Saturday storylines: LA long part of UA football fabric, USC game Cats' last scheduled in SoCal

LOS ANGELES — Five storylines for Arizona football's showdown with ninth-ranked USC at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday night: What might happen to the Wildcats' L.A. connections after this game, DE Taylor Upshaw's passion (and penalties), Arizona facing a Heisman winner across the field, memorable UA-USC matchups, and more.

Keeping L.A. a part of the UA fabric

With future Big 12 member Arizona and Big Ten-bound USC splintering from the Pac-12 in 2024 and separating into different conferences, this is the last scheduled game for the Wildcats in Los Angeles; Arizona played UCLA in Southern California last November, defeating the Bruins 34-28 at the Rose Bowl.

Arizona coach Jedd Fisch said he's "excited about this opportunity to go back to L.A."

"I don't know when's the next time we'll be playing in Los Angeles," he said. "I hope we're able to play in Los Angeles often, as I believe it's great for college football and great for our program in the way we recruit."

Speaking of recruits, the move to the Big 12 is "an advantage for us" on the recruiting trail in L.A., Fisch said. The L.A. area has served as a recruiting hotbed for the Wildcats, especially under the Fisch regime. 

"But what I do know is we'll be playing seven games in the state of Arizona every year. That is a lot closer than what other teams will be traveling to around the country, so we're excited about that part for the California people and the Arizona people and our recruits moving forward," Fisch said. "You have the ability to still drive from Southern California and get here in about six or seven hours and watch your son play seven times based on the fact that the team up north (Arizona State) and us are both in the Big 12, so that rivalry will continue.

"Very different than having to fly all over the Midwest and the Northeast to go to road games," Fisch added. "You could end up getting delays, flight issues, all of the things that occur. So I think for sure if you're from Southern California, going to Arizona is the way to go." 

Since the Big 12 doesn't have any California teams, Fisch "would love to play UCLA or USC or San Diego State, Cal, Stanford every year, if we can get that done" for future nonconference games. 

"If we can find a way to make that nonconference, Power 5 game, I think that would be fantastic to be able to do that," Fisch said. "Those are challenging, because of everyone's scheduling and how that works.

"I'm hopeful we're able to make that happen." 

'Chippy' Upshaw vows to clean up penalties

Arizona defensive end Taylor Upshaw leads the Wildcats in sacks (4.5) through five games, which is tied for second in the Pac-12, along with USC edge rusher Solomon Byrd. 

Upshaw also leads the team in roughing-the-passer penalties (3) to go along with a personal foul penalty against Washington last week. All four penalties are from the Washington and Northern Arizona games; he had back-to-back roughing-the-passer penalties on the same drive in the season opener.

"I think it's just him being disciplined, doing the right things. Don't react when guys are pushing you back, it's just the game of football," Arizona defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen said. "You gotta grow up, and I think he's learning through it. Had a great conversation with him because we're going to need him. 'We can't afford it. You're hurting the team more than anything else.' Moving forward, those are the things he needs to clean up to help us out."

Upshaw conceded "it just comes down to me having to be smart," adding that it gets "emotional" at times, too.

"Playing with a lot of passion out there, it gets chippy," he said. "Just playing smart is something I'm going to put emphasis on going forward during the season."

The 6-5, 270-pound Upshaw, a Bradenton, Florida, native, signed with Michigan in 2019 to play for defensive coordinator Don Brown, Arizona's defensive coordinator in UA head coach Jedd Fisch's first season in 2021 before returning to take over UMass' program. In four seasons with the Wolverines, Upshaw recorded 36 tackles and five sacks. After the 2022 season, Upshaw transferred to Colorado, then bolted from Boulder after a spring with the Buffaloes. 

"Turns out, it probably wasn't the best fit for myself, ended up in the portal again and found a home with the Wildcats. ... I think U of A schematically, coaching-wise, where I want to go, it set me up for the best place for those things," Upshaw said. "I loved everything about it when I got here. I just felt like it was home when I got here."

Upshaw is the son of former NFL defensive tackle Regan Upshaw, a nine-year league veteran who played for five different teams. 

"After the game, me and my dad will always talk about the game, how I can improve and what I can do to improve and get better," Upshaw said. "It's definitely an advantage having someone who's been through what you've been through, in your circle. It's a good thing."

After holding Washington to a season low in yards and points last week, "I think we showed that we're a solid defense," Upshaw said of Arizona's defense, which is giving up 19 points per game this season. "I still think we have a lot of room to improve and we know that, but we can definitely compete with the best players. It's just about going out there and being consistent and doing it on a daily basis. That's going to be our test." 

'Everything is impressive' about USC QB Williams

When UA coach Jedd Fisch was asked on Thursday about USC quarterback Caleb Williams, who's thrown for 1,603 yards, 21 touchdowns and one interception this season, he asked, "What isn't impressive?"

Fisch went on to say that "everything is impressive" about Williams.

"He looks the part, has a great arm, has great feel, he understands the RPO game, he understands the quick game, he understands the vertical game, he throws the ball on the move just as well as he does in the pocket," Fisch said. "He's strong, so it doesn't take one guy to bring him down. He has great conscious for the ball.

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"He is a challenge and that's why he won the Heisman."

Williams, who is expected to be the top pick of the NFL Draft, is arguably the most mobile quarterback the Wildcats have faced this season, presenting a tougher task to slow down USC's offense that is averaging 53.6 points per game this season, in contrast to the more grounded Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. 

"The guy won the Heisman Trophy," UA defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen said of Williams. "He can beat you with his arms, with his legs. He's a strong guy back there. He's hard to bring down, so we gotta do a great job of keeping him in the pocket this week, because a lot of the explosive plays come from when he's scrambling around and making big plays.

"We obviously gotta have somebody to contain the quarterback this week, because he's a dangerous player."

The last time Arizona faced a defending Heisman Trophy winner? In 2005, when the Wildcats lost to Matt Leinart and USC 42-21, albeit the game was vacated due to Heisman-winning running back Reggie Bush's NCAA infractions case. The Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) era has allowed Williams and Leinart to appear together in Wendy's commercials. According to On3.com, Williams' NIL worth is $2.7 million. 

Five memorable games in Arizona-USC history

Since Saturday is the final time Arizona and USC will meet as conference opponents, take a stroll down memory lane and look at notable games in the series:

1990: Arizona, led by Pac-10 co-Defensive Player of the Year and Jim Thorpe Award winner Darryl Lewis, held "Robo QB" and USC star Todd Marinovich to 174 yards and beat the 15th-ranked Trojans — and former UA head coach Larry Smith, who left the Wildcats for USC — 35-26. 

1982: A year after upsetting the top-ranked Trojans, Arizona fell to No. 16 USC in shootout fashion, 48-41, which ties the 2011 game (same exact score) for most combined points in the series.  

2012: USC receiver Marqise Lee set a Pac-12 record with 345 receiving yards, but the Trojans committed five turnovers. Arizona quarterback Matt Scott and wide receiver Austin Hill connected for 259 of the Wildcats' 369 passing yards in a 39-36 win over No. 10 USC in Tucson. 

2009: Future Super Bowl MVP quarterback Nick Foles passed for 239 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, and led the Wildcats to a 21-17 victory — their first win at the L.A. Coliseum since 2000 — and spoiling head coach Pete Carroll's final home game. Arizona hasn't beaten the Trojans at the Coliseum since then. All-time, Arizona is 4-20 against USC in L.A.

1981: Despite 211 yards from USC running back Marcus Allen and an early 10-0 lead for the Trojans, Arizona rallied and snapped the Trojans' 22-game winning streak at home and beat No. 1-ranked USC. Arizona quarterback Tom Tunnicliffe threw a go-ahead touchdown pass in the third quarter to running back Vance Johnson to go up 13-10 and eventually win the game. It's one of Arizona's two wins over top-ranked opponents in program history. 

'It's personal' for Wildcats in L.A.

"It's Personal": a mantra Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch used when he was first hired just after the 2020 season — and a phrase Deion Sanders recently tried to trademark for Colorado.

Arizona-USC on Saturday is personal for a variety of reasons, including the Wildcats facing teammates-converted-opponents in wide receiver Dorian Singer, cornerback Christian Roland-Wallace and defensive tackle Kyon Barrs, whom all transferred after last season.

"The biggest challenge for our team is we don’t need to yuk it up before the game," Fisch said earlier this week. "We don’t need to have a big family party out there. Our job is to go there and have a business-like attitude and play good football. I’m sure Coach (Lincoln) Riley is telling his team the same thing. After the game they can FaceTime each other, because when we get in the locker room, we get rolling.”

When both parties are handling adrenaline and emotions in the heat of the battle, "the message was: decisions were made at the end of the season by certain players," Fisch said.

"Decisions were made by the staff, decisions were made by the program, and we don't get into why people transferred and whether people were encouraged or discouraged to transfer," he added. "But I would say this has to be about us. We don't need to get caught up in the emotions of playing former players or former teammates, because if any of them have any aspirations of being in the National Football League, they will be doing that on a weekly basis. If that is the case, and they're going to get wrapped up in the emotion of it, they will be cut from the NFL teams that they play at. ... All of the things that go into their futures, I would recommend just going out there and playing good football. 

"It's personal, let's just say that," Fisch said. "And the team understands that." 

But it's also a personal game for UA offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll, son of Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, who was head of USC's dynasty in the 2000s. The younger Carroll was USC's tight ends coach from 2004-09. UA defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen coached six seasons under former head coaches Steve Sarkisian and Clay Helton at USC. 

"There's a lot (of good memories at USC)," Nansen said. "Rose Bowl game, beating Notre Dame, beating Texas. It was a great place to work at, so it's nice going back to the Coli. The Coli is a special place. To have an opportunity to play there and have an opportunity to coach in it, it's a really, really fun thing to do, so I'm looking forward to it."