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From Ben Bolch: Chip Kelly sounded an eerily similar refrain to his predecessor Monday when asked about his job status after a second consecutive loss dropped his record to 33-33 near the end of his sixth season, far worse than Jim Mora’s 46-30 record.
“You need to focus on what you can control,” Kelly said, “and what you can control is having a good Monday and keeping your players focused and keeping your staff focused on what we have to do.”
Did Kelly hear the boos that filled the Rose Bowl last weekend at halftime and early in the fourth quarter?
“Not at all,” Kelly said. “And when you’re in the game, I don’t think you hear that and I don’t worry about that.”
Did Kelly fear that history could repeat itself and he might be coaching his final game Saturday afternoon at the Coliseum when UCLA (6-4 overall, 3-4 Pac-12) faces USC (7-4, 5-3)?
“No, not at all,” Kelly said. “My concern is playing USC, so that’s all we focus on. We always talk about being the most prepared and the least distracted, so anything that’s not the next upcoming opponent is just distracting us from what our job is, and our job is to take care of what we’ve got to do this week in terms of our preparation for a really good football team.”
Plaschke: To give UCLA football any shot at relevancy in the Big Ten, Chip Kelly must go
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USC BASKETBALL
JuJu Watkins scored 35 points, hitting six three-pointers, and No. 10 USC routed Le Moyne 93-42 on Monday night.
Watkins has 83 points in her first three college games, including 32 in the Trojans’ season-opening victory over then-No. 7 Ohio State last week. She was named Pac-12 freshman of the week for her performances.
Watkins scored 13 of the Trojans’ first 15 points in the fourth and then sat down for good. They led 91-32, allowing Lindsay Gottlieb to go to her bench. Aaliyah Gayles got into her second straight game, her first collegiate action since recovering after being shot 18 times at a house party in Las Vegas in 2022.
Rayah Marshall added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Trojans. As the tallest player on the floor at 6-foot-4, Marshall dominated in the paint against the shorter Dolphins, who have no one over 6-1 on their roster.
USC (3-0) raced to an 11-0 lead and ran off 12 straight points over the end of the first and start of the second quarter to go up 28-8. Watkins scored eight in a row, completing a four-point play, and the Trojans went into halftime leading 46-20.
RAMS
From Gary Klein: Quarterback Matthew Stafford spent the Rams’ off week healing his injured right thumb. Carson Wentz began learning the playbook and acclimating to his new role as Stafford’s backup.
And coach Sean McVay devoted time to his wife and weeks-old son.
“Being able to have the baby a couple weeks ago and spend some time, you know, learning how to change diapers and all that kind of stuff — I mean I went all in,” McVay said Monday during a videoconference with reporters. “So I wasn’t just sitting on the sideline watching.
“I was trying to help out and not get in my wife’s way…. It was really a good week, a lot of Mr. Dad, which was kind of cool. I could get used to it.”
The Rams (3-6) returned to practice Monday to begin preparations for Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks (6-3) at SoFi Stadium.
CHARGERS
From Jeff Miller: On top of everything else for the Chargers, Sunday was a slow day for the celebration committee.
After back-to-back games filled with dances and demonstrations, the Chargers defenders had their revelry silenced in their 41-38 last-play loss to Detroit at SoFi Stadium.
“A lack of energy,” safety Derwin James Jr. said. “We didn’t get no celebrations off no plays, no turnovers.”
At the urging of defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley, the Chargers had playfully and wildly partied on the field after each of their five takeaways against the Chicago Bears and New York Jets.
Ansley even formed a 10-player committee and directed them to choreograph the group’s moves in advance of each game.
But the Chargers failed to generate a takeaway against the Lions. Instead, the defense was routinely thrashed, James blaming a lack of “want to,” prompting a follow-up question about the Chargers’ defensive effort.
“I don’t want to blame it on nothing,” James said. “We didn’t come and play. We didn’t get it done today. We didn’t play right on defense.”
LAKERS
From Broderick Turner: The Lakers’ 13-point lead had been sliced to six points early in the fourth quarter, which made Anthony Davis concerned enough to get off the bench and walk toward the scorer’s table. As he stopped to talk to an assistant coach to see what the plan was, the Portland Trail Blazers scored again, the Lakers’ lead now down to four points.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham had seen enough and called a timeout with 9:15 left.
Davis came back into the game right then and there to help restore order.
“For me personally, I just wanted to be back in the game and get control of the game again,” Davis said.
Davis did his part to make sure the Lakers stayed in control of the game, scoring nine points in the fourth, grabbing four rebounds, handing out one assist and making all three of his free throws.
Here are five takeaways from the Lakers’ 116-110 win over Portland on Sunday night at Crypto.com Arena.
Hernández: Lakers hope ‘consistent opportunity’ for Cam Reddish is breakthrough they both need
JURISPRUDENCE
From Chuck Schilken: Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball and his parents, LaVar and Tina Ball, are being sued for more than $200 million by Big Baller Brand co-founder Alan Foster, who accuses them of trademark infringement, fraud, unfair business practices and more.
In a separate case, Foster is also suing LaMelo Ball’s older brother, Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball, for malicious prosecution, intentional interference with contractual relations and unjust enrichment. He is seeking more than $600,000 in legal costs in addition to damages, which could amount to millions more.
The two lawsuits, filed less than two months apart, are unrelated in a legal sense but both reflect the deterioration of a once-close relationship between Foster and the Ball family, which is from Chino Hills.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1943 — Sid Luckman of the Chicago Bears becomes the first pro to pass for more than 400 yards (433) and seven touchdowns in a 56-7 victory over the New York Giants.
1964 — Gus Johnson and Walt Bellamy become the first NBA teammates to score 40 points apiece as the Baltimore Bullets beat the Lakers 127-115. Johnson has 41 points, Bellamy 40.
1964 — Detroit’s Gordie Howe becomes the NHL’s all-time goal-scoring leader, including playoffs, with his 627th career goal. Howe beats Montreal’s Charlie Hodge in a 4-2 loss.
1966 — Muhammad Ali knocks out Cleveland Williams in the third round to retain the world heavyweight title in Houston.
1970 — Forty-three members of the Marshall football team die when their chartered plane crashes in Kenova, W.Va.
1993 — Don Shula breaks George Halas’ career record for victories with No. 325 as the Miami Dolphins defeat Philadelphia 19-14. Shula’s record: 325-153-6 in 31 seasons with Baltimore and Miami; Halas, 324-151-31 in 40 seasons with Chicago.
2004 — Chicago’s 19-17 win over Tennessee marks the second time an NFL game ended in overtime on a safety.
2004 — John and Ashley Force become the first father-daughter combo in NHRA history to win at the same event in the season finale. John Force races to his 114th Funny Car victory, and his 21-year-old daughter takes the Top Alcohol class at Pomona Raceway.
2009 — Daniel Passafiume sets the NCAA record for most receptions in a single game, catching 25 passes for Division III Hanover College. Passafiume finishes with 153 yards receiving and two touchdowns in a 42-28 loss to Franklin.
2010 — John Force wins his NHRA-record 15th Funny Car season championship, completing an improbable and emotional comeback from a horrific accident in Dallas three years ago that left the 61-year-old star’s racing future in serious jeopardy. Force becomes the oldest champion in NHRA history on the same day that the series crowns its youngest champion, 20-year-old Pro Stock Motorcycle rider LE Tonglet.
2015 — Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds breaks the NCAA record for career rushing touchdowns, upping his total to 81 with four scores in the No. 22 Midshipmen’s 55-14 over SMU.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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