The Sports Report: Rams win and keep moving toward a playoff spot
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From Gary Klein: The opportunity was right there for the Rams.
Riding a modest two-game winning streak, a team written off by many before the season began, had played its way into playoff contention.
And with the injury-riddled Cleveland Browns visiting SoFi Stadium on Sunday — ancient quarterback Joe Flacco was signed off the street and started — the Rams were poised to reach .500 and move closer to a postseason bid.
The Rams took care of business and kept rolling, defeating the Browns, 36-19, in front of 72,887. In fact, they held the No. 7 playoff spot before Green Bay defeated Kansas City in Sunday’s late game.
“The best teams keep getting better,” coach Sean McVay said, “and I’ve seen that each of the last three weeks.”
Rookie receiver Puka Nacua overcame injuries and produced a spectacular performance, quarterback Matthew Stafford passed for three touchdowns and safety John Johnson intercepted a pass as the Rams improved to 6-6.
Johnson, who played the last two seasons for the Browns, was not the only player signed by the Rams to a veteran-minimum contract to come up big. Receiver Demarcus Robinson caught a touchdown pass.
Stafford, who continues to play through a right thumb injury, overcame a defense coordinated by Jim Schwartz, his first head coach with the Detroit Lions. Stafford built on last week’s four-touchdown performance against the Arizona Cardinals, completing 22 of 37 passes for 279 yards. He has passed for 16 touchdowns, with nine interceptions on the season.
Rams’ 36-19 home win over the Cleveland Browns by the numbers
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CHARGERS
From Jeff Miller: First he was booming. Then he was beaming.
That was the glorious Sunday of Chargers punter JK Scott.
Eight punts — one with surgical precision — and zero return yards by the New England Patriots.
“That was fun,” said the 6-foot-5 Scott, standing in the middle of a raucous locker room with an irrepressible smile. “The last two years especially, my one goal with playing football was just to have fun.”
In the lowest-scoring NFL game of the season, the Chargers held on for a 6-0 victory on a soaked-to-the-skin afternoon when highlights were as sparse as the Gillette Stadium stands.
Chargers’ 6-0 road win over the New England Patriots by the numbers
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
From J. Brady McCollough: For the first time in College Football Playoff history, an undefeated Power Five conference champion was denied a spot, as the selection committee chose 12-1 Alabama over 13-0 Florida State.
Supporters of the Seminoles, who lost starting quarterback Jordan Travis to a season-ending injury but persevered to a perfect record, will ask: Why even play the games?
“Devastated. heartbroken. In so much disbelief [right now], I wish my leg broke earlier in the season so y’all could see this team is much more than the quarterback,” Travis posted on the platform X, formerly Twitter. “I thought results matter. 13-0 and this roster matches up across any team in those top 4 rankings. I am so sorry. Go Noles!”
Travis and his teammates learned the hard way that college football has turned into a TV show above all. The Seminoles without Travis are not compelling television. They would have been major underdogs to beat No. 1 Michigan, while Alabama’s inclusion will set up a titanic matchup of blue-blood programs on the sport’s grandest stage in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.
The matchup involving the Wolverines and Crimson Tide might become the most watched semifinal yet.
Alabama rose from No. 8 in the rankings on the momentum of a 27-24 victory over No. 1 Georgia, the two-time defending national champion, on Saturday night in the SEC championship game. Nick Saban’s team is unquestionably deserving of a playoff spot, but at the expense of the unbeaten Seminoles, who dropped from No. 4 to No. 5?
The committee gave ESPN what it wanted — two unquestionably TV-friendly matchups. Michigan-Alabama under the Pasadena sunset, followed by No. 2 Washington against No. 3 Texas in the Sugar Bowl — pitting Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian against his former school.
The winners will play Jan. 8 in Houston in the last CFP championship game before the playoff expands to 12 teams next season.
UCLA FOOTBALL
From Ben Bolch: UCLA is staying home for the holiday bowl season. It might not be as festive as it sounds.
Making a shorter drive to SoFi Stadium to face Boise State in the LA Bowl than it does for home games at the Rose Bowl will not guarantee that the Bruins draw more fans than an opponent based 850 miles away.
Boise State is so elated with the direction of its football program that it removed the interim tag from Spencer Danielson’s title Sunday, making him the permanent coach after he guided the team to the Mountain West Conference championship.
Meanwhile, UCLA is forging ahead with Chip Kelly amid a swirl of banners flying over campus calling for his dismissal.
USC FOOTBALL
From Ryan Kartje: USC learned its bowl destination Sunday. Now the Trojans wait to learn if their star quarterback will play in the Holiday Bowl.
Caleb Williams’ status remains one of the biggest questions after the Trojans were announced as the Pac-12 representative for the Holiday Bowl to face No. 15 Louisville on Dec. 27 at 5 p.m. in San Diego’s Petco Park.
The Cardinals (10-3) are coming off a 16-6 loss to Florida State in the ACC Championship Game on Saturday. Under first-year head coach Jeff Brohm, Louisville had its first 10-win season since 2013 and reached the conference title game for the first time in program history.
BOWL SCHEDULE
All times Pacific
Saturday, Dec. 16
Myrtle Beach Bowl
8 a.m., ESPN
Georgia Southern vs. Ohio
New Orleans Bowl
11:15 a.m., ESPN
Louisiana vs. Jacksonville State
Cure Bowl
12:30 p.m., ABC
Appalachian State vs. Miami (Ohio)
New Mexico Bowl
2:45 p.m., ESPN
New Mexico State vs. Fresno State
LA Bowl
4:30 p.m., ABC
Boise State vs. UCLA
Independence Bowl
6:15 p.m., ESPN
Texas Tech vs. Cal
Monday, Dec. 18
Famous Toastery Bowl
11:30 a.m., ESPN
Western Kentucky vs. Old Dominion
Tuesday, Dec. 19
Frisco Bowl
6 p.m., ESPN
Marshall vs. UTSA
Thursday, Dec. 21
Boca Raton Bowl
5 p.m., ESPN
South Florida vs. Syracuse
Friday, Dec. 22
Gasparilla Bowl
3:30 p.m., ESPN
UCF vs. Duke
Saturday, Dec. 23
Birmingham Bowl
9 a.m., ABC
Georgia Tech vs. Troy
Camellia Bowl
9 a.m., ESPN
Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois
Armed Forces Bowl
12:30 p.m., ABC
James Madison vs. Air Force
Potato Bowl
12:30 p.m., ESPN
Utah State vs. Georgia State
68 Ventures Bowl
4 p.m., ESPN
South Alabama vs. Eastern Michigan
Las Vegas Bowl
4:30 p.m., ABC
Northwestern vs. Utah
Hawaii Bowl
7:30 p.m., ESPN
San Jose State vs. Coastal Carolina
Tuesday, Dec. 26
Quick Lane Bowl
11 a.m., ESPN
Bowling Green vs. Minnesota
First Responder Bowl
2:30 p.m., ESPN
Texas State vs. Rice
Guaranteed Rate Bowl
3 p.m., ESPN
Kansas vs. UNLV
Wednesday, Dec. 27
Military Bowl
11 a.m., ESPN
Tulane vs. Virginia Tech
Duke’s Mayo Bowl
2:30 p.m., ESPN
North Carolina vs. West Virginia
Holiday Bowl
5 p.m., Fox
No. 15 Louisville vs. USC
Texas Bowl
6 p.m., Fox
No. 20 Oklahoma State vs. Texas A&M
Thursday, Dec. 28
Fenway Bowl
8 a.m., ESPN
No. 24 SMU vs. Boston College
Pinstripe Bowl
11:15 a.m., ESPN
Miami vs. Rutgers
Pop-Tarts Bowl
2:45 p.m., ESPN
NC State vs. Kansas State
Alamo Bowl
6:15 p.m., ESPN
No. 12 Oklahoma vs. No. 14 Arizona
Friday, Dec. 29
Gator Bowl
9 a.m., ESPN
No. 22 Clemson vs. Kentucky
Sun Bowl
11 a.m., CBS
No. 19 Oregon State vs. No. 16 Notre Dame
Liberty Bowl
12:30 p.m., ESPN
Iowa State vs. Memphis
Cotton Bowl
5 p.m., ESPN
No. 7 Ohio State vs. No. 9 Missouri
Saturday, Dec. 30
Peach Bowl
9 a.m., ESPN
No. 10 Penn State vs. No. 11 Ole Miss
Music City Bowl
11 a.m., ABC
Auburn vs. Maryland
Orange Bowl
1 p.m., ESPN
No. 5 Florida State vs. No. 6 Georgia
Arizona Bowl
1:30 p.m., The CW
Toledo vs. Wyoming
Monday, Jan. 1
ReliaQuest Bowl
9 a.m., ESPN2
No. 13 LSU vs. Wisconsin
Citrus Bowl
9 a.m., ABC
No. 17 Iowa vs. No. 21 Tennessee
Fiesta Bowl
9 a.m., ESPN
No. 8 Oregon vs. No. 23 Liberty
Rose Bowl
2 p.m., ESPN
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 4 Alabama
Sugar Bowl
5:45 p.m., ESPN
No. 2 Washington vs. No. 3 Texas
Monday, Jan. 8
1:30 p.m., ESPN
National Championship Game
UCLA BASKETBALL
Lauren Betts scored 20 points to lead four players in double figures for No. 2 UCLA in an 81-66 victory over Arkansas on Sunday.
The Bruins’ size dominated as UCLA (7-0), which ranked second in the nation in rebounding margin, outrebounded Arkansas 56-26 and outscored the Razorbacks in the paint 40-22. The 6-foot-7 Betts did all of her work in the paint, making all nine of her shots and grabbing 10 rebounds.
UCLA went on a 13-0 run in the first quarter and a 17-2 run in the second, quieting things early to take a 50-33 lead into halftime. The Bruins built a lead as large as 30 in the third quarter before a 17-2 Razorbacks run in the fourth trimmed the margin.
USC BASKETBALL
For the fifth time in seven games, JuJu Watkins scored 30 points and the season isn’t quite a month old.
Watkins led No. 6 USC to an 89-58 rout of San Diego on Sunday.
She had already broken WNBA Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie’s record of four 30-point games by a USC freshman in program history. Watkins reached the mark on a three-pointer in the game’s final three minutes. She made all six of her free throws and had eight rebounds and five assists.
“She has it all,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “At her size, with her skill set, we haven’t seen in women’s basketball very often. Her passing, her vision, her ability to score, shoot the three, get to the rim, there really is not a lot that she doesn’t have.”
KINGS
Quinton Byfield scored twice, Anze Kopitar became the franchise leader in assists, and the Kings beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 on Sunday.
Trevor Moore and Drew Doughty also scored, Adrian Kempe had two assists, and the Kings got back on track after their five-game winning streak was snapped by Washington on Wednesday. Cam Talbot made 20 saves.
Josh Manson scored and Alexandar Georgiev finished with 34 saves for the Avalanche. Star defenseman Cale Makar did not play because of a lower body injury.
NBA
LAFC
From Kevin Baxter: Minutes after LAFC won its second MLS Western Conference title in as many years, a stage was hastily erected on the field at BMO Stadium for a victory ceremony, complete with a trophy and a rain of confetti.
About an hour later, striker Denis Bouanga and goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau filed through the interview room wearing gray championship T-shirts and caps while deep into the night fans and team employees lined up on the grass to pose for pictures behind what remained of the podium.
Few teams do celebrations better than LAFC, which will load up the confetti canon at the drop of a championship hat. But if Saturday’s 2-0 win over the Houston Dynamo in the conference final felt like a coronation, that was only half true because the team’s work is only half done. Still ahead is Saturday’s MLS Cup final in Columbus, Ohio, where LAFC has a chance to become the first team to win back-to-back league titles in more than a decade.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1945 — “Mr. Inside” Doc Blanchard of Army becomes the first junior to win the Heisman Trophy. Blanchard also becomes the only athlete to win both the Heisman and Sullivan Award.
1951 — Princeton triple-threat tailback Richard Kazmaier wins the Heisman Trophy. Kazmaier led the nation in total offense and the Tigers to an undefeated season.
1956 — Notre Dame quarterback Paul Hornung edges Tennessee’s Johnny Majors to win the Heisman Trophy.
1961 — Floyd Patterson defends his world heavyweight title by knocking out Tom McNeeley in the fourth round in Toronto.
1961 — Syracuse running back Ernie Davis becomes the first Black man to be taken No. 1 in the NFL draft after being selected by the Washington Redskins.
1982 — Georgia’s Herschel Walker wins the Heisman Trophy. The junior running back beats out Stanford quarterback John Elway and Southern Methodist running back Eric Dickerson.
1988 — Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders wins the Heisman Trophy then proves he’s worthy of the award with spectacular performance in a 45-42 win over Texas Tech in Tokyo. Sanders rushes 44 times for 332 yards and four touchdowns, setting the NCAA single-season rushing record with 2,628 yards in 11 games.
2009 — The New Jersey Nets win for the first time this season, ending the worst start in NBA history at 18 losses by beating the Charlotte Bobcats 97-91.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time...
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