From J. Brady McCollough: Facing fourth-and-two on his own 33-yard line, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh could have been conservative trailing Alabama by a touchdown with 3:19 left on the clock and three timeouts in his pocket. His offense had been shut down the entire second half, so nobody would have blamed Harbaugh for trusting his dominant defense one more time.
Nobody, including his dad, who was in the stands watching in trepidation that this was going to be one more downtrodden trip home for the Wolverines from Pasadena.
“Back in the old days, when I was with Bo Schembechler, you never thought about it. You just punted,” said 84-year-old Jack Harbaugh, the former Michigan assistant coach, reflecting on his son’s decision later. “And now we have this thing called analytics, all these different things far beyond me, so my thing is, usually, punt it.”
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But Jim Harbaugh has been saying all season that his quarterback, J.J. McCarthy, is the standard bearer at that position for Michigan, surpassing even the head man himself. Harbaugh backed up those words Monday night by putting the ball in McCarthy’s hands with the season on the line.
McCarthy responded by converting on a nifty pass to running back Blake Corum, who slipped out of the backfield uncovered, for 27 yards. The next play, McCarthy kept the ball for 16 yards. Then, McCarthy found receiver Roman Wilson for a 29-yard gain. Two plays later, McCarthy hit Wilson again for a four-yard touchdown pass, tying the score with 1:38 left in what will go down as one of the all-time classic Rose Bowl Games.
Could Michigan finish off its comeback in overtime, overcoming a litany of unspeakable special teams errors that gave life to the Crimson Tide over and over again?
“When we scored and forced overtime, I knew it was over,” Corum said. “Just like Alabama probably thought it was over for us on that last dr
Plaschke: Jim Harbaugh to the Chargers? After magical Rose Bowl, he’s a perfect fit
‘We’ve got one more to go.’ Rose Bowl MVPs J.J. McCarthy, Mason Graham crave a title
Rose Bowl postcards: John Madden’s grandson gets his Rose Bowl moment
Michael Penix Jr. leads Washington to Sugar Bowl victory over Texas
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RAMS
Rams kicker Brett Maher reacts after missing a field-goal attempt against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Oct. 22.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
From Gary Klein: Seven games into the season, the Rams cut kicker Brett Maher because of inconsistency.
Now, the Rams are bringing back Maher for the season finale against the San Francisco 49ers and the playoffs.
On Monday, a day after rookie Lucas Havrisik missed two extra-point attempts in a 26-25 victory over the New York Giants, the Rams cut Havrisik and agreed to terms with Maher.
“Getting into the playoffs definitely changes a little bit of the dialogue in regards to knowing what we have coming down the pipe,” McVay said during a video conference with reporters. “And so we wanted to get somebody in here that had some experience.”
CLIPPERS
Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard, right, is congratulated by forward Paul George after making a basket during a 121-104 victory over the Miami Heat at Crypto.com Arena on Monday. Leonard scored 24 points in his first game since Dec. 20.
(Alex Gallardo / Associated Press)
From Andrew Greif: Kawhi Leonard’s introduction in the Clippers’ starting lineup Monday evening was met by a familiar roar through Crypto.com Arena — the sound of a collective sigh of relief of seeing Leonard again after missing four consecutive games with a left hip contusion.
Less than two quarters later, Leonard’s tumble to the court and hard landing on that same hip, after scoring off an offensive rebound while being fouled, was met by a moment of unease — one familiar to anyone who has watched Leonard go in and out of the lineup because of injuries.
But this time, unlike in Dallas on Dec. 20 when Leonard aggravated the injury, Leonard popped up quickly, made his free throw and went back to changing his team’s fortune in his first game back.
Leonard scored 13 points in the second quarter to help the Clippers climb out of a 14-point deficit to lead by one at halftime — an advantage they never gave up again in a 121-104 win against Miami that improved them to 20-12.
Leonard scored 24 points, making 10 of his 19 shots while adding six rebounds, five assists and four steals. In 34 minutes, he turned the ball over just twice.
“He [does] all the little intangible stuff,” teammate Paul George said of Leonard. “It’s just so reliable.”
ANGELS
Zach Plesac delivers during a game between the Cleveland Guardians and Seattle Mariners on April 9.
(Ron Schwane / Associated Press)
From Sarah Valenzuela: Right-handed starting pitcher Zach Plesac and the Angels are in agreement on a major-league deal for the 2024 season, according to a person with knowledge of the contract unauthorized to speak about it publicly.
The deal is still pending a physical.
Plesac would join a rotation group that has Patrick Sandoval, Reid Detmers, Tyler Anderson and Griffin Canning, with other starting options including Chase Silseth and José Suarez.
Plesac’s entrance to the league in 2019 certainly drew intrigue — a little-known young pitcher who Angels fans, for example, might remember getting shut out in a September game at Angel Stadium. But since his 2019 season, it has not been quite the same.
HORSE RACING
Jockey Mike Smith celebrates after riding Zenyatta to victory in the $5-million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park on Nov. 7, 2009.
(Mark Ralston / AFP via Getty Images)
From Bill Dwyre: Horse racing never wanted the Zenyatta story to end, never wanted her pre-race dance steps to go away and her improbable last-to-first mad dashes to stop. But time intrudes and the Zenyatta story has drifted off, needing a milestone to rekindle the memories.
A milestone, indeed. Zenyatta turns 20-years-old Jan. 1.
Actually, as in many things in the sport, even that is a little confusing. All thoroughbreds turn a year older on the first day of the new year. Zenyatta was born April 1, 2004. She was the daughter of Street Cry, who fathered a Kentucky Derby winner named Street Sense, but had no greater moment as a sire than Zenyatta’s birth.
Zenyatta was owned by the recently deceased Jerry Moss and his wife, Ann, who did the unthinkable by letting her run a year longer than the sort’s norm. She was at the top of her game when the Mosses called a small gathering of sportswriters to their box at Santa Anita one day to tell them they had decided to race their wonder mare one more year, her sixth. She was worth a Brink’s truck of money for her breeding rights and the odds of an injury coming along soon were great. But the Mosses said that racing deserved to see as much as possible of her.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1961 — George Blanda passes for three touchdowns and kicks a field goal and the extra points to give the Houston Oilers a 24-16 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in the first American Football League championship game.
1965 — The New York Jets sign Alabama quarterback Joe Namath for a reported $400,000, the most lucrative rookie contract in football history.
1966 — Jim Taylor and Paul Hornung gain 201 yards on four inches of snow at Lambeau Field to lead the Green Bay Packers to a 23-12 victory over the Cleveland Browns and their third championship in five years.
1977 — Atlanta Braves’ owner Ted Turner is suspended one year by Major League Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn for tampering in the free-agent signing of Gary Matthews.
1982 — Rolf Benirschke’s 29-yard field goal at 13:52 of overtime ends one of the wildest and highest-scoring playoff games as the San Diego Chargers beat the Miami Dolphins 41-38. San Diego’s Dan Fouts completes 33 of 53 passes for 433 yards and three TDs. Miami quarterback Don Strock completes 29 of 43 passes for 403 yards and four TDs.
1984 — Miami defeats Nebraska 31-30 in the Orange Bowl to win the national championship.
1985 — Nevada-Las Vegas beats Utah State 142-140 in triple overtime as both teams set an NCAA record for total points. The Runnin’ Rebels score a record 93 points in the second half, and coach Jerry Tarkanian gets his 600th victory.
1986 — Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders becomes the 11th NHL player to score 500 goals. Bossy scores No. 500 on an empty netter with 17 seconds remaining to clinch a 7-5 victory against the Boston Bruins at Nassau Coliseum. Bossy reaches the milestone in 647 games, fewer than anyone in NHL history at that time.
1987 — No. 2 Penn State beats No. 1 Miami 14-10 in the Fiesta Bowl for the national championship.
1989 — Notre Dame beats West Virginia 34-21 in the Fiesta Bowl to finish the season at 12-0. The Irish are named national champion in the polls.
1996 — No. 1 Nebraska demolishes No. 2 Florida 62-24 in the Fiesta Bowl, making them the first repeat champions in 16 years.
2001 — Jose Theodore becomes the sixth NHL goalie to score a goal in a regular-season game and stops 32 shots as Montreal blanks the New York Islanders 3-0.
2002 — Carolina’s Ron Francis becomes the fifth player in NHL history to record 500 goals and 1,000 assists when he scores in the Hurricanes’ 6-3 loss to Boston.
2009 — Utah finishes 13-0 with a convincing 31-17 win over No. 4 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. The Utes are the first team from a non-BCS conference to win two BCS bowls.2009 — Doug Weight has a pair of assists for the New York Islanders in a 5-4 loss to Phoenix to become the eighth American-born player to reach the 1,000-point mark.
2011 — Seattle becomes the first sub-.500 division champ in league history with a 16-6 win over St. Louis. The Seahawks finish as champs of the NFC West at 7-9, the first playoff team with a losing record — sans the 1982 strike-shortened season — since the merger in 1970.
2018 — Marc-Andre Fleury stops 29 shots in his second shutout of the season, leading Vegas past Nashville 3-0. Vegas wins its eighth straight and earns at least one point in 13 consecutive games, both NHL records for a first-year team.
2019 — United States international Christian Pulisic becomes the most expensive American soccer player when he moves from Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea for £57.6M ($73M); remains at Dortmund on loan until the end of the season.
2023 — Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin collapses in cardiac arrest and is revived by CPR on the field in televised NFL game against the Bengals in Cincinnati.
Compiled by the Associated Press
And finally
Check out The Times’ UCLA and USC NCAA transfer portal tracker to stay on top of who is leaving and who will be playing with the Bruins and Trojans in the Big Ten this year.
Until next time…
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