The Sports Report: USC faces team that inspired them to greatness

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From Ryan Kartje: The moment it dawned on Justin Dedich that this USC season was destined to be special came seven weeks ago in Salt Lake City, amid the devastation of its first and only defeat.

USC’s 43-42 loss to Utah last month landed like a gut punch. As the Trojans filtered into the visitor’s locker room of Rice-Eccles Stadium, the senior captain was struck by the scene. Emotions from the last-minute defeat lay bare. Players sat at their lockers in tears. But behind their puffy eyes, Dedich saw something he’d never seen in his previous four seasons at USC.

Not sorrow or indifference in defeat, but determination.

“It was a different mindset from this team,” Dedich said. “Some teams … they wouldn’t think about it, one loss. They’d be onto the next. But we were upset. It built a fire in us.”

USC coach Lincoln Riley could feel it, too.

“If we handle this like I think we will,” Lincoln Riley said that night, “we got a real shot.”

Seven spotless weeks later, that shot has never been so real for USC. The Trojans sit just one win away from not only their first Pac-12 title since 2017, but also their first invite to the College Football Playoff semifinals. All that stands in the way Friday is the one team that lit the fire under them in the first place.

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Commentary: Inside the Rose Bowl’s tricky road to College Football Playoff expansion approval

CHARGERS

From Jeff Miller: Las Vegas employs man-to-man pass coverage at a rate that ranks as the ninth-most in the NFL.

Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen was asked Thursday what, specifically, that will mean to him.

“Barbecued chicken,” he said. “No doubt.”

Allen then was asked what, specifically, he meant by “barbecued chicken.”

“That means they’re dead,” he said, smiling. “You’re gonna get to see ‘Slayer.’ ”

“Slayer” is Allen’s nickname, one he hopes to earn again with emphasis Sunday when the Chargers visit the Raiders for an AFC West game with significant postseason implications.

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UCLA BASKETBALL

From Ben Bolch: The massive early run and all those turnovers UCLA forced were not going to lead to the easy evening the Bruins once envisioned.

A sustained sloppy stretch in the second half helped swing a Maples Pavilion crowd that once generated more noise for the visitors back squarely in favor of the home team.

When Stanford’s Brandon Angel rose for a three-pointer with 41/2 minutes left Thursday night, a UCLA lead that had once stood at 23 points was down to eight and the tension inside the old building was palpable.

It was then that the Bruins turned to an old friend to get them through the tough times.

Senior forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. banked in a short jumper and made a layup amid a couple of defenders to help the No. 21 Bruins hold off the Cardinal for an 80-66 victory in their Pac-12 Conference opener.

KINGS

From Helene Elliott: Kings general manager Rob Blake said he wasn’t trying to send a message when he put Cal Petersen on waivers and risked losing the goaltender who was supposed to be the foundation of the team’s future.

Even if Blake’s sole motivation was to help a shaky Petersen find his game — and even though Petersen cleared waivers Thursday and was sent to the Kings’ farm team in Ontario for extra work — Blake succeeded in jolting a team that has been negligent on defense and maddeningly inconsistent over the first third of this season.

The Kings have the most skill they’ve had in years after accumulating talent through the draft and acquiring winger Kevin Fiala, who leads them in scoring. Their power play, once a liability, has become an asset thanks to an infusion of creativity from new assistant coach Jim Hiller.

But their overall defensive effort has been glaringly bad, and it reached a low Tuesday in a wild 9-8 overtime loss to Seattle. Players spent Wednesday talking about Petersen among themselves, with the coaches, and with Blake. They spent Thursday morning greeting Pheonix Copley, who backed up Jonathan Quick on Thursday night in a 5-3 comeback victory over the Arizona Coyotes, and welcoming newly promoted forward Samuel Fagemo to the fourth line and defenseman Tobias Bjornfot to a pairing with Matt Roy.

Waiving Petersen sent a message, all right.

“It damn well should,” coach Todd McLellan said, “because we share in that transaction. All of us do.”

DUCKS

Jason Robertson had his third career hat trick, scoring in all three periods to extend his points streak to 17 games in the Dallas Stars’ 5-0 victory over the Ducks on Thursday night.

Robertson became the NHL’s first 20-goal scorer this season with a deflected puck in the first period, then added his 21st and 22nd on long power-play goals in each of the next two periods. His other hat tricks came in back-to-back games last March, when he was the first Stars player to ever do that.

WORLD CUP

From Kevin Baxter in Qatar: No one on the Mexican team in Qatar was alive the last time El Tri went out of a World Cup in the first round. Even Yon de Luisa, the federation’s personable president, was just 8 in 1978 when Mexico lost all three of its group games in Argentina and came home early.

That was the worst performance by a Mexican team until now, because at least the ’78 team could score. In Qatar, Mexico went 2½ games without a goal.

And since no one in Mexican soccer was involved in cleaning up the last mess, it’s clear no one really knows how to repair the damage done in the last 18 months. During that span, Mexico has lost the Gold Cup and Nations League, failed to qualify for the Under-20 World Cup and 2024 Olympics and seen two Liga MX teams lose to the Seattle Sounders of MLS in the CONCACAF Champions League.

Then came Qatar, which even Mexico coach Tata Martino called a failure.

“I assume all the responsibility for this whole failure,” the coach said Thursday morning, after Mexico’s desperate last-ditch effort to qualify for the round of 16 on a tiebreaker fell just short.

Make that former Mexico coach. Martino’s contract expired when Mexico’s World Cup did, and the federation made clear in a news conference Thursday he wouldn’t be asked back.

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Thursday’s results

Group E
Japan 2, Spain 1
Germany 4, Costa Rica 2

Country, W-D-L, GD, Pts
y-Japan, 2-0-1, +1, 6
y-Spain, 1-1-1, +6, 4
x-Germany, 1-1-1, +1, 4
x-Costa Rica, 1-0-2, -8, 3

Group F
Croatia 0, Belgium 0
Morocco 2, Canada 1

Country, W-D-L, GD, Pts
y-Morocco, 2-1-0, +3, 7
y-Croatia, 1-1-1, +3, 5
x-Belgium, 1-0-2, -1, 4
x-Canada, 0-0-3, -5, 0

Today’s schedule
All times Pacific

Group G
Serbia vs. Switzerland, 11 a.m., FS1, Universo, Peacock
Cameroon vs. Brazil, 11 a.m., Fox, Telemundo, Peacock

Country, W-D-L, GD, Pts
y-Brazil, 2-0-0, +3, 6
Switzerland, 1-0-1, 0, 3
Cameroon, 0-1-1, -1, 1
Serbia, 0-1-1, -2, 1

Group H
Ghana vs. Uruguay, 7 a.m., Fox, Telemundo, Peacock
South Korea vs. Portugal, 7 a.m., FS1, Universo, Peacock

Country, W-D-L, GD, Pts
y-Portugal, 2-0-0, +3, 6
Ghana, 1-0-1, 0, 3
South Korea, 0-1-1, -1, 1
Uruguay, 0-1-1, -2, 1

x-eliminated
y-clinched Round of 16
Note: Top two in each group advance to the Round of 16.

Round of 16 schedule

Saturday
United States vs. Netherlands, 7 a.m., Fox, Telemundo, Peacock
Argentina vs. Australia, 11 a.m., Fox, Telemundo, Peacock

Sunday
France vs. Poland, 7 a.m., FS1, Telemundo, Peacock
England vs. Senegal, 11 a.m., FS1, Telemundo, Peacock

Monday
Japan vs. Croatia, 7 a.m., Fox, Telemundo, Peacock
1G vs. 2H, 11 a.m., Fox, Telemundo, Peacock

Tuesday
Morocco vs. Spain, 7 a.m., Fox, Telemundo, Peacock
1H vs. 2G, 11 a.m., Fox, Telemundo, Peacock

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Complete World Cup coverage

Qatar World Cup: Start times for every match and how to watch

Christian Pulisic is ‘doing everything in my power’ to play for U.S. vs. Netherlands

UCLA soccer returns to College Cup chasing second NCAA title

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1907 — Tommy Burns defends his world heavyweight title by knocking out Gunner Moir in the 10th round at London.

1944 — Ohio State quarterback Leslie Horvath wins the Heisman Trophy.

1947 — Notre Dame quarterback Johnny Lujack wins the Heisman Trophy.

1952 — Oklahoma halfback Billy Vessels is named the Heisman Trophy winner.

1958 — Army back Pete Dawkins is named the Heisman Trophy winner.

1977 — Veterinarian Mark Gerard is indicted in a horse-switching scandal. Cinzano, a purportedly dead 4-year-old champion colt, won a race on Sept. 23 at Belmont Park, under the name of Lebon, a 57-1 long shot.

1984 — Dan Marino throws his 37th touchdown pass to break NFL single-season touchdown pass record.

1995 — Notre Dame advances to the NCAA women’s soccer championship by becoming the first team to beat 13-time champion North Carolina in the national semifinals. The lone score comes when Tar Heels forward Cindy Parlow accidentally heads a ball into her own net.

2002 — Oakland’s Tim Brown and Jerry Rice take turns rewriting the NFL record book in a 26-20 win over the New York Jets. Brown becomes the third player with 1,000 receptions and the third with 14,000 yards receiving. Rich Gannon ties an NFL record with his ninth 300-yard passing game of the season. On the very next play after Brown’s 1,000th catch, Rice scores on a 26-yard catch, giving Oakland a 13-10 lead. It’s Rice’s record 192nd TD catch and puts him over 1,000 yards receiving for a record 14th season.

2009 — The New Jersey Nets are pounded into NBA infamy, falling 117-101 to the Dallas Mavericks for their 18th straight loss to start the season. The Nets pass the 1988-89 Miami Heat and 1999 Clippers, who both dropped their first 17 games.

2018 — Dallas Dorosy of Florida State scores in the 60th minute to help the Seminoles beat North Carolina 1-0 for the NCAA Women’s College Cup championship. Florida State wins the NCAA women’s soccer title for the second time. North Carolina, a 21-time NCAA champion, is shut out for the second time this season.

Compiled by the Associated Press

And finally

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