA	#8 UCLA	14–7
37	November 18, 1967	USC	#8 USC	21–20
38	November 23, 1968	UCLA	#1 USC	28–16
39	November 22, 1969	USC	#5 USC	14–12
40	November 21, 1970	UCLA	UCLA	45–20
41	November 20, 1971	USC	Tie	7–7
42	November 18, 1972	UCLA	#1 USC	24–7
43	November 24, 1973	USC	#9 USC	23–13
44	November 23, 1974	UCLA	#8 USC	34–9

#	Date	Location	Winner	Score
45	November 28, 1975	USC	#14 UCLA	25–22
46	November 20, 1976	UCLA	#13 USC	24–14
47	November 25, 1977	USC	USC	29–27
48	November 18, 1978	UCLA	#5 USC	17–10
49	November 24, 1979	USC	#4 USC	49–14
50	November 22, 1980	UCLA	#18 UCLA	20–17
51	November 21, 1981	USC	#10 USC	22–21
52	November 20, 1982	Rose Bowl	#11 UCLA	20–19
53	November 19, 1983	Coliseum	UCLA	27–17
54	November 17, 1984	Rose Bowl	#7 UCLA	29–10
55	November 23, 1985	Coliseum	USC	17–13
56	November 22, 1986	Rose Bowl	#18 UCLA	45–25
57	November 21, 1987	Coliseum	USC	17–13
58	November 19, 1988	Rose Bowl	#2 USC	31–22
59	November 18, 1989	Coliseum	Tie	10–10
60	November 17, 1990	Rose Bowl	#19 USC	45–42
61	November 23, 1991	Coliseum	#25 UCLA	24–21
62	November 21, 1992	Rose Bowl	UCLA	38–37
63	November 20, 1993	Coliseum	#16 UCLA	27–21
64	November 19, 1994	Rose Bowl	UCLA	31–19
65	November 18, 1995	Coliseum	UCLA	24–20
66	November 23, 1996	Rose Bowl	UCLA	48–41^{(2 OT)}
67	November 22, 1997	Coliseum	#7 UCLA	31–24
68	November 21, 1998	Rose Bowl	#3 UCLA	34–17
69	November 20, 1999	Coliseum	USC	17–7
70	November 18, 2000	Rose Bowl	USC	38–35
71	November 17, 2001	Coliseum	USC	27–0
72	November 23, 2002	Rose Bowl	#7 USC	52–21
73	November 22, 2003	Coliseum	#2 USC	47–22
74	December 4, 2004	Rose Bowl	#1 USC^†	29–24
75	December 3, 2005	Coliseum	#1 USC^†	66–19
76	December 2, 2006	Rose Bowl	UCLA	13–9
77	December 1, 2007	Coliseum	#8 USC	24–7
78	December 6, 2008	Rose Bowl	#5 USC	28–7
79	November 28, 2009	Coliseum	#24 USC	28–7
80	December 4, 2010	Rose Bowl	USC	28–14
81	November 26, 2011	Coliseum	#10 USC	50–0
82	November 17, 2012	Rose Bowl	#17 UCLA	38–28
83	November 30, 2013	Coliseum	#22 UCLA	35–14
84	November 22, 2014	Rose Bowl	#11 UCLA	38–20
85	November 28, 2015	Coliseum	USC	40–21
86	November 19, 2016	Rose Bowl	#13 USC	36–14
Series: USC leads 46–31–7
† USC was forced to vacate victories. Vacated wins and ties have previous winner retaining trophy.

References

↑ UCLA Alumni Association
↑ UCLA Alumni Association About the Association. The Post-War Years, 1944 – 1953
↑ "SigEp USC – Victory Bell".
↑ Gong with the Wind UCLA Magazine, sourced from the UCLA History Project, October 1, 2006
↑ UCLA Rally Committee
↑ UCLA Student Groups – Rally Committee: Statement of Purpose
↑ Tuesday, December 5, 2006, where it was rung by head football coach Karl Dorrell at a home basketball game to celebrate the recent victory over USC.
↑ Complete USC Football records against all opponents, College Football Data Warehouse

UCLA Bruins football

Venues	Moore Field (1919–1927) Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (1928–1981) Rose Bowl (1982–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games California USC (Victory Bell)

Culture & lore	Joe Bruin "Sons of Westwood" "Mighty Bruins" Marching band 1967 "Game of the Century"

People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders

Seasons	1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

National championship seasons in bold

USC Trojans football

Venues	Athletic Park (1895–98) Fiesta Park (1897–98, 1904–06, 1916) Chutes Park (1900) Prager Park (1903) Bovard Field (1904–10, 1914–15, 1917–22) Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (1923–present) Howard Jones Field (practice)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Notre Dame (Jeweled Shillelagh) UCLA (Victory Bell) Stanford

Culture & lore	Traveler George Tirebiter Giles Pellerin "Fight On" Spirit of Troy Student Body Right Tommy Trojan Athletics scandal 1967 "Game of the Century" "Bush Push" 2007 Stanford game

People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks NFL draftees Statistical leaders

Seasons	1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

National championship seasons in bold

Pac-12 football rivalries

Conference	Apple Cup (Washington–Washington State) Arizona–Arizona State Big Game (California–Stanford) California–UCLA Civil War (Oregon–Oregon State) Oregon–Washington Rumble in the Rockies (Colorado–Utah) Stanford–USC UCLA–USC

Non-conference	Arizona–New Mexico Battle of the Brothers (Utah–Utah State) Battle of the Palouse (Idaho–Washington State) Beehive Boot (BYU–Utah–Utah State) Bill Walsh Legacy Game (San Jose State–Stanford) Colorado–Nebraska Holy War (Utah–BYU) New Mexico–Utah Notre Dame–USC Notre Dame–Stanford Rocky Mountain Showdown (Colorado–Colorado State)

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