LOS ANGELES — Not a pass has been thrown, nor has a rush been rushed. Not a field goal kicked, nor a timeout called.

But be assured: The Battle for Los Angeles is already underway.

In one corner, you’ve got Chip Kelly, the fifth-year coach of the UCLA Bruins, cantankerous and secretive, holding his cards so close to his vest they’re pretty much embedded in his chest now.

In the other, you’ve got Lincoln Riley, fresh and new at USC, youthful and exuberant, an open book if there ever was one.

They are a contrast in personalities and in styles, though they find common ground in one clear fact: Man, can their offenses ball out.

Let’s take a look at the matchup that will divide TinselTown for years to come.

Tale of the Tape

Name Chip Kelly Lincoln Riley
School/Team UCLA Bruins USC Trojans
Years as Head Coach 8 (Oregon, 2009-12; UCLA, 2018-current) 5 (Oklahoma, 2017-21; USC, 2022-current)
Overall HC record 64-32 55-10
Offensive style Spread Air Raid
Best season (record) 2012 with Oregon (12-1, Fiesta Bowl Win, No. 2 ranking) 2017 with Oklahoma (12-2, Rose Bowl loss, No. 3 ranking)
Best offense (Scoring) 2012 (49.6 PPG) 2018 (48.4 PPG)
Best offense (YPG) 2012 (537.4 YPG) 2017 (579.6 YPG)
Notable NFL products (with Oregon) QB Marcus Mariota, TE Ed Dickson, G Kyle Long, WR De'Anthony Thomas; (with UCLA) RB Joshua Kelley, TE Greg Fulcich, OL Sean Rhyan (with Oklahoma) QB Baker Mayfield, QB Kyler Murray, QB Jalen Hurts, T Orlando Brown, T Cody Ford, T Bobby Evans, TE Mark Andrews, WR Marquise Brown, WR CeeDee Lamb
2022 projected leaders QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson, RB Zach Charbonnet, WR Jake Bobo QB Caleb Williams, RB Travis Dye, WR Jordan Addison, WR Mario Williams
2022 wild cards WR Kazmeir Allen, TE Michael Ezeike WR Terrell Bynum, RB Raleek Brown
2022 goals Pac-12 Championship Pac-12 Championship

Life of Riley

  • Married
  • Two children (both daughters, Stella and Sloan)
  • Became Oklahoma head coach at age 33
  • Ended his Texas Tech playing career after 1 season (2002) as a walk-on quarterback
  • Became a Red Raiders assistant the following year
  • 16-6 record against Top 25 teams
  • Guided Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray to back-to-back Heisman trophies

Micro-Chips

  • Married
  • No children
  • Became Oregon head coach in 2009 at age 45
  • Played 4 years as a defensive back at New Hampshire
  • Discovered by former Ducks coach Mike Bellotti while serving as offensive coordinator at his alma mater from 1999-2006
  • 18-15 record against Top 25 teams
  • 33-3 conference record while at Oregon

Riley hot on the trail

After 5 years at Oklahoma — one of the most productive 5-year runs in Sooners history — Riley takes his talents to the Southland, where he’s already been racking up enough wins on the recruiting trail to put the rest of the Pac-12 out of business.

His impact has been immediate: In addition to adding the best transfer class in the country in 2022 according to 247Sports, USC is ranked No. 12 in 2023 recruiting and No. 7 in 2024 recruiting. After 7 years of Clay Helton and middling results, it is suddenly cool to be a Trojan once more. If Riley has done anything in his short tenure with SC, he’s brought back the swagger. That alone should get him a raise (as if he needs one).

Back in the day (OK, until like 2019), it would take some time for a coach’s recruiting success to have a material impact on his team. With the transfer portal turning modern college football into free agency, Riley has dropped a nuclear bomb on college football. USC brought in arguably three of the top five transfers in the game, including Heisman contender Caleb Williams at quarterback and wide receivers Jordan Addison and Mario Williams. In the Williamses, Riley poached his former employer for the top battery on the market. In Addison, he hooked the 2021 Biletnikoff Award winner. That’s not recruiting, that’s highway robbery.

Kelly turning the corner

The embattled UCLA coach finally showed even a glimpse of what Bruins fans expected when he was hired in 2017. It almost feels like a lifetime ago that Kelly re-emerged as the hottest coach in the market. Though five years in college football is more like two lifetimes. Back then, Kelly’s hire was heralded as a major accomplishment for a UCLA program that had never broken out the big bucks to lure top talent to Westwood. The knock on the Bruins’ athletic department for years was that it took its natural advantages — pristine weather, No. 2 market in the country, beaches, etc. — for granted. Finally, with Kelly, that notion was dispelled.

And then Kelly went 10-21 in his first 4 seasons in Westwood, and UCLA fans were shell-shocked. What happened to Kelly’s breakneck offensive pace, which kept opposing defenses guessing? Where went the innovation that became a Kelly hallmark in Eugene? Did the Bruins accidentally hire the Kelly who went 2-14 in his lone season as San Francisco 49ers head coach, instead of the Kelly who went 46-7 in 4 years with the Ducks?

Last season’s 8-4 season was not just a 4-win turnaround over 2019, but it marked actual progress for the first time during Kelly’s tenure. That helped him secure a contract extension that was greeted with pensive half-smiles by Bruins backers.

A 10-win campaign in 2022 — which is absolutely doable, given UCLA’s pattycake schedule — would go a long way toward erasing the doubt that still lingers in the minds of Bruin fans.

Lincoln goes long

One of the hallmarks of a Riley offense is big-play ability. Last year, Williams had completions of 67, 59, 57, 55 and 52 yards, along with a pair of 50-yard hurls. That was a notable increase over Spencer Rattler, whom Williams beat out for the starting gig midway through last season with the Sooners. In 2020, Rattler had completions of 61 and 58 yards, plus a pair of 51-yard tosses. Williams’ big arm was one major reason he got the gig.

Take a look at Riley’s former starters:

  • 2019: Jalen Hurts, 32 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, completions of 74, 71, 70, 63, 56 and 51 yards.
  • 2018: Kyler Murray, 40 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, completions of 86, 82, 75, 65, 85, 58, 54 and 51 yards.
  • 2017: Baker Mayfield, 41 touchdowns, 5 interceptions, completions of 84, 82, 66, 62, 59, 55, 52, 51 and 50 yards.

Are we noticing a trend?

Riley keeps it tight

ESPN college football analyst David Pollack — one fine former player himself — made an adept observation about Kelly’s offense early last season.

Maybe it was personnel, maybe it was personal evolution, heck, maybe Kelly was just tired of the copycats. But so far at UCLA, Kelly’s offense has looked drastically different than the spread-’em-out, speed-’em-up offense he deployed with the Ducks.

With Oregon, Kelly’s style led a hyper-aggressive attack that averaged more than 77 plays per game from 2010-12.

With UCLA:

  • 2018: 71.1 plays per game, 24.6 points per game
  • 2019: 76.3, 26.7
  • 2020: 74.0, 35.4
  • 2021: 70.0, 36.5

Has Kelly learned that speed doesn’t always equal success?

With myriad two-tight end sets, a refocused power running game centered around Charbonnet, and a patient passing game under Thompson-Robinson, UCLA’s offense led the league in scoring in 2021.

What will that mean going forward?

What to expect in 2022?

By the time the two teams meet late in the season at the Rose Bowl, who knows how things will have shaken out.

There is a fair-to-medium chance that both teams could be undefeated come Nov. 19 — UCLA’s only road opponent in the Top-25 is Oregon, and Kelly’s crew will come fired up for that game; USC has tough but winnable games on the road at Stanford, Oregon State and Utah but a patsy home schedule.

At that point, Williams could be on his way to a Heisman Trophy and Addison might tease for a second straight Biletnikoff Award, while Thompson-Robinson and Charbonnet could very well be the most productive 1-2 punch in the league.

All we know for certain is this.

We can’t wait.