From Anthony Solorzano: After a night of rain in Pasadena, the Indiana Hoosiers washed away the weight of history.
Entering the Rose Bowl, College Football Playoff teams coming off first-round byes were winless. At the start of the season, the Hoosiers led college football with the most all-time losses. During their sole previous Rose Bowl appearance in 1968, the Hoosiers lost to USC.
Indiana’s football program spent most of its time stuck in the Big Ten conference basement, but that era is over.
Now, with new blood infused by head coach Curt Cignetti and an offense led by Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, the Hoosiers have turned the page and shattered expectations.
After a quarter of brushing off their rust following a three-week break, No. 1 Indiana rolled to a 38-3 Rose Bowl victory over No. 9 Alabama Thursday afternoon in front of a crowd of 90,278. It is the largest postseason margin of defeat in Crimson Tide history.
When an ESPN reporter asked Cignetti moments after the win how his team managed to handle the Rose Bowl pressure and proved the moment wasn’t too big for them, he responded, “Why should it be too big, because our name’s Indiana?
”… We’ve come through in clutch moments. I’m proud of the way they’ve responded.”
College Football Playoff roundup
In front of more than 90,000 fans at the Rose Bowl, Indiana running back Roman Hemby scores on an 18-yard run in the fourth quarter during the Hoosiers’ win over Alabama on Thursday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
From Bill Plaschke: Two unbeatens owned Pasadena Thursday, two unbeatens who transformed a dreary morning into a startling afternoon, two unbeatens who overcame questions to shine like the poke of the midday sun.
Indiana and Grandaddy.
First, the Hoosiers, who improved to 14-0 and bolstered the growing belief that they are the best college football team in the country after a 38-3 beatdown of Alabama in the Rose Bowl’s CFP quarterfinal game.
Second, the Rose Bowl itself, the “Grandaddy of Them All” improving to 112-0, again proving immune to bad weather and misguided criticism while putting on college football’s most majestic show.
The rain that had soaked the morning Rose Parade stopped before the game. Early in the second quarter, the sun creeped out. A postponed pregame flyover eventually joined the party, a single jet buzzing the cheering crowd at the start of the third quarter. Finally, early in the fourth quarter the San Gabriel Mountains made their annual breathtaking appearance, barging through the clouds like the Hoosiers rolling over the Tide.
Keith Jackson’s family keeps his memory alive
Melanie Jackson, daughter of Keith Jackson, holds up a photo of the iconic college football broadcaster at the family’s home in Sherman Oaks on Thursday.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
From Sam Farmer: Even the “Granddaddy of Them All” has a dad.
That’s the late and legendary ABC Sports announcer Keith Jackson, who coined that term for the Rose Bowl Game and it stuck. He clicked off his microphone for the last time precisely 20 years ago after Texas beat USC on this storied field.
The game was a classic and so was Jackson, the Saturday evening soundtrack for generations of college football fans. His melodic baritone filled millions of households with tales of Southerners and soph-ah-mores, with praise for the “big uglies” and proclamations of “Hello, Heisman.”
“I still hear his voice,” said his daughter, Melanie, standing Thursday in the office of the family home in Sherman Oaks, where Keith and Turi Ann raised their children Melanie, Lindsey and Christopher. “I come up here sometimes just to say hi to him.”
Jackson, who died in 2018, still lives in the hearts of his family, friends and fans, and his countless stories and famous calls are woven into the lore of college football — although he covered many sports — and the history of the Rose Bowl itself.
Rams sign Quentin Lake to contract extension
Rams safety Quentin Lake jogs back to the locker room before a game against the Seattle Seahawks on Nov. 16.
(Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)
From Gary Klein: As safety Quentin Lake played through much of the final year of his rookie contract, he said he did not worry about whether he would come to terms with the Rams about an extension.
If he took care of business on the field, everything would work out.
On Thursday, that manifestation came to fruition.
Lake signed a three-year extension that will keep another pillar of the Rams’ defense in place.
Terms of the deal were not announced but it includes $25.7 million in guarantees, said a person with knowledge of the situation who requested anonymity because the terms were not announced.
Jerry Neuheisel joining forces with Chip Kelly again
UCLA coach Jerry Neuheisel stands on the sideline against Penn State on Oct. 4.
(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
From Ben Bolch: Jerry Neuheisel is leaving home to go work for someone familiar.
The longtime UCLA assistant who was born at the school’s medical center, played quarterback for the Bruins and rose to de facto offensive coordinator last season will rejoin former boss Chip Kelly in a new role at Northwestern.
Neuheisel has agreed to become the quarterbacks coach under Kelly, who will serve as the Wildcats’ offensive coordinator after being fired late last season from the same role with the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders.
Kawhi Leonard scores 45 in Clippers’ sixth consecutive win
Clippers star Kawhi Leonard dunks during the first half of a 118-101 win over the Utah Jazz at Intuit Dome on Thursday night.
(William Liang / Associated Press)
From The Associated Press: Kawhi Leonard scored 45 points, James Harden added 20 and the Clippers recovered from blowing a 21-point lead to beat the Utah Jazz on 118-101 on Thursday night, extending their winning streak to a season-best six games.
Leonard was the only Clippers starter on the floor for much of the fourth quarter. He singlehandedly matched Utah’s points in the period (20), with blood on his nose from what appeared to be a scratch.
The Clippers hit seven straight three-pointers, with Leonard making four, to pull away. Nicolas Batum finished with 14 points and went four for six from three-point range.
Kings lose in meltdown against the Lightning
Tampa Bay forward Brayden Point, left, Kings forward Andrei Kuzmenko battle for the puck during the first period of the Kings’ 5-3 loss Thursday at Crypto.com Arena.
(Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Associated Press)
From the Associated Press: Gage Goncalves scored the tiebreaking goal with 1:41 to play, and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied from a late deficit to beat the Kings 5-3 on Thursday night for their sixth consecutive victory.
Anthony Cirelli scored the tying goal with 3:19 left in regulation for the Lightning, who fell behind early in the third period on Kevin Fiala‘s power-play goal.
Cirelli crashed the net and pushed home his 11th goal on a play set up by Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov. Moments later, Cirelli and Goncalves drove the net again, and Goncalves eventually converted a behind-the-net pass from Jake Guentzel for his fourth goal.
This day in sports history
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.
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. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.