Howdy, I’m your host, Austin Knoblauch, filling in for Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.
From Andrés Soto: This time, Ohio State left no doubt.
The No. 8 seed Buckeyes, with their one-point October loss to No. 1 seed Oregon still on their minds, rose to the occasion and bludgeoned the undefeated Oregon Ducks 41-21 at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday, avenging that loss and advancing to a College Football Playoff semifinal against No. 5 seed Texas.
“After that game, we had a bad taste in our mouth,” Ohio State freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith said. “We just had to come in the next day and see what were the issues, fix the issues, and get on the field and work it. Offensively, we had to get the ball to the perimeter, take shots, and just win our one-on-one matchups. That’s what we did.”
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Smith set the tone for the Buckeyes on the third play of the game. On second and 10, he took a pass in the backfield off a motion, cut up the field, made the Ducks’ safeties miss as they dove at his ankles and walked into the end zone for a 45-yard touchdown.
Two possessions later, Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard stood tall in the pocket and threw a 42-yard dart just out of reach of Oregon’s Brandon Johnson and into the hands of receiver Emeka Egbuka for Ohio State’s second touchdown. Both early scoring drives spanned one minute.
Howard finished 17 for 26 for 319 yards and three touchdowns, building on his 311-yard, two-touchdown performance in the first-round win over Tennessee.
More coverage: Amid wild changes, the Rose Bowl should host the college football national title game
More coverage: Dan Lanning takes blame for Oregon’s Rose Bowl loss: ‘I didn’t get our team prepared’
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UCLA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
UCLA guard Kiki Rice drives around Michigan forward Alyssa Crockett during the first half of the Bruins’ 86-70 win over Michigan on Wednesday at Pauley Pavilion.
(Eric Thayer / Associated Press)
From Ben Bolch: A new year ushered in something different for the UCLA women’s basketball team.
A serious challenge.
Unable to pull away from Michigan like they had against other opponents in recent blowout victories, the Bruins found themselves leading by only seven points entering the fourth quarter.
The restlessness in the Pauley Pavilion crowd finally dissipated when UCLA guard Londynn Jones spotted up for one three-pointer after another, helping the Bruins avert an unhappy start to 2025.
Jones’ three three-pointers in the fourth quarter sparked a late surge that gave top-ranked UCLA an 86-70 victory over No. 24 Michigan on Wednesday afternoon.
USC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
USC guard JuJu Watkins, left, defends against Nebraska guard Allison Weidner during the first half of the Trojans’ 75-55 win Wednesday at Galen Center.
(Jessie Alcheh / Associated Press)
From Benjamin Royer: USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb crossed her arms as she watched Nebraska storm ahead by five points in the second quarter. The Trojans’ New Year’s Day matinee at Galen Center wasn’t going according to plan.
She had watched the Cornhuskers cause No. 1 UCLA early fits Sunday before the Bruins swiftly won by 37 points. Now Gottlieb’s team was trying to withstand similar pressure.
“We have to assert our will a little bit more, because all these teams are coming in here to get away and to try to get a win, not to roll over,” Gottlieb said. “I’m not surprised they came in ready to play.”
Luckily for her, No. 4 USC responded. After using a 14-4 run to close the first half and take the lead, USC took control in the second half, riding a 26-point performance from sophomore star JuJu Watkins to defeat Nebraska 75-55 on Wednesday.
Kiki Iriafen added 14 points, extending her double-digit scoring streak to all 14 games. Watkins scored nine points in the third quarter, increasing USC’s lead to 59-45.
RAMS
Rams backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo speaks to reporters during a news conference on Wednesday.
(Gary Klein / Los Angeles Times)
From Gary Klein: Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo last started an NFL game in October 2023.
On Sunday, the 11th-year pro will start in place of Matthew Stafford for the playoff-bound Rams in the season finale against the Seattle Seahawks at SoFi Stadium, coach Sean McVay said Wednesday.
The Rams last weekend clinched the NFC West title and the NFL’s strength-of-victory tiebreaker, so they will be either the No. 3 seed or No. 4 seed in the NFC playoffs. That was enough to convince McVay to rest Stafford against the Seahawks, and keep the 16th-year pro out of harm’s way.
“It’s a great opportunity for Jimmy to be able to play,” McVay said. “I also think it’s an awesome opportunity for Matthew to be able to get rest and rejuvenated and ready to roll for the playoffs.”
CHARGERS
Chargers wide receiver Derius Davis scores a touchdown in front of Denver Broncos safety P.J. Locke during the Chargers’ win on Dec. 19 at SoFi Stadium.
(Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: One was clutch. The other was acrobatic.
Both of Derius Davis’ touchdown catches have been electrifying.
The second-year receiver has sparked the Chargers’ offense at just the right time with the first two touchdown catches of his career. Davis has 60 of his season-total 107 yards receiving in the last two weeks, using just four receptions to ignite an offense that has scored 74 combined points in the last two games entering Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Las Vegas Raiders.
“He’s one of those guys that just has a knack at being a spark, being a tone setter,” coach Jim Harbaugh said.
“There’s times it just comes like a bolt. A bolt of lightning.”
KINGS
Kings captain Anze Kopitar, left, celebrates with goaltender Darcy Kuemper after a 3-0 win over the New Jersey Devils at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday.
(Ryan Sun / Associated Press)
From the Associated Press: Andre Lee scored his first NHL goal, Darcy Kuemper recorded his second shutout of the season and the Kings beat the New Jersey Devils 3-0 on Wednesday for their third straight win.
Quinton Byfield also scored for the Kings, and Adrian Kempe added an empty-netter with 4:25 to play. Kuemper made 32 saves for his 33rd career shutout.
Byfield, who has three goals and five points in the past three games, made it 2-0 at 11:01 of the third period. The forward came out of the penalty box and put a wrist shot past Jake Allen.
NBA
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
Seventeen Los Angeles Times staff writers and columnists selected a story they wrote in 2024 that was their favorite. You can read (or read again) some of our very best journalism of the year here.
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.