Editor’s note: This is the Sunday, Nov. 20 edition of the “Game Day with Kevin Modesti” newsletter. To receive the newsletter in your inbox, sign up here.
Good morning. USC-UCLA games as good as the one last night get names, usually the name of the hero. But how do you honor any single star for the Trojans from this instant classic?
In other news:
The Rams begin life without Cooper Kupp when they face the Saints in New Orleans in an early game today.
The Chargers’ Sunday night home game against the Chiefs is the first meeting of Derwin James Jr. and Travis Kelce since the body slam.
The Clippers didn’t have Paul George in the second half but didn’t need him to beat the Spurs.
Lakers writer Kyle Goon explains why coach Darvin Ham is made for this season’s challenges.
UCLA’s men’s basketball team looks to bounce back in a top-10 matchup with Baylor.
And the World Cup begins today in Qatar, with LAFC’s Kellyn Acosta and Gareth Bale preparing to be on opposing sides in Monday’s U.S.-Wales game.
After USC’s 48-45 victory over UCLA at the Rose Bowl, I was thinking way back, among many great meetings, to the Karl Morgan game.
That was the 1982 game, in which Morgan saved a 20-19 victory for UCLA when the defensive tackle sacked USC quarterback Scott Tinsley on a two-point conversion attempt with no time on the clock.
I was thinking of the George Achica game, the 1981 game that Achica saved USC’s 22-21 win when the nose guard broke through the UCLA line to block a field goal try by Norm Johnson out of the hold of Rick Neuheisel with four seconds left.
And I was thinking of the Freeman McNeil game, also remembered as the Jeff Fisher game, the 1980 game won by UCLA 20-17 when McNeil scored a 58-yard touchdown with two minutes to play after catching a Jay Schroeder pass inadvertently tipped to him by Fisher.
I was thinking of those games not only because they happened when I was a college student but because they were the last games between nationally ranked USC and UCLA teams to be decided by three points or fewer.
The last until last night, when USC, No. 7 in the AP and College Football Playoff rankings, came from behind to beat UCLA, No. 16.
Maybe we’ll remember this one as the Korey Foreman game, for the former Centennial High (Corona) defensive lineman who dropped into coverage for USC with a minute and and a half to play and UCLA driving toward a game-tying field-goal attempt – or more – and intercepted a pass by Dorian Thompson-Robinson to seal the Trojans’ win.
The USC defense would deserve that after coming up big when it had to.
But it’s hard to celebrate one hero from among many.
Caleb Williams is in the conversation, along with the Heisman Trophy conversation now, as columnist Mirjam Swanson writes of the Trojans’ slippery quarterback who passed and ran for a college career-high 503 yards and three touchdowns.
So is Jordan Addison, the wide receiver who caught 11 passes for 178 yards, both season highs, and the third-quarter touchdown that gave the Trojans their first lead.
So is Austin Jones, the running back who started in place of injured Travis Dye and had 120 yards and two touchdowns rushing and 57 more receiving, his season highs for both.
And it was so close to being the Thompson-Robinson game, for the hurting UCLA quarterback who wouldn’t leave his last USC game, or the Michael Ezeike game, for the senior Bruins tight end and his three touchdowns.
At halftime, UCLA led 21-20 but USC had already rolled up 368 yards of offense and you might have assumed the Trojans were going to run away with it after falling behind 14-0.
But in the end the USC’s win required mistakes by Thompson-Robinson, including the pivotal fumble forced by Trojans lineman Tyrone Telini, and Bruins running back Zach Charbonnet’s inability to have the night many of us pictured (well, I pictured, anyway) against the Trojans’ 94th-ranked run defense. It took likely heroes such as Williams and Addison. It took unlikely heroes such as Jones and Foreman.
Whether this was the finest USC-UCLA game in a generation or two will depend on who’s judging.
Whether it’s the most meaningful might depend on whether USC wins the Pac-12 championship game, how far it goes in the national championship chase and how far Williams goes in the Heisman race.
It’s certainly going to be remembered.
For whom? There might be too many to name.
TODAY
Rams won’t have Kupp but they will have Matthew Stafford back against the Saints (10 a.m., Ch. 11)
Chargers host the Chiefs (5:15 p.m., Ch. 4), trying to cut into Kansas City’s two-game lead in the AFC West.
Lakers, welcoming the struggling Spurs (6:30 p.m., SPSN), go for their first three-game winning streak of the season.
The UCLA men’s basketball team, No. 8 but coming off its first loss of the basketball season, meets No. 5 Baylor in Las Vegas (2:30 p.m., ESPN).
Del Mar’s nine-race card (first post 12:30 p.m.) features the Bob Hope Stakes for 2-year-olds.
Los Alamitos (5:15 p.m.) runs 12 trials for the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity for quarter horses.
NICE PICKS
Hats off to the three readers who came closest to forecasting the final score while picking USC to beat UCLA from among all of those who answered the newsletter’s request for predictions.
Paul Marks said it would be USC 47-39, foreseeing a Rose Bowl “full of Troy TDs.” John Ris said it would be USC 41-37. Dean Thompson hit the three-point margin, saying it would be USC 38-35.
Las Vegas made the point spread USC minus 2½ and the total 77½, so Paul and John were on the right side of both numbers.
NEXT QUESTION
How high are your expectations for the United States as it goes into World Cup Group B games against Wales on Monday, England on Friday and Iran on Nov. 29? Respond by email (KModesti@scng.com) or on Twitter (@KevinModesti).
280 CHARACTERS
oh yah this is my kind of football game
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) November 20, 2022
– Basketball writer Kyle Goon (@KyleGoon) tweeting during the USC-UCLA shootout.
1,000 WORDS
Scoreboard: USC quarterback Caleb Williams leads Trojans fans in celebration after leading his teammates to a 48-45 victory over UCLA last night at the Rose Bowl. Photo is by Keith Birmingham of the Pasadena Star-News and SCNG.
TALK TO ME
Thanks for reading the newsletter. Send suggestions, comments and questions by email at KModesti@scng.com and via Twitter @KevinModesti.
Editor’s note: Thanks for reading the “Game Day with Kevin Modesti” newsletter. To receive the newsletter in your inbox, sign up here.
Related Articles
Rams vs. Saints: Live updates, injury report and analysis from New Orleans
Swanson: USC’s Caleb Williams boosts his Heisman candidacy
Kings fall to Kraken in overtime
USC defense swipes the spotlight in win over UCLA
USC tops UCLA to clinch spot in Pac-12 title game