The Offensive Most Valuable Player of the Rose Bowl game easily could have gone to Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza. The Indiana quarterback finished the game with more touchdown passes than incompletions , threw for 192 yards and spread the ball to three teammates on scoring plays during their 38-3 rout of Alabama.
Instead, the sportswriters and broadcasters awarded center Pat Coogan and the rest of the offensive line. After it was announced, the biggest celebration came from Mendoza, who jumped with excitement, smiled from ear to ear and pumped his fist as he swarmed his center with the rest of his teammates.
Just another assist from a leader.
“We work really hard every single day because not only do we enjoy football, we also enjoy winning,” said Mendoza, who completed 14 of 16 passes. “And we know what that takes. So every single day we’re always going to put our best foot forward.”
Coogan was the first offensive lineman to win the award since Norm Verry won it for USC in 1944.
“It’s all a credit to my teammates and my coaching staff for just believing in me and the ability to make my calls and diagnose a defense and fully entrusting in me and my abilities,” Coogan said.
Against the Crimson Tide, Indiana had its love for the game fully displayed on both sides of the field. The defense held Alabama to a field goal and 23 rushing yards while forcing two fumbles and recovering one.
The crucial recovery came as the Tide approached Hoosiers territory as the second quarter was coming to a close. With Indiana ahead 10-0, Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson ran on third and seven toward Indiana’s 40-yard line. Instead of gaining a first down, Simpson fumbled on a hit by Hoosiers cornerback D’Angelo Ponds. On its next drive, Indiana scored to make it 17-0.
Ponds earned the Defensive MVP award for his pivotal hit and thanked defensive coordinator Bryant Haines for their preparation.
“He did a good job scheming [Alabama],” Ponds said. “He knew what they liked to run, their tendencies and stuff like that.”
The coaching staff set the standards for Indiana and it all started with head coach Curt Cignetti, Coogan said.
“The complacency factor, the [fear] to death of complacency, the never-ending journey of improving, taking it day-to-day, taking each day as the most important day in the history of the program,” he said. “It all starts with [Cignetti], and he makes sure all of our eyes are focused forward and we’re all thinking alike as he always says.”
Cignetti called the game a great team victory for Indiana against an opponent with great tradition and history, but there’s still football to be played.
Up next, the Hoosiers go up against Oregon at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta on Jan. 9. This will be the Big Ten teams’ second meeting this season.
“Good to have another rematch against Dante Moore and a great Oregon team next week,” Mendoza said.
It’ll be the third time Mendoza faces the Oregon quarterback. The first time they met was in 2023 at the Rose Bowl, when they played for Cal and UCLA, respectively. Mendoza came out victorious 33-7.
In October, they matched up again, this time with their current teams. Again, the Hoosiers quarterback came out on top, 30-20.
But can lightning strike twice in a season?
“It’s very hard to beat a really good football team twice,” Cignetti said. “There’s no doubt about that.”
Indiana will take its unblemished record to Atlanta to face Oregon and hope the Hoosiers’ chemistry carries them to Miami Gardens for a shot at the national championship.
“We are efficient because we have good players with high character,” Cignetti said. “They’re great team guys and really good leaders, and they listen and they buy in.”
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.”
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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. It is the largest postseason margin of defeat in Crimson Tide history.
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza throws a touchdown pass to wide receiver Camden Jordan (not pictured) during the second quarter Thursday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Indiana linebacker Rolijah Hardy tackles Alabama tight end Josh Cuevas after a reception in the second quarter.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Two years ago, a day after he decided to fire Alex Grinch as USC‘s defensive coordinator, Lincoln Riley made a promise to those concerned about the future of the Trojans’ defense.
“I have complete belief, conviction. We will play great defense here,” the coach said in November 2023. “It is going to happen. There’s not a reason in the world why it can’t.”
Two years later, another defensive coordinator is out the door at USC. The day after Grinch’s replacement, D’Anton Lynn, left to take the same job at Penn State, Riley stood in front of reporters, assuring everyone once again that soon enough, USC would be great on that side of the ball.
“The arrow,” he said Tuesday, “is pointing straight up.”
“The opportunity for us to make a hire, to continue to make us better and to go from being a very good defense to being a great defense is the goal.”
Yet patience on that promise is wearing thin, especially given how the season had ended less than an hour before. USC blew a 10-point lead in the final five minutes against Texas Christian on Tuesday, a team playing without its star quarterback, before missing four tackles on a third-and-20 walk-off touchdown in overtime. The disastrous Alamo Bowl defeat would serve as an especially sobering reminder that while USC made progress under Lynn, it’s still a ways from heeding Riley’s guarantee.
And now, the defense will have to start again, with a new direction, a new scheme and a new coordinator, who will be Riley’s third hire in five seasons at USC.
In spite of all that, Riley was upbeat when asked about the unit’s future Tuesday night. He felt “fantastic,” he said, about where USC’s defense was headed.
“We have the personnel,” Riley said of becoming a great defensive unit. “We’re on an upward trend. And, you know, there’s going to be a lot of interest in this job. I mean, this will be an extremely, extremely coveted job, and I can already tell by the nature of what my phone’s been like the last couple of days.”
Several potential candidates with deep experience, as well as close ties to USC athletics officials, are expected to be available.
Former Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, who worked at Washington under current USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen, was let go by the Longhorns earlier this month. Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden, meanwhile, worked closely with USC general manager Chad Bowden at Notre Dame and could be looking for a job as soon as next week.
Both coached college defenses that ranked in the top four in the nation in points allowed during the 2024 season.
USC appeared bound for a similar trajectory after Year 1 with Lynn. The Trojans allowed 10 fewer points per game, leaping from 121st in scoring defense under Grinch to 56th in his first season at USC. They got stingier on third down — 106th nationally to 21st — and in the red zone — 119th to 69th. Lynn was even named candidate for the Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant.
In some respects, USC’s defense continued to take steps forward in Year 2 under Lynn. It gave up fewer points and fewer yards per game. The pass rush improved, adding 10 sacks to its season total in 2025.
But the personnel on defense was less proven this season — and more prone to mistakes. The secondary struggled through stretches. A thin group of linebackers was often overwhelmed. The defensive interior was manhandled for most of the season, and in each of their three regular-season losses, the Trojans were trampled on the ground.
Last month, when asked about the group’s inconsistency, Lynn said that USC’s youth forced him to “scale back” significantly on defense. He actually wondered, in the wake of USC’s loss to Oregon, if he shouldn’t have scaled back the defense even more this season.
“It’s different when you’re teaching an 18-year-old versus teaching a guy who has been at two to three schools who has already played a bunch of college ball,” Lynn said.
Lynn, nonetheless, leaves USC in a better place than when he arrived. The nation’s No. 1 recruiting class lands on campus next week, with plenty of highly ranked reinforcements on the way. Talented freshmen like defensive linemen Jahkeem Stewart and Floyd Boucard as well as defensive back Alex Graham are rising stars who should be ready to step into significant roles.
But USC will have to replace three starters in the secondary, including Kamari Ramsey, its best linebacker [Eric Gentry] and its top run stopper on the defensive line [Anthony Lucas]. Whomever takes over as coordinator will be expected to take a significant step forward immediately, up against one of the nation’s toughest schedules in what should be a decisive season for the program.
Then there’s the matter of Riley’s job security, which could make any available top coordinator queasy.
Yet as far as the coach is concerned, the path to finding a great coordinator and fielding a great defense isn’t that far off from what USC has now.
“I definitely don’t want to press reset,” Riley said. “I’m excited about the process, and I think it’s going to make us better, I know it will. So, we’ll wake up tomorrow morning and we’ll get on it.”
From Anthony Solorzano: Through tears, Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza thanked every member of his family after becoming the first Hoosier to ever win the Heisman Trophy. The Cuban American quarterback recognized his family for believing in him throughout his career.
He was a two-star high school recruit who drew little attention before finally landing an opportunity to play at California. After three years with the Golden Bears, including a redshirt year, he transferred to Indiana. On Thursday, the No. 1 Hoosiers will take the field at the Rose Bowl, where they will face college football traditional power Alabama in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.
Pressure is familiar for Mendoza. He’s faced challenges throughout his career — from proving himself as an overlooked high school athlete to earning his starting role at Cal.
Anytime Mendoza has met a hurdle, he considers how to help those around him shine.
“I know that’s my responsibility to my coaches, to my teammates and to the entire team, to be able to be sharp mentally and not have outside influences, pressures and noise able to impact my game,” Mendoza said. “I think one thing is just keeping the process on how I got here, how the entire team got to this place, which is keeping the process that I’ve kept for every single game.”
The Hoosiers finished the season undefeated. They will play for their first Rose Bowl victory in 57 years and it’ll be the second year in a row Indiana has reached the College Football Playoff.
“His leadership has increased in those crucial moments and I think that’s what makes him such a special player — because when the stakes are the highest, he steps up and gets the team going,” Indiana linebacker Isaiah Jones said. “He’s a guy that people want to get behind and run a play for.”
Texas Christian running back Jeremy Payne carries the ball during a 30-27 win over USC in Alamo Bowl.
(Kenneth Richmond / Getty Images)
From Ryan Kartje: Two years ago, a day after he decided to fire Alex Grinch as USC‘s defensive coordinator, Lincoln Riley made a promise to those concerned about the future of the Trojans’ defense.
“I have complete belief, conviction. We will play great defense here,” the coach said in November 2023. “It is going to happen. There’s not a reason in the world why it can’t.”
Two years later, another defensive coordinator is out the door at USC. The day after Grinch’s replacement, D’Anton Lynn, left to take the same job at Penn State, Riley stood in front of reporters, assuring everyone once again that soon enough, USC would be great on that side of the ball.
“The arrow,” he said Tuesday, “is pointing straight up.”
“The opportunity for us to make a hire, to continue to make us better and to go from being a very good defense to being a great defense is the goal.”
UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close reacts during a win over Penn State on Wednesday.
(Greg Fiume / Getty Images)
From Ben Bolch: As she spoke about her team’s growth amid its first conference trip, Cori Close steered her comments toward something else she would like to nurture: coverage of women’s college basketball.
It was a topic that the UCLA coach had thrust into the national spotlight three days earlier when she voiced her frustration with a lack of reporting on a top-20 showdown involving her No. 4 Bruins and No. 19 Ohio State.
Now, after her team’s runaway 97-61 victory over Penn State on Wednesday inside Rec Hall, Close glanced at the 10 reporters on a Zoom call and doubled down on her previous remarks.
“The reality of what my comments were after Ohio State were, I have two really passionate agendas in regards to this, and that is, I want to be a pioneer of growing the game, period,” Close said. “I want to really be a part of the surge that’s happening and I want to be a part of telling these amazing stories that these players have, and they’re incredible young women as well as amazing basketball players.”
Tired from hosting family for the holidays and planning on rising early for a workout, the 2004 Heisman Trophy winner and star USC quarterback did not stay up to catch the end of his alma mater’s game against Texas Christian in the Alamo Bowl on Tuesday night.
He likely does not regret that decision.
After allowing a 10-point lead to slip away in the final minutes of regulation, the Trojans eventually lost 30-27 in overtime after TCU running back Jeremy Payne caught a check-down pass on third-and-20 and broke multiple tackles on his way to the end zone for a 35-yard, game-winning touchdown.
Lakers coach JJ Redick reacts during a loss to the Detroit Pistons at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: The Lakers started the day by singing “Happy Birthday” to LeBron James as the superstar forward turned 41 on Tuesday. They ended by singing another familiar, but more somber tune.
The Lakers got blown out again Tuesday, letting a close game devolve into a 128-106 loss to the Detroit Pistons. James scored 17 points with four assists and five turnovers while the Lakers (20-11) lost by 20 points for the sixth time this season. They are tied for the third-most 20-point losses in the league, yet somehow are still clinging to fifth place in the Western Conference standings.
“The intent and the, like, effort was there for the most part tonight,” coach JJ Redick said. “… The turnovers and the fast-break points, they kill you.”
The year 2025 was more tumultuous than any silly football game and its accompanying overwrought metaphors. It was a year that knocked me flat, tearing me apart from so many things that once anchored me, setting me afloat in a sea of guilt and despair and ultimate uncertainty.
JJ Harel of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame is gearing up to defend his state championship in the high jump.
(Craig Weston)
From Eric Sondheimer: It’s time to peer into my crystal ball to see what 2026 has in store for the Southland’s high school athletes (and a few former ones), coaches and fans:
JJ Harel of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, armed with passports from the United States, Israel and Australia, will soar so far past 7 feet in the high jump that national organizations from three different countries will fight to have him represent their team.
Striker Pence, a sophomore pitcher at Corona Santiago with a 100-mph fastball, will receive an endorsement deal from a radar gun company.
The UCLA-USC women’s basketball games will have so many celebrities and former players wanting to be seen that TMZ won’t need to pay for video.
Tampa Bay defenseman Darren Raddysh, left, scores on Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal in overtime of the Lightning’s 4-3 win Wednesday at Honda Center.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
From the Associated Press:Darren Raddysh scored midway through overtime, and the Tampa Bay Lightning blew three one-goal leads before beating the Ducks 4-3 on Wednesday for their fifth consecutive victory.
Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper celebrated his 1,000th regular-season game in charge with his 595th victory as the longest-tenured bench boss in the NHL. The Lightning’s coach since March 2013 has also led them in 155 playoff games, won two championships and reached four Stanley Cup Finals.
Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist as the Lightning skated off with a win in the opener of their three-game California trip when Raddysh converted a pass from Brandon Hagel, who had three assists.
1902 — Michigan beats Stanford 49-0 in the first Rose Bowl. Neil Snow scores four touchdowns in a game that ends with eight minutes to play. The Wolverines earned the nickname as the “Point a Minute” team, having scored 501 points in their ten games. The next Rose Bowl game does not occur until 1916.
1916 — Washington State beats Brown 14-0 in the return of the Rose Bowl. Brown halfback Fritz Pollard, the first African-American to play in the Rose Bowl, gains just 47 yards in the rain-soaked game. After a scoreless first half, Washington State scores on short runs by Ralph Boone and Carl Dietz.
1934 — Columbia upsets Stanford 7-0 in the Rose Bowl when Al Barabas scores in the third quarter on a 17-yard hidden-ball play.
1935 — Bucknell beats Miami 26-0 in the first Orange Bowl.
1935 — Tulane beats Temple 20-14 in the first Sugar Bowl. The Green Wave complete a 14-0 comeback when Temple defender Horace Mowery tips a pass into the direction of Dick Hardy, who takes it in to the end zone.
1961 — The Houston Oilers beat the Los Angeles Chargers 24-16 to win the first AFL Championship.
1961 — Boston Bruins rookie Willie O’Ree, the first black player in NHL history, scores his first goal in a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens at Boston Garden.
1971 — Notre Dame ends Texas’ 30-game winning streak with a 24-11 win in the Cotton Bowl.
1991 — Georgia Tech routs Nebraska 45-21 in the Citrus Bowl to finish as college football’s only unbeaten team (11-0-1).
1992 — Miami beats Nebraska 22-0 in the Orange Bowl, the first shutout of the Cornhuskers since 1973, and finishes with a 12-0 record.
1993 — No. 2 Alabama wins its first national championship in 13 years and deprives Miami of its fifth title as the Crimson Tide defense humbles the No. 1 Hurricanes 34-13 in the Sugar Bowl.
1993 — Florida State beats Nebraska 27-14 in the Orange Bowl to set an NCAA record by winning eight consecutive bowl games.
2000 — Georgia’s Hap Hines kicks a 21-yard field goal in overtime to complete the greatest comeback in bowl history. The Bulldogs pull out a 28-25 victory over Purdue after trailing 25-0 early in the second quarter in the Outback Bowl.
2006 — New England’s Doug Flutie converts the NFL’s first successful drop kick in 64 years during a 28-26 loss to Miami.
2007 — Boise State, after tying the game with seven seconds to go in regulation, stuns No. 7 Oklahoma 43-42 in overtime to win the Fiesta Bowl. The No. 9 Broncos win on Ian Johnson’s 2-point conversion run after receiver Vinny Perretta throws a fourth-down touchdown pass to Derek Schouman.
2008 — Sidney Crosby’s shootout goal gives Pittsburgh a 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres in the inaugral outdoor Winter Classic in front of a league-record 71,217 fans. In elements way more suited for football than hockey, Crosby wins the NHL’s second outdoor game — and first in the United States — in the most dramatic of fashion at Ralph Wilson Stadium, home to the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.
2012 — Backup quarterback Matt Flynn throws for a franchise-record six touchdowns to give Green Bay a 45-41 victory over the Detroit Lions.
2014 — Central Florida pulls off one of the biggest upsets of the bowl season by outlasting No. 6 Baylor 52-42 in the Fiesta Bowl. It’s the highest-scoring game in Fiesta Bowl history and second-highest BCS bowl ever.
2015 — Marcus Mariota and Oregon roll past defending national champion Florida State 59-20 to turn the first College Football Playoff semifinal into a Rose Bowl rout.
2015 — Cardale Jones turns in another savvy performance in his second college start and Ezekiel Elliott runs for a Sugar Bowl-record 230 yards, leading Ohio State to a 42-35 upset of top-ranked Alabama in the second semifinal of the College Football Playoff.
2018 — Sony Michel’s 27-yard touchdown run in double overtime gives Georgia a 54-48 win over Oklahoma in a Rose Bowl. It’s the first overtime game in the 104-year history of the Rose Bowl, the highest-scoring Rose Bowl ever and the first College Football Playoff game to go into overtime.
2022 — Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozen becomes first player in NBA history to hit buzzer-beaters on consecutive days; hits three-pointers to beat Washington Wizards, 120-119 and previous night Indiana Pacers, 108-106.
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.
SAN ANTONIO — For a nine-win team such as USC, once again on the outside looking in at the College Football Playoff, the bowl season can feel a bit like purgatory. One foot in the past season, the other in the future, your team trapped somewhere in-between.
There were glimpses of each Tuesday night for USC in a brutal 30-27 overtime defeat to Texas Christian in the Alamo Bowl. There were equal reminders all night both of what could have been this season, had USC ever played at its best for long, and also flashes of why it never managed to be.
In one moment, there was freshman Tanook Hines, sprinting to catch a deep ball in stride, announcing himself as a rising star. In another, a TCU running back was busting his way through tackles on third-and-long, rumbling improbably into the end zone, deflating any such delusions of grandeur.
But after oscillating between those opposing poles, the final minutes against TCU took the Trojans on a tour of all their most glaring concerns from the 2025 season, from the leaky defense to the missed opportunities on offense.
Highlights from Texas Christian’s 30-27 overtime win over USC in the Alamo Bowl.
The Trojans saw a two-score lead evaporate in the final minutes of regulation. They got all the way to the five-yard line in overtime, only for the offense to stall and settle for a field goal. They even sacked TCU quarterback Ken Seals on second and 10, pushing the Horned Frogs out of field-goal range and forcing a third and 20.
All signs in that moment pointed toward the Trojans securing their 10th win, a feat they achieved only once over the past eight years. But then, against a three-man USC rush and with eight defenders in coverage, Seals checked down to running back Jeremy Payne in the flat.
“We did everything right defensively to put them in that position,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said.
Nothing, though, went right for USC after that. Payne broke through a tackle from cornerback Marcelles Williams. Two defenders, linebacker Jadyn Walker and safety Kennedy Urlacher, collided as they reached Payne next, missing him entirely. Then, he slipped through safety Christian Pierce’s hands and was suddenly sprinting free 35 yards for the win.
“Wasn’t a lot of time this year that we missed multiple tackles on a play,” Riley said. “It just happened in the worst time possible.”
That’s how most of the fourth quarter and overtime felt for USC, as TCU racked up 159 yards and 17 points over its final three drives.
Of course, there had been multiple chances before then for USC to put the game away, just like there were multiple chances for USC to make more of its 9-4 finish this season. The Trojans averaged nearly a full yard per play more than TCU. They racked up eight plays of 20 yards or more — a reminder of how explosive they could be.
In the red zone, though, the offense unraveled. Quarterback Jayden Maiava, who was inconsistent most of the night, threw a third-quarter interception in the end zone, just as USC looked primed to go on a roll.
Four other times, the Trojans stalled inside of TCU’s 25-yard line and settled for field goals as kicker Ryon Sayeri set the USC record for field goals in a season at 21.
“We just did not execute good enough in the red zone on either side of the ball,” Riley said. “If we did that, it’s probably a different feeling.”
Instead, the Trojans will have to carry this bitter taste into the offseason, with questions already looming about what comes next. Not the least of which being what direction USC will take its defense, after coordinator D’Anton Lynn departed for Penn State just before the game.
USC running back King Miller is stopped short by the Texas Christian defense in the first half during the Alamo Bowl on Tuesday night.
(Eric Gay / Associated Press)
Riley wouldn’t comment on why Lynn was replaced as playcaller the day of the bowl game. But when asked how he felt about the future of his defense, Riley projected a particularly sunny outlook.
“I feel fantastic,” he said. “But those who really study the game and watch how we’ve played and the way we’ve been able to improve, the arrow is just pointing straight up.”
Of all the questions raised Tuesday, how USC might replace its No. 1 wideout next season was not one of them. Hines had already done his part to earn that role, but declared it to the world anyway in a six-catch, 163-yard performance.
King Miller also continued to solidify his place in a tandem with Waymond Jordan in 2026, as he rushed for 99 yards and a touchdown, coming up just short of the 1,000-yard mark in a season he started as a walk-on.
USC coach Lincoln Riley, right, greets TCU coach Sonny Dykes after the Trojans’ overtime loss in the Alamo Bowl on Tuesday night.
(Kenneth Richmond / Getty Images)
But the silver linings largely stopped there, even if the circumstances made for an unusually uphill climb with USC’s roster. Over a dozen starters or would-be starters sat out. Three of the Trojans’ starting offensive linemen didn’t dress. Both of their top receivers and top tight end were in street clothes, having declared for the NFL draft. Twenty-five players listed in USC’s two-deep Tuesday were either freshmen or redshirt freshmen.
Without Lynn calling plays, which a source described as “a mutual agreement”, defensive line coach Eric Henderson stepped into the role.
It went quite smoothly at first. USC held TCU to two straight three-and-outs — and just 11 total yards in two drives — to open the game.
But on the ensuing possession, Maiava threw into heavy coverage and was intercepted, his first of two on the night. The momentum USC had built up early dissolved almost instantly.
The defense’s strong start faded into disarray. And while it came roaring back after halftime, forcing an interception and limiting TCU to just 35 yards in the third quarter, USC’s offense couldn’t fully capitalize. A one-handed touchdown pass to Jaden Richardson nearly did the trick, giving the Trojans a 21-14 lead that seemed primed to balloon from there.
But it never did. And in the final, stunned moments of its season, Riley was left offering the same assurances that USC will soon be out of purgatory.
“When you’ve been in those programs and been a part of those teams that have done those things, you feel what it’s like,” Riley said. “And this place is doing all the things that you need to do to put yourself in position to go bust that door down and do it.”
TCU players celebrate after beating USC in the Alamo Bowl on Tuesday night.
From Ryan Kartje: For a nine-win team such as USC, once again on the outside looking in at the College Football Playoff, the bowl season can feel a bit like purgatory. One foot in the past season, the other in the future, your team trapped somewhere in-between.
There were glimpses of each Tuesday night for USC in a brutal 30-27 overtime defeat to Texas Christian in the Alamo Bowl. There were equal reminders all night both of what could have been this season, had USC ever played at its best for long, and also flashes of why it never managed to be.
In one moment, there was freshman Tanook Hines, sprinting to catch a deep ball in stride, announcing himself as a rising star. In another, a TCU running back was busting his way through tackles on third-and-long, rumbling improbably into the end zone, deflating any such delusions of grandeur.
But after oscillating between those opposing poles, the final minutes against TCU took the Trojans on a tour of all their most glaring concerns from the 2025 season, from the leaky defense to the missed opportunities on offense.
The Trojans saw a two-score lead evaporate in the final minutes of regulation. They got all the way to the five-yard line in overtime, only for the offense to stall and settle for a field goal. They even sacked TCU quarterback Ken Seals on second and 10, pushing the Horned Frogs out of field-goal range and forcing a third and 20.
All signs in that moment pointed toward the Trojans securing their 10th win, a feat they achieved only once over the past eight years. But then, against a three-man USC rush and with eight defenders in coverage, Seals checked down to running back Jeremy Payne in the flat.
“We did everything right defensively to put them in that position,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said.
Detroit Pistons forward Isaiah Stewart scores during a 128-106 win over the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
From Broderick Turner: The Lakers are still searching for an identity after 31 games, a task complicated by injuries that have depleted their rotation for much of the season.
They’re lacking a defensive personality. They haven’t been a physical team, an overly athletic team or a fast team.
The Lakers got a close look at a team that embodies all of those characteristics in a 128-106 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
Coach JJ Redick acknowledged the Lakers are still trying to figure out who they are and how they can fix their issues after losing for the fourth time in five games.
“The players, staff, everybody, we’ve really tried to play the right way every night and have the right intent,” Redick said. “The flow of lineups and rotations and all that has been challenging for everybody, not just the coaches. It’s a challenge for the players. And building an identity is difficult.”
James Harden had 21 points while John Collins and rookie Yanic Konan Niederhauser each added 16 for the Clippers, who have found a successful formula after not winning more than two consecutive games before their current run of success began.
Leonard’s productive night came after he scored a career-best 55 points in a victory over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday. He has averaged 37.8 points over the past five games.
How Curt Cignetti Indiana into a Rose Bowl favorite
Indiana players say coach Curt Cignetti’s honesty and accountability have helped the team go from the Big Ten basement to No. 1 in the country.
(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
From Anthony Solorzano: Curt Cignetti knows winning. No matter where he finds himself, whether it’s James Madison or with the Division II IUP Crimson Hawks, success follows him. Since getting the opportunity to lead a program, Cignetti has never had a losing season.
When Indiana hired him in November 2023, the Hoosiers were the program with the most all-time losses in college football history, and ended the season with a 3-9 record under Tom Allen.
It wasn’t a work in progress, the Hoosiers football program needed to be rebuilt.
On New Year’s Day, Indiana will face Alabama in the highly anticipated Rose Bowl matchup. The Crimson Tide have a rich postseason history and a tradition of championships, but the Hoosiers are the favorites to win.
Anthony Rendon clears path to end his Angels tenure
Anthony Rendon’s tenure with the Angels could be drawing to a close with the third baseman agreeing to a restructured contract with the team.
(Tony Gutierrez / Associated Press)
From the Associated Press: Anthony Rendon has agreed to restructure the final year of his $245-million, seven-year contract with the Angels, a person with knowledge of the decision told the Associated Press on Tuesday night.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Angels hadn’t announced any developments with Rendon, who didn’t play last season following hip surgery.
The team and Rendon have amended the deal to restructure the remaining $38 million owed to the third baseman in 2026, presumably spreading the money over time.
Rendon is still on the roster and continuing to rehab at home in Houston, but his horrendous tenure with the Angels could be over.
1961 — Paul Hornung, on leave from the Army, scores 19 points to lead the Green Bay Packers to a 37-0 win over the New York Giants for their seventh NFL championship. Green Bay’s Bart Starr throws three touchdown passes in the first title game ever played in Green Bay.
1962 — The American Basketball League folds. The ABL played one full season, 1961-1962, and part of this season. The ABL is the first basketball league to have a three point shot for baskets scored far away from the goal. The league also had a 30-second shooting clock and a wider free throw lane, 18 feet instead of the standard 12.
1973 — Third-ranked Notre Dame edges top-ranked Alabama 24-23 in the Sugar Bowl. Notre Dame’s Bob Thomas kicks a 19-yard field goal with 4:26 left to give the Irish a one-point lead. With two minutes left, the Irish clinch the victory when on third-and-8 from the their own 3, Tom Clements completes a 35-yard pass from his own end zone to Robin Weber, and Notre Dame runs out the clock.
1982 — Jockey Pat Day edges Angel Cordero Jr. by two races to capture leading rider honors. Day rides Dana’s Woof and Miltons Magic to victory during the evening program at Delta Downs for 399 wins for the year.
1988 — A blinding fog rolls in during the second quarter of the Chicago Bears’ 20-12 NFC semifinal victory over the Philadelphia Eagles at Soldier Field in Chicago. The fog obscures the game from most of the 65,534 fans present and a national television audience that could watch only ground-level shots.
1989 — Jockey Kent Desormeaux sets the world record for most number of wins in a single season. His 598th win is aboard 2-year-old East Royalty in the Inner Harbor Stakes at Laurel Racecourse.
2005 — Harness drivers Catello Manzi and Brian Spears each set single-season records. Manzi, 55, becomes the oldest harness driver to lead North America in victories (727), even without a win on the last day. Sears becomes the first driver to surpass $15 million ($15,085,991) in pursue earnings.
2013 — Johnny Manziel lives up to his nickname “Johnny Football,” leading 20 Texas A&M to another comeback win, 52-48 over No. 22 Duke in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. The Aggies are down 38-17 at halftime but with Manziel at the helm they came back in the highest-scoring game in the bowl’s history. The 2012 Heisman trophy winner throws four touchdown passes, completes 30 of 38 passes for 382 yards and runs for 73 yards and a touchdown.
2016 — Top-ranked Alabama relies on a stifling defense and the bruising runs of Bo Scarbrough to wear down Washington for a 24-7 victory in the Peach Bowl semifinal game.
2016 — Deshaun Watson runs for two touchdowns and throws another and No. 3 Clemson crushes No. 2 Ohio State 31-0 on in the Fiesta Bowl to set up a rematch with Alabama for the College Football Playoff national championship.
2017 — The Cleveland Browns complete the second 0-16 season in NFL history with a 28-24 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
2017 — The Buffalo Bills snap the longest current non-playoff streak in North American pro sports with a 22-16 victory at Miami and Cincinnati’s victory at Baltimore. The Bills hadn’t made the postseason since 1999.
2018 — Houston guard James Harden scores 43 points in Rockets’ 113-101 win over Memphis Grizzlies; 4th straight NBA game with 40+ points and 8th straight with 35+; joins Oscar Robertson as only player with at least 35 points & 5 assists in 8 straight games.
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Tired from hosting family for the holidays and planning on rising early for a workout, the 2004 Heisman Trophy winner and star USC quarterback did not stay up to catch the end of his alma mater’s game against Texas Christian in the Alamo Bowl on Tuesday night.
He likely does not regret that decision.
After allowing a 10-point lead to slip away in the final minutes of regulation, the Trojans eventually lost 30-27 in overtime after TCU running back Jeremy Payne caught a check-down pass on third-and-20 and broke multiple tackles on his way to the end zone for a 35-yard, game-winning touchdown.
It was a exasperating finish to a 9-4 season already considered a disappointment by many Trojan fans after the team failed to make the College Football Playoff for the fourth time in as many seasons under coach Lincoln Riley.
A number of former USC players took to social media during and after the game to express their frustrations. Leinart initially wasn’t one of them, even though some people thought he was commenting on the Alamo Bowl when he wrote, “Nobody cares…. I promise!” Tuesday night on X.
Later, the verified TCU Football account reposted Leinart’s post and wrote “cry on,” a play on the USC rallying cry, “Fight on!”
USC coach Lincoln Riley, right, shakes hands with Texas Christian coach Sonny Dykes after the Alamo Bowl
(Kenneth Richmond / Getty Images)
On Wednesday morning, Leinart wrote that his comment actually “had nothing to with USC game lol.” In a video posted about an hour later, the two-time NCAA national champion said he missed the last three drives because of his early bedtime. He did, however, offer brief thoughts on the previous night’s result and the state of Trojan football.
“Not a good way to end the season,” the Fox Sports analyst said. “It is what it is at this point. Big offseason.”
Su’a Cravens, a USC standout at safety/linebacker from 2013-15, also pointed to the next year as make-or-break for the Riley-coached Trojans.
“Another year goes by and yet we’re marching in the same ole place of above avg football!” Cravens wrote on X. “I pray to God this recruiting class and offseason squeezes every ounce of talent and work ethic out of this team next year. Because in my book, you either make the playoff next year or this was a failed experiment. Plain & simple!”
Cravens, who hosts Rams coverage on ESPN LA, added some constructive advice in a separate, and lengthy, post.
“Get more former players in the building coaching and showing these guys what it really means to be a Trojan!!!!” he wrote. “Let practices be open again and allow every single media camera on the sideline and create that Pete Carol [sic] environment of competition! Pressure makes diamonds !!! …
“ACTUALLY HOLD PLAYERS ACCOUNTABLE IN THE FILM ROOM AND BENCH THEM WHEN THEY REPEAT THE SAME MISTAKES!!!! Let’s get down the core of the issues.”
LenDale White, who won two national titles with the Trojans during the Carroll years, offered to be one of those former players to return as a coach.
“@uscfb i’m ready to be on the staff it’s time,” the former running back wrote on X. “What are we gonna do???”
White also vented about the Trojans’ Alamo Bowl performance — writing “Do y’all ever practice tackling ever or is it always about offense?” — and having to endure more than two decades without a national title.
“I truly don’t even know why I’m mad. I knew better lol. My fault!!!” White wrote. “Maybe one day I can see them in the playoffs maybe one day don’t look like no time soon!! and I hope I can eat my words.”
Former USC longsnapper Jake Olson was asked on X for his thoughts on Riley and the Trojans after Tuesday night’s collapse.
“I’ve made my thoughts on [Riley] pretty clear over the course of the season. Tonight’s game, although reminiscent of the season, probably isn’t the best measuring stick in all fairness,” Olson wrote. “But clearly there’s problems—problems that are still here from 4 years ago. Simply put, hes not it.”
Olson continued in the comments: “Except I will add this. It’s alarming to see how clueless Riley looks at times. He has regressed so much, especially in play calling. For 11 mil a year, and for offense to be his ‘forte,’ it’s become very sad.”
Scrutinized and criticized after a season-opening loss to Florida State, the Alabama Crimson Tide have spent the remainder of the season focused on growth, resilience and a shift in leadership mentality as they prepare for their College Football Playoff quarterfinal game against No. 1 Indiana on Thursday at the Rose Bowl.
Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson said the early criticism served as motivation for the team.
“I think the first game everybody kind of wrote us off — especially me as being a problem — and that really made me feel some type of way,” Simpson said. “Adversity brings opportunity and this was an opportunity to make things right. I know that not only was I getting scrutinized, but our head coach was as well. As much respect as I have for him, I had to scratch and claw and find some way to get better. With more time, more reps, more games in general, I got better.”
Simpson’s leadership has evolved steadily over the course of the season, becoming a focal point of Alabama’s offensive identity.
Following the season-opening loss, Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer emphasized areas of growth for his quarterback, particularly in decision-making and confidence.
“He’s gotta just trust his reads and just cut it loose sometimes and let it fly,” DeBoer said. “And then just some decision-making there in certain critical moments, that’s the things he’s going to learn from.”
DeBoer said Simpson’s ability to cope with adversity throughout the season helped Alabama as it prepares for for the Rose Bowl.
“There’s the ups and downs and every game is not going to be perfect, but his response and just what he’s played through, it can be the mental part the physical part,” DeBoer said. “Wins, losses he’s just continued to stay the course.”
”Everybody sees him as the guy and of course he won the Heisman Trophy. That’s motivation for me, I know I am going head-to-head with him, but the opportunity to go against the No. 1 team in the nation, sign me up,” Simpson said. “I am a competitor and I am excited for it and being able to play in this game against a good team is what I want.”
As the Crimson Tide prepare for Indiana’s physical rushing attack, Simpson and the offense continue working to put all the pieces together under pressure.
Receiver Ryan Williams has emerged as a key offensive weapon, using his speed to make defenders miss and create opportunities.
“We’re going to make sure we have plays to give him the ball and I have to make sure I understand my read and give him the ball,” Simpson said of Williams.” It’s my job to make sure the offense reads the ball, whether Ryan is the first read or the last read. I’m going to throw it to the open guy and make sure we’re in a good position.”
While Alabama may be fueled by external criticism and its underdog role, the team is spending its last stretch before the Rose Bowl focused on blocking out outside noise and embracing its internal standard.
“We write it on our whiteboard every game, ‘All about Bama,’ That’s all it’s ever about — Bama,” Simpson said. “All about these guys in here and the coaches. Alabama against the world, that’s kind of been our mindset of just making sure its all for one and one for all.”
Through tears, Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza thanked every member of his family after becoming the first Hoosier to ever win the Heisman Trophy. The Cuban American quarterback recognized his family for believing in him throughout his career.
He was a two-star high school recruit who drew little attention before finally landing an opportunity to play at California. After three years with the Golden Bears, including a redshirt year, he transferred to Indiana. On Thursday, the No. 1 Hoosiers will take the field at the Rose Bowl, where they will face college football traditional power Alabama in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.
Pressure is familiar for Mendoza. He’s faced challenges throughout his career — from proving himself as an overlooked high school athlete to earning his starting role at Cal.
Anytime Mendoza has met a hurdle, he considers how to help those around him shine.
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza holds back tears while accepting the Heisman Trophy on Dec. 13 in New York.
(Todd Van Emst / Associated Press)
“I know that’s my responsibility to my coaches, to my teammates and to the entire team, to be able to be sharp mentally and not have outside influences, pressures and noise able to impact my game,” Mendoza said. “I think one thing is just keeping the process on how I got here, how the entire team got to this place, which is keeping the process that I’ve kept for every single game.”
The Hoosiers finished the season undefeated. They will play for their first Rose Bowl victory in 57 years and it’ll be the second year in a row Indiana has reached the College Football Playoff.
“His leadership has increased in those crucial moments and I think that’s what makes him such a special player — because when the stakes are the highest, he steps up and gets the team going,” Indiana linebacker Isaiah Jones said. “He’s a guy that people want to get behind and run a play for.”
Mendoza became the third player with Latino heritage to win the Heisman Trophy. His grandparents on both sides of the family were born in Cuba and during his acceptance speech, he made sure to thank them in Spanish.
In the NFL, Latino players have become a growing demographic. From 2021-25, representation jumped from 12 to 47 players who identify as Latino, with 32 on 53-man rosters at the start of the season. Mendoza is not in the league, but his elevated presence in the college football world has come with extra pressure of representing a culture and proving Latinos can succeed in football.
“To be able to play in this atmosphere in the Rose Bowl, it’s a special moment for myself, for my family, and I would say just being able to play in front of a Hispanic and Latino crowd, it’s what I do,” Mendoza said. “I want to inspire young Latino kids and I want to always represent my culture to the highest.”
On Thursday, Mendoza will take the field for the first time as a Heisman winner, adding another layer of intensity to his game. The award winner is expected to do many national media interviews and Mendoza recently was a prominent voice during a “60 Minutes” segment about Indiana.
“What you see on camera is who he is,” Jones said. “Whether it’s in the locker room or out to eat with some of my teammates, he is one of the more genuine people on the team.”
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti hopes the expectations that come with the Heisman Trophy don’t change the quarterback’s style.
“It’s really critical now that he develops a sharp edge in his preparation and doesn’t play like, ‘Oh, I’m the Heisman Trophy winner and I’ve got to do this or do that,’ because we’ve all been following this game long enough to know we’ve seen some of those performances,” he said.
Cignetti understands the difficulty of the opponent standing in front of Mendoza. The Alabama defense works to throw the quarterback off balance. The Tide have great players who play hard and fast. In order to win, Mendoza and his teammates need to play the way they have all season.
“At the end of the day, it’s all about execution, left tackle doing his job, running back, receiver, and Fernando being on point,” Cignetti said.
Mendoza said he is up to the challenge. When he takes the first snap in Pasadena, he won’t be thinking of personal statistics or awards, he’ll be thinking about the national championship.
“Now we have to get the ultimate team award,” he said.
Curt Cignetti knows winning. No matter where he finds himself, whether it’s James Madison or with the Division II IUP Crimson Hawks, success follows him. Since getting the opportunity to lead a program, Cignetti has never had a losing season.
When Indiana hired him in November 2023, the Hoosiers were the program with the most all-time losses in college football history, and ended the season with a 3-9 record under Tom Allen.
It wasn’t a work in progress, the Hoosiers football program needed to be rebuilt.
On New Year’s Day, Indiana will face Alabama in the highly anticipated Rose Bowl matchup. The Crimson Tide have a rich postseason history and a tradition of championships, but the Hoosiers are the favorites to win.
That is the Cignetti effect.
In two years, he transformed the program from an unranked team, spending most of its time at the bottom of the Big Ten Conference, to the No. 1 team in the country with a Heisman-winning quarterback, Fernando Mendoza.
“When he speaks, it means something,” Indiana linebacker Isaiah Jones said.
“He’s not gonna go around and hype you up, tell you something you want to hear, he’ll tell you what you need to hear and that’s what makes him so special as a coach.”
That kind of tough love echoes throughout the team, Jones said. Whether it’s the fifth-string linebacker or the starting linebacker, Cignetti and his staff coach everyone the same way. That is one of the reasons his players trust him and bought into his philosophy.
“All the coaches want to see you be the best version of yourself,” Jones said. “But you can’t do that if you’re sugarcoating it.”
Cignetti’s coaching style has turned a starting lineup that consists of more lightly recruited players than five-star prospects into the nation’s No. 1 team.
Their surprise arrival at college football’s biggest stage has fired up the Hoosiers.
Indiana defensive back D’Angelo Ponds answers questions during a new conference at the Rose Bowl on Tuesday.
(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
“It’s definitely a chip on our shoulder,” Indiana cornerback D’Angelo Ponds said. “Just to prove to the coaches that they missed out on the opportunity with us.”
The Hoosiers had the past three weeks off, earning a first-round College Football Playoff bye. Leading up to their quarterfinal showdown with Alabama in Pasadena, before their opponent was known, Cignetti made it a point to focus on how the Hoosiers could feature the best offense and defense in the country. He wanted players to focus on their own work rather than who they would be playing.
“In every single phase, in every single facet of the way that we practice and prepare, it’s all about being the best version of us, and not so much our opponent,” Indiana linebacker Aiden Fisher said.
But as soon as Alabama clinched its ticket to the Rose Bowl, the preparation flipped.
“Once we understood who the opponent was, it just kind of upped a notch,” Fisher said. “[Cignetti’s] done a great job of blocking out the noise, we don’t hear anything in the media, really.”
He wants his team to be present during their preparation, never taking a day for granted and getting their bodies and mindset right.
“He always says, at the later points in the season, it’s about who shows up ready to play, who’s the most prepared,” Indiana center Pat Coogan said.
The success of the team started with his recruitment. Regardless of which players leave or enter the locker room, Cignetti makes sure everyone is focused on the same end goal — winning.
“We are all cut from the same cloth,” Coogan said. “That’s why I think this locker room bonds so well, and why we’ve had success, no matter how many people have transferred.”
Fans flying into Pasadena talk about the ghost of the past, Fisher said. The Hoosiers last made an appearance in the Rose Bowl in 1968 when they lost to USC. A win on New Year’s Day will help bolster the football culture in Indiana, but the team understands it needs to focus on Thursday’s game against Alabama and ignore the bigger picture.
“It’s a privilege and honor to play in the Rose Bowl,” Fisher said. “But we’re still playing a football game of four quarters that we have to go and win.”
ATLANTA — The Rams already knew they will be on the road for the playoffs, a difficult assignment for any team.
It’s trending toward becoming one especially tough for the Rams, who only a few weeks ago appeared to be the class of the NFC, if not the NFL.
Not anymore.
On Monday night, the Rams for much of their game against the Atlanta Falcons, looked like a team on the road to nowhere. Or one more interested in limping through the end of the regular season before turning it on for the playoffs.
Gary Klein breaks down what went wrong for the Rams in their 27-24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night.
It was the Rams’ second loss in a row, both coming on the road.
“Here we are again in a disappointing situation,” coach Sean McVay said.
The loss dropped the Rams to 11-5 going into Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium.
On Saturday, the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers will play for the NFC West title and the No. 1 seed in the NFC. The Rams are seeded No. 6. If the Seahawks defeat the 49ers, and the Rams beat the Cardinals, the Rams could move up to No. 5.
McVay said starters would play against the Cardinals rather than rest for the playoffs.
“They were going to play anyways,” McVay said. “We need to play better football.”
Way better.
Defensive lineman Kobie Turner said McVay told the team that if they play in the wild-card round like they did on Monday night, they were going to be sitting on their couches watching the rest of the postseason.
“It’s the reality of the situation,” Turner said, adding, “I back him. … That’s not where we want to be.”
The Rams have no choice about where they will begin their postseason as they attempt to earn a Super Bowl berth for the third time in McVay’s nine seasons.
They will not be at SoFi Stadium, where they have lost only once this season. The Rams’ other losses — to Philadelphia, Carolina, Seattle and Atlanta — came on the road.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford tries to avoid diving Atlanta Falcons linebacker Khalid Kareem during the second half of the Rams’ 27-24 loss Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
(Brynn Anderson / Associated Press)
Monday’s defeat by the Falcons (7-9), coming on the heels of their 38-37 overtime loss in Seattle on Dec. 18, gave the Rams consecutive road games defeats for the first time since the start of the 2024 season, when they lost their opener in overtime at Detroit and then got routed at Arizona.
Players could not explain Monday night’s first-half malaise.
“It’s a little embarrassing because we preach about the things we want to get done, and we know how good we can be,” offensive lineman Steve Avila said. “And today was probably the worst we’ve ever shown.”
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford moved past Ben Roethlisberger into sixth place on the NFL’s all-time passing yards list, but there was not much to be happy about on a night that had set up as a possible MVP-clinching stage.
Stafford completed 22 of 38 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns but had three passes intercepted, including one that was returned for a touchdown.
“I obviously didn’t play well enough,” he said. “That’s what it is.”
Rams coach Sean McVay speaks with quarterback Matthew Stafford in the fourth quarter Monday against the Falcons.
(Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
The first half was a nightmare for Stafford, who went into the game with a league-leading 40 touchdown passes and only five interceptions.
The Falcons built a 21-0 halftime lead on Bijan Robinson’s touchdown catch, Jessie Bates III’s interception return for a touchdown and Robinson’s 93-yard touchdown run, which came one play after Xavier Watts got the first of his two interceptions.
Robinson finished with 195 yards rushing and also caught a touchdown pass.
If there was a bright spot for the Rams, it was special teams. Just over a week after McVay elevated Ben Kotwica to replace fired special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn, Jared Verse blocked a field-goal attempt and returned it 76 yards for a touchdown that cut the Falcons’ lead to 24-17 with less than a minute left in the third quarter.
The Rams’ chances for a comeback appeared to end when Watts intercepted another pass with just more than nine minutes left.
But Stafford’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Puka Nacua tied the score with 2:46 left.
Gonzalez’s field goal put the Falcons ahead by three.
Stafford got the ball one last time, but he missed a wide-open Xavier Smith on a route, and Tutu Atwell and Nacua could not come up with deep passes. With five seconds left, Stafford’s fourth-down pass to Nacua fell incomplete.
So instead of resting for the playoffs, starters will try to get the Rams back on track in the season finale.
“We don’t need rest right now,” Turner said. “We need momentum.”
Two weeks before the Alamo Bowl, USC got its best news of the bowl season: Star quarterback Jayden Maiava was forgoing the NFL draft to stay in L.A. for another year.
Two days later, TCU’s star quarterback, Josh Hoover, delivered his own announcement: He was entering the transfer portal.
Those two decisions will have the teams in drastically different places on offense. USC won’t have two of its starting offensive linemen or most of its regular receiving corps, but will have one of the Big Ten’s best quarterbacks at the helm. TCU, meanwhile, has most of its offense available, including star receiver Eric McAlister, but a backup quarterback who last started in 2023 in Ken Seals.
“Ken started 22 games in the SEC,” TCU coach Sonny Dykes said. “He’s been a great teammate, a great practice player. Now he’s going to get a chance to go perform on the big stage.”
Maiava should get plenty of chances Tuesday to show why he’ll be seen as a serious Heisman contender next season. TCU struggles to pressure opposing passers, ranks 109th in the nation in yards allowed through the air and has yet to face a passing attack this season as prolific as USC’s.
Not to mention there’s a notable calm to Maiava that wasn’t there at this point last bowl season.
“He’s just taken giant steps,” offensive coordinator Luke Huard said. “[You] just see him playing free and with a lot of confidence.”
What’s not clear is how much he’ll play, with freshman Husan Longstreet waiting in the wings and USC still hoping he’ll settle for another season sitting behind Maiava.
Alabama understands that stopping Indiana’s powerful offense in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day starts with containing Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
“[Mendoza] is operating at a really high level,” Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said. “When you watch the tape and the challenge, really the cry for our guys [is] to have to operate at a really consistent level, and you’re going to have to take away those windows that he’s wanting to get the ball through.”
During top-seeded Indiana’s undefeated season, Mendoza threw for 2,980 yards and 33 touchdowns for a team that ranked eighth in total offense (472.8 yards per game). Despite his impressive numbers, ninth-seeded Alabama isn’t showing signs of being intimidated by Mendoza heading into the College Football Playoff quarterfinal showdown.
“He’s a man, just like me,” Alabama defensive lineman Tim Keenan III said. “He put himself in a position to achieve the accolades, so we need to make sure we do what we need to, to play our game.”
Added Alabama safety Keon Sabb: “Congrats to him for winning [the Heisman], but we’ll play our game.”
Alabama is planning to put pressure on Mendoza in an effort to force potential turnovers and limit Indiana’s attack, cornerback Zabien Brown said.
“I want to stop quarterbacks whether they’ve won the Heisman Trophy or not,” Wommack added.
No. 1 Indiana booked its ticket to the College Football Playoff quarterfinals on Dec. 6 after defeating Ohio State 13-10 in the Big Ten championship game. With such a long gap before its New Year’s Day matchup against No. 9 Alabama in the Rose Bowl, Indiana offensive lineman Carter Smith said the Hoosiers are seeking a balance in preparing while still practicing with intensity.
“It’s all about keeping the speed of the game,” Smith said Saturday. “The biggest thing for us in the offensive line room has been going like it’s a game, every single breath, because we know that being away from the game for so long can affect that.”
The first two weeks of preparation were lighter workouts as the Hoosiers recovered from the season, tight end Riley Nowakowski said. Without knowing their opponent, the Hoosiers didn’t want to overwork older players. Instead the coaching staff gave younger players opportunities to get reps during practice.
But after Alabama punched its ticket to the Rose Bowl, the mentality changed.
“We really got into game prep and I think that’s kind of how you do it. … You start to really lock in and get back into normal game-speed stuff and game type of practices,” Nowakowski said. “I think it’s important to stay locked in mentally.”
Even with the bright lights of the Rose Bowl, Indiana offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan said the pressure will not be overwhelming.
“There might be a slight adjustment early in the game, but I feel like our guys will be ready to go and the experience within our group will help us there as well,” he said.
Matthew Stafford was voted to the Pro Bowl this season, but the Rams veteran quarterback stopped concerning himself about the recognition more than a decade ago.
In 2011, the then third-year pro passed for more than 5,000 yards and 41 touchdowns for the Detroit Lions.
Stafford thought he had a chance to make the NFC roster, but Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Cam Newton got more votes.
“Wasn’t even close,” Stafford said, chuckling, on Wednesday. “So at that point, I kind of reserved myself to just go play, have fun and whatever happens, happens.
“But it is cool to be a part of it.”
Stafford, who also was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2014 and 2023, is a leading contender for perhaps the NFL’s most prestigious award — most valuable player.
Stafford, 37, has passed for a league-leading 4,179 yards and 40 touchdowns, with five interceptions, while leading a Rams team that is 11-4 and currently seeded No. 6 in the NFC going into Monday night’s game against the Atlanta Falcons (6-9) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Rams are averaging 30.5 points and 396.7 yards per game, both tops in the NFL. They rank second in passing (270.5 yards per game) and fifth in rushing (126.3 yards per game).
In last Thursday’s 38-37 overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Stafford passed for 457 yards and three touchdowns. Yet he was outdueled by fellow Pro Bowl pick Sam Darnold, who led a touchdown drive in overtime and capped it with a game-winning two-point conversion pass.
Stafford is preparing to face a Falcons defense that ranks 14th overall, but eighth against the pass, giving up 195.1 yards per game.
Asked if he was surprised that Stafford has only been voted to the Pro Bowl three times, Rams coach Sean McVay said yes, adding that there were “a lot of layers to the Pro Bowl stuff.”
“You talk to the real football people. … I think he’s seen as a guy that’s one of the best ever to do it,” McVay said. “I think that’s been very well acknowledged this year but I think it’s probably overdue.”
Stafford has “elevated” everybody around him since the Rams traded for him in 2021, McVay said.
“The best part about Matthew is, he’s got this great humility,” McVay said, adding, “What he cares about are the respect of his teammates, his coaches and the people he’s playing against. And I think when you talk to those who know, hes got great respect and admiration for the way that he competes, the way he goes about it and what type of player he is.”
Etc.
Receiver Davante Adams (hamstring) and offensive lineman Kevin Dotson (ankle) are making “good progress,” but McVay did not provide a definitive update on their status for the game against the Falcons. … The Rams opened the 21-day window for cornerback Roger McCreary (hip) to return from injured reserve. McVay said “most likely” that the Rams will open the 21-day window for safety Quentin Lake (elbow) next week to return from injured reserve. Lake is expected to be ready for the playoffs, or possibly for the final game against the Arizona Cardinals. … The Rams are off Thursday. They are expected to practice Friday at SoFi Stadium, and Saturday at their Woodland Hills facility.
Herbert, receiving Pro Bowl recognition for the second time, is the third player in NFL history to begin a career with six consecutive seasons with at least 3,000 yards passing and 20 touchdowns.
James, a five-time Pro Bowl pick, is the only defensive back in the NFL this season to collect at least 80 tackles (five for loss) with multiple sacks and interceptions.
Dicker is the most accurate kicker in NFL history and the team’s Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year club winner. He leads all AFC kickers with 36 made field goals and 141 points scored.
Tulipulotu, a former USC standout, is ranked third in the NFL with 13 sacks, and has a career-high 20 tackles for loss.
The only surprise in that group is Alt, who made the transition from right to left tackle after left tackle Rashawn Slater suffered a season-ending injury in training camp. Alt was a stalwart on the line for the first three weeks of the season before sustaining an ankle injury 10 snaps into the Week 4 game against the New York Giants. He returned in Week 8 to face Minnesota, but was carted off in Week 9 at Tennessee an injury to the same ankle, this time requiring season-ending surgery.
Nonetheless, he’s an outstanding tackle and earned his first Pro Bowl honor, which is determined by the consensus votes of fans, players and coaches.
Four more Chargers were named Pro Bowl alternates: outside linebacker Khalil Mack, linebacker Del’Shawn Phillips for special teams, cornerback Donte Jackson and fullback/defensive lineman Scott Matlock.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, receiver Puka Nacua and edge rushers Jared Verse and Byron Young were voted to the Pro Bowl, the NFL announced.
Stafford, 37, has passed for a league leading 4,179 yards and 40 touchdowns, with five interceptions, for a Rams team that is 11-4 and currently seeded sixth for the NFC playoffs. The Rams play the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night in Atlanta in the second-to-last game of the regular season. Stafford also made the Pro Bowl in 2014 and 2023.
Quarterbacks Sam Darnold of the Seattle Seahawks and Dan Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys also made the NFC roster.
Nacua, a third-year pro, leads the NFL with 114 catches and ranks second with 1,592 yards receiving. He was also voted to the Pro Bowl as a rookie in 2023.
Young, also a third-year pro, has amassed 11 sacks, which ranks ninth in the NFL. This is his first Pro Bowl recognition.
Verse has 6 1/2 sacks and is regarded as one of the league’s most disruptive forces. He also made the Pro Bowl as a rookie last season, when he was also voted NFL defensive rookie of the year.
The Pro Bowl Games will be held Feb. 3 in San Francisco.
Who’s going to stop the unstoppable offense? Who’s going to score on the persistent defense? Who’s going to outwit the coaching genius?
Who can possibly halt the Rams on their thunderous march toward a Super Bowl championship?
After yet another jaw-dropping Sunday afternoon at a raucous SoFi Stadium, the answer was clear.
Nobody.
Nobody can spar with the Rams. Nobody can run with the Rams. Nobody can compete with the Rams.
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Gary Klein breaks down what went right for the Rams in their 41-34 victory over the Detroit Lions at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
Nobody is talented enough or deep enough or smart enough to keep the Rams from winning their second Super Bowl championship in five years.
Nobody. It’s over. It’s done. The Rams are going to win it all, and before you cry jinx, understand that this is just putting into words what many already are thinking.
The Rams’ second-half domination of the Detroit Lions in a 41-34 win should again make the rest of the league realize that nobody else has a chance.
The Seahawks? Please. The 49ers? No way. The Eagles? They’ve been grounded. The Bears? Is that some kind of a joke?
The Patriots? Not yet. The Broncos? Not yet. The Bills? Not ever.
The Rams trailed by 10 points at one juncture Sunday and then blew the Lions’ doors off in the second half to clinch a playoff berth for the seventh time in nine seasons under Sean McVay, setting them up for the easiest ride in sports.
With a win in Seattle on Thursday night — and, yes, they should beat a team that just barely survived Old Man Rivers — the Rams essentially will clinch the NFC’s top seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
That means they have to win only two games at SoFi to advance to a Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. That means they can win a championship without leaving California, three games played in the sort of perfect climate that gets the best out of their precision attack.
And as Sunday proved once again, they’re good enough to win three essentially home playoff games against anybody.
“I love this team,” McVay said.
There’s a lot to love.
They have an MVP quarterback, the league’s most versatile two-headed running attack, an interior defense that gets stronger under pressure, and the one weapon that no team can match.
Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua is tackled by Detroit cornerback Amik Robertson during the second half Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Is he unbelievable or what? He is Cooper Kupp in his prime, only faster and stronger. He caught a career-high 181 yards’ worth of passes on yet another day when he could not be covered and barely could be tackled.
“He’s unbelievable,” McVay said. “He’s so tough, a couple of times he just drags guys with him … he epitomizes everything we want to be about … he’s like Pac-Man, he just eats up yards and catches.”
Pac-Man? The Rams even score on their old-school references.
In all, it was another Sunday of totally fun football.
They outscored the league’s highest-scoring team 20-0 at one point, they outrushed the league’s toughest backfield 159-70, they racked up 519 total yards against a team once thought destined for a championship.
And they did it with barely a smile. With the exception of Nacua repeatedly banging his fist to his chest — can you blame him? — the Rams are steady and steadfast and just so scary.
”All we want to do is go to work and find a way to be better,” said Matthew Stafford, who likely answered the crowd’s chants by clinching the MVP award with 368 yards and two touchdown passes. “It’s a fun group right now but we understand there’s more out there for us.”
Lots, lots, lots more.
This year a similar column appeared in this space regarding the Dodgers. By the first round of the playoffs, one just knew that they were going to run the table.
“Guys just kept competing, staying in the moment,” McVay said.
This moment belongs to them. One knew it Sunday by the end of the first half, which featured a Stafford interception and a struggling secondary and Jared Goff’s vengeful greatness and a 10-point Lions lead.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford passes in the first half of a 41-34 win over the Detroit Lions at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Then the Rams drove the ball nearly half of the field in 30 seconds in a push featuring Stafford and Nacua at their best. Stafford connected with Nacua on a brilliant 37-yard pass in the final moments that led to a Harrison Mevis 37-yard field goal to close the gap to seven.
“Right before that I told the guys, ‘Let’s go steal three,’” Stafford said.
Turns out, they stole a game.
“One of the key and critical sequences,” McVay said of that late first-half hammer, which led to a dazzling third quarter that finished the flustered Lions.
“We never panic,” Blake Corum said. “Because we know … what we have to bring to the table.”
What they’ve increasingly been bringing is a running attack that perfectly complements the awesome passing attack, as evidenced Sunday by Corum and Kyren Williams combining for 149 yards and three touchdowns.
The Lions’ more vaunted backfield of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery? Seventy yards and one score.
“We push each other to the limit,” Corum said of Williams.
Rams running back Kyren Williams stiff-arms Detroit Lions safety Erick Hallett II during the first half Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Potentially disturbing was how one noted Ram may have pushed past his limits, as receiver Davante Adams limped off the field early in the fourth quarter after apparently reinjuring his troublesome hamstring.
To lose him for the playoffs would be devastating, as he frees up space for Nacua and is almost an automatic touchdown from the five-yard line and closer.
Then again he’ll have a month to heal. And the Rams still have a bruising array of tight ends led Sunday by the touchdown-hot Colby Parkinson, who caught 75 yards’ worth of passes and two scores, including one inexplicable touchdown in which he clearly was down at the one-yard line.
The Rams got lucky there. But even if the right call was made, they would have scored on the next couple of plays. The way the Rams attacked, they could have been scoring all night.
“You knew that it was going to be that kind of game where there was some good back-and-forth,” McVay said. “You needed to be able to know that points were going to be really important for us, and our guys delivered in a big way.”
Just wait. By the time this season is done, McVay’s guys will have delivered a trophy representing something much bigger.
USC (9-3), ranked No. 16 in the AP poll, is preparing to play Texas Christian (9-4) on Dec. 30 in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio. USC finished 7-2 in its second season in the Big Ten and won four of its last five games, the only setback during that stretch being a 42-27 loss to Oregon, which is the No. 5 seed in the College Football Playoff.
Asked about signing the No. 1 recruiting class for 2026, Riley said: “It was a great day. We tried to keep the focus on building next year’s team. The amount of guys that we signed is a big portion of it and as we start to look ahead … half of our day and maybe even more is pointing towards next year and coming years. Meanwhile, obviously getting ready for this bowl game. It was a lot of hard work to add talent and people who care about this place and starting to put next year’s team together has been exciting here these last few weeks.”
Riley has a 35-27 record in his four seasons at USC and is hoping to improve his bowl record to 3-1. He guided the Trojans to wins in the 2023 Holiday Bowl and 2024 Las Vegas Bowl.
Riley watched the CIF state Open Division bowl game between Santa Margarita (coached by former Trojans quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer) and De La Salle on Saturday and was impressed by the performance of USC commit Trent Mosley, who had 11 catches for 183 yards and two touchdowns and a rushing touchdown in the Eagles’ 47-13 win.
“He was someone we targeted very early on,” Riley said. “I thought he was super impressive and it was important. He’s one of the best receivers in the country. He’s proven that and he just played out of his mind. It’s a great family and he’s a really smart kid.”
Asked what advice he gives to players who are deciding what to do next in their careers, Riley said: “Yes, it’s an important decision. The guys that make the right decision no matter what it is get a leg up on the rest of their lives. Consequently, a wrong decision can be catastrophic. That’s the world we all live in. I just try to educate them on their options. I don’t like telling guys you should do this or you shouldn’t do that. It’s more about, here’s this option, this is what it would look like, here’s what you need to consider. Sometimes the decision’s pretty clear one way or another, other times it’s not. I try to give them as much guidance as I possibly can.”
Given that USC will be missing quite a few players who were key contributors throughout the season, Riley is not ruling out the possibility of younger players seeing action against TCU.
“There’s gonna be guys all over the place who are going to have opportunities,” Riley said. “All sides of the ball, all position groups, maybe it’s some of the guys you saw a little bit during the season and in some instances you’ll see guys get some burn in this game that haven’t played at all or very little. Bowl games are great, but days like this are the most valuable part of it because we’re just pouring reps into all of these guys, it’s super competitive and the energy level is just different. All these guys feel it’s their time.”
Riley admitted he and his staff had to make hard decisions based on the incoming freshmen, a majority of whom are spring enrollees.
“It’s huge, it’s a high, high number that are going to be here and it’s important,” he said. “We’ve had to make a bunch of roster decisions in the last couple of weeks. We have a large number of players who have already signed and some of the decisions we had to make were based on knowing what we have coming in, and when you sign as many as we did, you’re going to have tough decisions to make.”
