UCLA players went overboard with eye black against USC

At various times we’ve seen athletes apply eye black in a manner that could be considered as intimidating. Former NFL player John Randle comes to mind. Bryce Harper had some menacing eye black for a bit as well.

For Saturday’s rivalry game against USC, a couple of UCLA players went a tad overboard. There was linebacker Eddie Vanderdoes (above), who had the majority of the right side of his face and forehead covered. Bruins punter Matt Mengel also deserves mention for his less-than-judicious use, which was the talk of Twitter.

The excess eye black is something relatively new for UCLA. As explained during a recent game, head coach Jim Mora told his players to apply the eye black all over their face in whatever designs they chose. He hoped it would help bring out their best spirit, and it has worked.