The 12th seeded Arleta Mustangs (9-2) were trailing by as many as 13 points in the third quarter, but came storming back against the 5th seeded Carson Colts (3-5) in the Division I first-round playoffs to advance with a 29-28 victory on Friday in Carson.
Arleta Head Coach Bill Coan described what it was like to win in the first round of the playoffs.
Photo by Brianne Ingram
“It’s awesome, especially on the road. It was a tough game for both sides. Battled back and forth. It’s our first victory over Carson since our school started, so it’s nice. It’s nice that our kids competed. They never gave up from being behind to winning the game.”
Carson created what seemed to be a comfortable cushion when Jalen Jones ran the ball all the way to the house to put his team up 28-15 in the third quarter.
But this cushion soon dissipated.
Arleta’s senior Kelvin Duran scored on a touchdown run to cut the lead to six, 28-22.
Photo by Brianne Ingram
Arleta was not going away that easy.
In the fourth quarter, Duran scored again to give his team their first lead 29-28 with 10:53 minutes remaining in the game.
In a quick turn of events, Arleta fumbled at the 7:42 mark and Carson recovered.
Carson made a play with 3:52 minutes remaining.
The clock was ticking.
Photo by Brianne Ingram
Carson threw a pass in the endzone but couldn’t connect.
Arleta shut them down defensively when it mattered most.
“We tried our best,” said Coach Coan. “We had a couple of mistakes. We had a couple of fumbles. But our defense picked it up. We played extremely great football in the second half.”
Arleta was on an 8-game winning streak coming into the playoffs, was 6-0 in league and finished 1st in the East Valley league.
Photo by Brianne Ingram
“We’re going to enjoy this one for a little bit and on the weekend study more film,” said Coach Coan.
Arleta faces Canoga Park in the playoff second round next Friday, November 12th.
DALLAS (FWAA) – Kansas State defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah tied a school record with four sacks as part of eight total tackles to go with two forced fumbles as Kansas State (5-3) blasted TCU, 31-12, last Saturday. For the dominant performance that tied a 21-year-old school record, Anudike-Uzomah earned the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week honor for games of the weekend of Oct. 30, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America.
This is the fifth time for a Kansas State player to earn this weekly honor and first since last season when safety Jahron McPherson was the pick for the weekend of Sept. 26. Anudike-Uzomah will be added to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list.
The 6-3, 255-pound sophomore from Lee’s Summit, Mo., posted sacks on three consecutive plays at one point, finishing the first half with sacks on consecutive plays and then scoring one on TCU’s first snap of the third quarter. The 4.0 sacks tie Chris Johnson’s single-game school record posted against Missouri in 2000.
Anudike-Uzomah was close to tying the all-time FBS single-game record for sacks. His two forced fumbles came on potential sacks that caused the ball to be recovered beyond the original line of scrimmage, thus officially making them rushes instead of sacks by NCAA rule. If the ball had been recovered on the TCU side of the line – regardless of who recovered – those two would have been counted as sacks to give him six on the day to tie a FBS record and break the Big 12 mark.
Anudike-Uzomah is second in the FBS in sacks (10) and forced fumbles (4) and leads the Big 12 in both categories. He is just 1.5 sacks shy of tying the school single-season record with at least four games remaining, and is 13th nationally in tackles for loss (11.5), also tops in the Big 12.
The Wildcats travel to Kansas for the 119th annual Sunshine Showdown at 11 a.m. CT Saturday on FS1.
The FWAA has chosen a National Defensive Player of the Year since 1993. In 1995, the FWAA named the award in honor of the legendary two-way player from the University of Minnesota. Nagurski dominated college football then became a star for professional football’s Chicago Bears in the 1930s. Bronislaw “Bronko” Nagurski is a charter member of both the College Football and Pro Football Halls of Fame.
Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of journalists, broadcasters, publicists, photographers and key executives in all areas of college football. The FWAA works to govern media access and gameday operations while presenting awards and honors, including an annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its programs and initiatives, contact Executive Director Steve Richardson at 214-870-6516 or tiger@fwaa.com.
About the Charlotte Touchdown Club The Charlotte Touchdown Club is a non-profit organization founded in 1990 for the purpose of promoting high school, collegiate, and professional football in the Charlotte, N.C., region. The club’s activities and services focus community attention on the outstanding citizenship, scholarship, sportsmanship, and leadership of area athletes and coaches. Since 1990, the club has raised and donated nearly $3 million to benefit area high school and collegiate athletics. For more information, contact John Rocco (704-347-2918 or jrocco@touchdownclub.com). The official website of the Charlotte Touchdown Club is touchdownclub.com.
About LendingTree, Inc. LendingTree is the nation’s leading online marketplace that connects consumers with the choices they need to be confident in their financial decisions. LendingTree empowers consumers to shop for financial services the same way they would shop for airline tickets or hotel stays, by comparing multiple offers from a nationwide network of over 500 partners in one simple search and choosing the option that best fits their financial needs. Services include mortgage loans, mortgage refinances, auto loans, personal loans, business loans, student refinances, credit cards, insurance and more. Through the My LendingTree platform, consumers receive free credit scores, credit monitoring and recommendations to improve credit health. My LendingTree proactively compares consumers’ credit accounts against offers on their network and notifies consumers when there is an opportunity to save money. LendingTree’s purpose is to help simplify financial decisions for life’s meaningful moments through choice, education and support.
The USC Trojans and the Oregon Ducks meet in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to play in the 2020 PAC-12 Confrence Championship on Dec. 18, 2020. (John McGillen)
SAN FRANCISCO – The Pac-12 today announced its 2021 football season’s ninth weekly performance awards, presented by Nextiva. See below for Week Nine’s recognitions across the Conference and keep track of the 2021 Offensive Player of the Year watchlist here:
First time winning this award but the third time in the last 4 weeks that a Utah player has won it. QB Cameron Rising won it in back-to-back in Week Six and Week Seven. First Utah running back to capture this honor since Joe Williams in October 2016.
Paced the Utah ground game vs. UCLA (Oct. 30) with a season-high 24 carries for a career-best 160 yards, and a school-record-tying four touchdowns. Thomas averaged 6.7 yards per carry, and his four scores (10 yds, 8, 10, 24) were the most on the ground in the Pac-12 this weekend.
It was the first four-TD game by a Utah rusher since 2016, eighth in program history and just the third in the Pac-12 since 2019.
Fittingly on the night that Utah retired the No. 22 jersey, Thomas had the most rushing yards in a game by a Ute since the late Ty Jordan had 167 vs. Oregon State during 2020. In that same theme, Thomas is the first Utah player since Jordan in 2020 both to rush for three touchdowns in a game, and also do so in a half (three for Thomas were in first half).
Third multi-touchdown game of the season and fourth of his career. Thomas recorded his third 100-yard rushing game, fifth by a Ute this season (three different players) and fifth of Thomas’ career.
Utah’s 469 yards of total offense were the most by the team this season and fourth straight game amassing 400-plus yards.
DEFENSE & FRESHMAN: Carson Bruener, Fr., ILB, Washington (Woodinville, WA)
First player to win the Defensive Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week in the same week since the freshman award was created prior to the 2019 season. First Washington player to earn the freshman award since QB Dylan Morris won it twice last season. First Washington player to win the defensive award since LB Edefuan Ulofoshio was selected in November 2019.
In the first start of his career, in place of the injured Ulofoshio, Bruener led the Huskies’ defense in a 20-13 win at Stanford. He led all players with 16 total tackles (11 solo, 5 assisted), along with one-and-a-half sacks and a forced fumble.
The solo sack and forced fumble came in the third quarter when Bruener hit the Cardinal QB for a nine-yard loss. The ball was recovered by a Husky teammate and then UW got a field goal on the ensuing drive to increase the lead to 12-3. Washington’s defense held Stanford to 67 rushing yards, 261 yards of total offense and just 13 points.
Also nominated for Defense: Nephi Sewell, LB, Utah; Elijah Hicks, Safety, California; Jahad Woods, LB, Washington State; Avery Roberts, ILB, Oregon State; Jeffrey Bassa, LB/S, Oregon; Anthony Pandy, LB, Arizona
Also nominated for Freshman: Byron Cardwell, RB, Oregon; Ethan Garbers, QB, UCLA; Brenden Rice, WR, Colorado; Karene Reid, LB, Utah; Will Plummer, QB, Arizona; Eric Gentry, LB, Arizona State; Jaxson Dart, QB, USC; Femi Oladejo, ILB, California
SPECIAL TEAMS: Peyton Henry, Jr., PK, Washington (Danville, CA)
Washington’s veteran kicker did the lion’s share of the scoring in the Huskies’ 20-13 road win over Stanford, tying a career high with four field goals in four attempts, accounting for 12 points.
Henry, a Bay Area native, connected on field goals from 24, 37, 35 and 32 yards. He is currently 9-for-11 on field goals this season.
First Washington player to win this award since 2017 when Dante Pettis won it three times. First time a UW kicker has claimed this honor since P/K Travis Coons in October 2013.
Also nominated: Nick Alftin, TE, California; Cameron Rising, QB, Utah; Alex Stadthaus, PK, USC; Brenden Rice; WR, Colorado
OFFENSIVE LINE: Nick Ford, Jr., LG, Utah (San Pedro, CA)
Second time in the last three weeks that Ford has earned this award. He also won it in the final week of the 2020 season.
Moved over to left guard from center as a result of some injury-related shuffling on the Utah offensive line. Didn’t miss a beat, as the veteran Ford helped protect for a Utah offense that generated a season-high 469 yards of total offense and scored on all five of its red zone trips.
It included a career-best 160 rushing yards for running back Tavion Thomas, who tied a Utah record with four touchdowns on the ground. Quarterback Cameron Rising was neither intercepted nor sacked on 71 offensive plays, and only two UCLA tackles went for a loss on the night. Rising had four completions of 15-plus yards (total 73 passing yards) and Utah recorded 11 carries of 10-plus yards (total 162 yards).
Ford has led a consistently reliable offensive line which has not allowed a Rising sack in three straight games (total 217 plays).
Also nominated: Matthew Cindric, C, California; Liam Ryan, OT, Washington State; T.J. Bass, LT, Oregon; Luke Wattenberg, C, Washington; Josh McCauley, C, Arizona
DEFENSIVE LINE: Ron Stone Jr., RS Jr., Edge, Washington State (San Jose, CA)
Third time a Washington State player has won this award in the last five weeks. Brennan Jackson took it home in both Week Five and Week Seven.
Anchored a Cougar defense that forced five Sun Devil turnovers in WSU’s 34-21 win in Tempe. Stone finished the day with six tackles, four solo, two tackles-for-loss, one sack and a fumble recovery.
Of Stone’s six tackles, two were behind the line of scrimmage and the other four went for three yards or less. Stone currently ranks second in the Pac-12 in tackles-for loss (10.5) and tied for third in sack (5.5).
Also nominated: Hauati Pututau, DT, Utah; Tuli Tuipulotu, DL, USC; Jalen Harris, DE, Arizona; Voi Tunuufi, DT, Washington
Seattle, WA – The Seattle Kraken fell to the New York Rangers on Halloween night by a score of 3-1. The transition play of the Rangers, as well as goaltender Igor Shesterkin’s masterclass in goal, would be the downfall for the Kraken. This snapped their two-game win streak and ended the first homestand in franchise history with two wins, two losses over four games.
Winger Jordan Eberle would net the lone goal for Seattle on a spinning backhand shot in the second period, assisted by Winger Jaden Schwartz. Seattle would battle hard all game long after giving up a goal a little under four minutes into the game, mounting shots on Shesterkin, but continued power play woes and an inability to finish would doom the Kraken.
Photo by Mellissa Levin / fi360 News
As mentioned, Seattle battled hard. This game easily could have gone to an overtime period, as the tying goal was mere inches away from crossing the line, but the puck didn’t slide in favor of the Kraken tonight.
When asked about getting so many opportunities and ending up with this result, Seattle goaltender Philipp Grubauer stated “You’re going to win some games you should lose, you’re going to lose some games you should win, and I think that this is one of them.”
The Kraken played a good game, outshooting the Rangers 32-18, and keeping this game close until late in the final period. Seattle got tricked instead of receiving a treat, and this trick was a tough loss at home that easily could have gone in their favor.
Photo by Mellissa Levin / fi360 News
A key phrase that comes to mind is that quality is better than quantity, and that rang true at Climate Pledge Arena tonight. While outshooting the Rangers by 14 is great, New York used their great transition game to take advantage of the quality opportunities they created, that would ultimately get them the victory. Something that would have greatly helped Seattle would be their power plays, which the team had four of. None of those resulted in goals, and it was something both Jordan Eberle and HC Dave Hakstol spoke about in the post-game press conference.
“We gotta find a way to get our power play going,” said Eberle about ways that this team needs to improve, also citing more timely goals as an area of growth.
“Tonight was a nice step for our power plays, we made some changes on both units… overall our possession was good, our opportunities were good, we just weren’t able to finish one,” said Hakstol.
Photo by Mellissa Levin / fi360 News
The power play will be a step that the Kraken need to make going forward if they want to flip the switch to being a certified good team. Seattle has had success after returning home from their season opening road trip, and you could say that this homestand helped them get their bearings, allowing strides to be made. That being said, the Kraken have not scored a power play goal since their October 14th game over the Nashville Predators, the first win in franchise history. Those opportunities have been presented; they just need to be capitalized upon.
With the loss, the Kraken record drops to 3-5-1 and moves them to seventh in the Pacific division. Their next contest comes on November 1st, on the road against the Edmonton Oilers with a 6:30PM PST puck drop.
EUGENE, OR – The No. 7 Oregon Ducks have struggled with consistency this season, but they hit their stride Saturday as they defeated the Colorado Buffaloes 52-29. The win moves Oregon one step closer to competing for their third straight Pac-12 Championship and brings them right back into the College Football Playoff conversation as they move to 7-1 (4-1 in Pac-12 play).
Oregon quarterback Anthony Brown brought a spark to the Duck’s offense where he threw for a career-high 307 yards and threw three touchdowns. The Ducks have struggled to score early this season but jumped out to an early 21-0 lead.
Photo by Megan Connelly / fi360 News
“It’s good. Especially to get a win,” Brown stated when asked about his performance. “[we’re] trying to build off it.”
With junior running back CJ Verdell out indefinitely due to an undisclosed lower leg injury, the other backs were asked to step up. Brown found junior running back Travis Dye on the first drive of game for a 10-yard touchdown pass, who finished day with an impressive 122 all-purpose yards and 3 total touchdowns.
Freshman running backs Byron Cardwell and Seven McGee also scored their first career touchdowns. Cardwell with a 34-yard touchdown in the first quarter, and McGee punching in a 1-yard touchdown to finish it out in the fourth quarter. Freshman wide receiver Troy Franklin also caught his first career touchdown on a 28-yard play in the second quarter.
The Oregon defense was equally impressive, holding Colorado to a total of 22 yards in the first quarter. The strong first half play from the Ducks gave head coach Mario Cristobal a chance to get other players valuable experience.
“I think we took control of the game relatively early,” Cristobal said after the game. “When it was 45-14, we wanted to play a lot of guys. Guys who not only were backups but guys down the line a little bit that deserve playing time that are going to possibly have to step up and we wanted to let them play.”
Photo by Megan Connelly / fi360 News
One of those players was five-star freshman quarterback Ty Thompson, who threw a costly interception on his third pass. After the interception Colorado made it a two-possession game after Brenden Rice, son NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice, caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Brendon Lewis.
Anthony Brown was subsequently put back in at quarterback, where he finished the game and secured the Oregon victory. Brown and the Ducks will head to the University of Washington next Saturday, Nov. 6, to face the Huskies at 4:30 pm PST (ABC).
Los Angeles, CA – USC running back Keaontay Ingram rushed for a career-high 204 yards to help the Trojans snap a three-game home losing streak with a 41-34 win over Arizona on Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
“Hard-fought game,” Interim head coach Donte Williams said. “Like I said before, Arizona has no quit in them. Hats off to them because they won the second half of
Photo by Jerry Kelly / fi360 News
the football game. But I do like the way that we won the line of scrimmage tonight. Even on defense, we stopped the run and on offense we ran the ball.”
On the Trojans opening drive, Ingram scored from three yards out to give USC a 7-0 lead. On the following drive, Arizona tied it 7-7 when Jamarye Joiner connected with Tayvian Cunningham for a 73-yard touchdown.
USC didn’t waste any time as Kedon Slovis hit the speedy Gary Bryant Jr. for a 62-yard touchdown and a 14-7 lead with 9:53 left in the first quarter. True freshman quarterback Jaxson Dart came into the game in the second quarter and led the Trojans to a 15-play, 96-yard drive. Dart capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Drake London.
Photo by Jerry Kelly / fi360 News
After the USC defense recovered a fumble caused by cornerback Chris Steele, Dart drove the Trojans down the field and hit London for a 6-yard touchdown. London stayed on the ground after being tackled in the end zone. They put an air cast on his leg and carted him off the field. London caught nine passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns before leaving with an injury.
“It’s always a fear anytime somebody goes down and you see him go ahead and get the air cast and everything,” Williams said. “So that is a fear. At the same time we have a lot of guys in this locker room that fought hard tonight and they’ll continue to fight no matter what.”
Photo by Jerry Kelly / fi360 News
USC cornerback Isaac Taylor-Stuart got burned by Cunningham again for a touchdown but it was called back after Taylor-Stuart ripped the helmet off Cunningham on his way to the end zone. The ball was spotted where the helmet came off.
Three plays later, Arizona running back Michael Wiley scored on a 1-yard run to the Trojans lead 28-14. Slovis came back into the game and threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Bryant Jr. for a 35-14 lead with 32 seconds remaining in the first half.
On the Trojans second offensive possession of the third quarter, Slovis was intercepted by former Narbonne High School linebacker Anthony Pandy, who returned it 40 yards for the score. Arizona trailed USC, 35-21. The Trojans added a 23-yard field goal to extend the lead 38-21 with 6:48 left in the third quarter.
Arizona wasn’t done yet as quarterback Will Plummer scrambled for a 16-yard touchdown. The Wildcats trailed 38-28 with 12:50 left in the fourth quarter.
Photo by Jerry Kelly / fi360 News
Up next for USC is a road game against Arizona State on Saturday, Nov. 6. Arizona will look to win its first game of the season when they host California next Saturday.
Penalty flags plagued both teams in this deep-rooted rivalry as the Dorsey Dons (8-2) took home the crown with a 27-6 victory over the Crenshaw Cougars (4-3) in the City Section Coliseum League Championship on Friday night in Los Angeles.
Despite the flags, Dorsey was able to capitalize off of their opponent’s penalties and fumbles.
Photo by Brianne Ingram / fi360 News
Senior running back Harrison Allen bullied his way into the endzone to put Dorsey up 7-0 at the 6:57 mark in the first quarter.
“The kids did a great job,” said Dorsey Head Coach Stafon Johnson. “The coaches did a wonderful job in preparing them and they came out and fought hard. We had a lot of injuries, but they showed the resilience of our football team and showed the next man up mentality.”
It was an unpredictable first quarter to say the least.
Flags were flying everywhere. One after the other.
There were twelve penalties and three fumbles in the first quarter alone.
Photo by Brianne Ingram / fi360 News
Crenshaw’s senior receiver Zion Bennett caught a touchdown reception from sophomore quarterback Donce Lewis as the duo gave their team life 7-6 at the 9:12 mark in the second quarter.
Dorsey ran it in with 1:11 remaining to lead 14-6 going into the second half.
The penalty count was twenty at the halftime break.
In the third quarter, Dorsey sophomore running back Javaun Lewis scored from the 10-yard line at the 9:38 mark to extend the lead to 20-6.
Crenshaw then threw the ball up for a hail mary but it was quickly intercepted by Dorsey.
Photo by Brianne Ingram / fi360 News
Lewis ran in the dagger for Dorsey with 3:39 remaining to go up 27-6 in the fourth quarter.
With 52.9 seconds left, Dorsey senior Denzel Wade picked off a pass to seal the deal.
“Our mindset was just making sure to stay up course,” said Coach Johnson. “I think me being in a lot of big games in my career helped me to let the kids know it’s just another football game. Don’t treat this game any different from any other football game and just play hard. Don’t let the hype be more than what it is. It’s a championship game. It’s a rival game. It’s all these other big things, but you just have to focus on the task at hand.”
Coming into the game, both teams had undefeated records in the Coliseum League, Crenshaw (3-0) and Dorsey (4-0).
Photo by Brianne Ingram / fi360 News
Musical artist 1takejay also performed at the halftime show.
This is the first time since 2017 that both teams have had a winning record.
“We’re going to keep climbing week in and week out and look forward to the playoffs. We’re in a good position to be in a good round in the playoffs, so I’m just excited to see what’s going on next week,” said Coach Johnson.
Photo by Brianne Ingram / fi360 News
The CIF City Section will release its playoff divisions and pairings on Saturday, October 30th.
Los Angeles, CA – The Los Angeles Clippers couldn’t quite shake off a bad start and had to swallow a 92-79 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.
“I thought the flow was nasty for us offensively. I thought we did a lot of overdribbling,” said Clippers head coach Tyronne Lue. “We missed our shots, I thought we were flat just from the start. We didn’t have a lot of energy.”
Cleveland didn’t have a particularly impressive game, but they did dominate the entire night.
Photo by Jevone Moore
The Cavs had a 23-14 point lead at the end of the first quarter. Completely unsurprising as the Clippers went 4-for-21 from the field and 1-for-11 from three-point range. Only two of the starters, Ivica Zubac and Eric Bledsoe, had made a field goal. Los Angeles registered twice the amount of turnovers in the first period than baskets made.
Not the best start for the Clippers, but they tried to get it together after the break.
As the clock read 8:36 in the third period, a three-pointer by Nicolas Batum cut the deficit to three points. Batum helped Los Angeles make a big push in the right direction. He picked up seven points in the first half, but he turned up the heat and grabbed nine more points less than five minutes into the third quarter.
Reggie Jackson also woke up. Jackson had not scored until the clock had 2:20 left in the first half, and he entered halftime with just two points. However, he made up for it by registering 14 points in the following 12 minutes.
Photo by Jevone Moore
“I was hooping, honestly the ball was moving a lot. I thought that was a benefactor to us, moving our bodies, us moving on defense and ball movement,” Jackson said. “That’s been our key this year and same with last year.”
Someone who did not have a good third period was Paul George, who with 5:10 left in the quarter had picked up four fouls, the same amount of baskets he had made until this point.
The Clippers looked alive after the break, but the fourth quarter still began with a 72-64 lead for Cleveland.
By the end of the night, their offense left a lot to be desired. Los Angeles shot at 35.6% from the field and 22.0% from beyond the arc. They even struggled from the free throw line shooting at 61.5%.
Photo by Jevone Moore
“I thought we got some good looks, it was just a flat night for us,” George said. “We all struggled shooting it and so it’s one of those games, man, nobody can score.”
Up next, Los Angeles will head to Portland to take on the Trail Blazers on Friday night.
Los Angeles, CA – Third time’s a charm. After two games in which the Los Angeles Clippers couldn’t keep the momentum going, they finally figured it out against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.
A strong first period helped set the tone that helped Los Angeles pick up the 116-86 result at Staples Center. This was the Clippers’ first win of the regular season.
“I thought we played two good games against Memphis and Golden State. We just couldn’t get over the hump,” Los Angeles head coach Tyronne Lue said. “We just gotta keep building.”
The game started out close but Los Angeles pulled away in the last four minutes of the first quarter to grab a 31-17 advantage. Unlike the last game, the Clippers were able to hold on to their early lead.
Portland’s CJ McCollum had five points after going 2-for-7 during that period. The Los Angeles defense can’t take all the credit, as a handful of those shots were wide open. However, the offense did outplay the away team as early as that first quarter. As a whole, the Trail Blazers shot at 33.3% from the field during the first 12 minutes. Meanwhile, the Clippers shot at 52%.
Paul George and Reggie Jackson were leading all scorers with eight points apiece. Luke Kennard followed closely with seven points, but then he decided to take over.
Kennard picked up the pace in the second quarter to finish the half with 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field. Even though both teams scored 25 points in the second period, the Clippers entered the break with a comfortable 56-41 lead.
Los Angeles pushed harder in the third and beat the Trail Blazers 35-19. After that, there wasn’t much Portland could do in the fourth. Terance Mann hit a big three-pointer with 8:50 still remaining in the game as the Clippers reached 100 points and Portland was at 65. Portland head coach Chauncey Billups called a timeout, but the Trail Blazers were already too far behind and Los Angeles wasn’t slowing down. Neither was Kennard.
The Clippers guard ended the night with 20 points shooting at 80% from the field and 85.7% from beyond the arc. His six three-pointers were a career-tying stat for him.
“Any given night could be anybody’s night. Tonight was Luke Kennard,” Lue said.
Kennard achieved that coming from the bench. Some of the starters struggled with shooting including, Eric Bledsoe (2-of-8) and Jackson (6-of-20). George, who went off for 41 points last game, only picked up 16 points on Monday going 6-of-16 from the field. However, Lue pointed out that when players don’t score, they can still help out in other ways.
George registered eight steals on Monday, a career-high.
“He’s been doing it for so long. He’s always been one of the top two way players in the league,” the coach said.
The Clippers as a whole had 21 steals, which was the most steals since they registered 21 on Nov. 8, 1991 against Denver.
Up next, Los Angeles will host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.
SAN FRANCISCO – The Pac-12 today announced its 2021 football season’s eighth weekly performance awards, presented by Nextiva. See below for Week Eight’s recognitions across the Conference and keep track of the 2021 Offensive Player of the Year watchlist here:
OFFENSE: B.J. Baylor, RS Jr., RB, Oregon State (Wharton, TX)
Second time that Baylor has won this award this season, having won it in Week Four.
Ran for his fourth consecutive 100-yard game when he totaled 152 yards and one touchdown in the 42-34 win over Utah.
Ran for a 68-yard rush in the second quarter, the longest play from scrimmage by a Beaver this season.
Scored his 10th touchdown of the season, eight of which have come at home. His 10 rushing touchdowns lead the Pac-12.
Per Pro Football Focus, 119 of his 152 yards came after contact, or 6.26 yards per rush. Seven of his 19 carries went for a first down.
Also nominated: Drake London, WR, USC; Anthony Brown, QB, Oregon; Chase Garbers, QB, California; Cameron Rising, QB, Utah; Max Borghi, RB, Washington State; Terrell Bynum, WR, Washington
DEFENSE & DEFENSIVE LINE: Kayvon Thibodeaux, So., DE, Oregon (South Central Los Angeles, CA)
Only the second time since the Defensive Line award was created in 2019, that a player has won both awards in the same week with Utah’s Bradlee Anae winning both in October 2019. Its the third time that Thibodeaux has won a Pac-12 weekly award, winning the Defensive Line award once in each of the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
A dominant force in Oregon’s 34-31 win at UCLA, setting career-highs with nine tackles (eight solo) and 4.5 tackles for loss while finishing with two sacks and a forced fumble.
Recorded a whopping 10 total quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.
Earned a stellar 91.2 pass-rush grade from PFF, and was Oregon’s highest-graded player overall at 84.2.
First Oregon player with more than four TFLs in a game since Jalen Jelks on Sept. 23, 2017. First UO player since 2007 and one of just six in the FBS this season to have at least nine tackles, four TFLs and two sacks in a game.
Now has 16.0 career sacks and 31.0 TFLs in his career.
Also nominated on Defense: Avery Roberts, ILB, Oregon State; Elijah Hicks, Safety, California; Mo Diallo, DL, Arizona; Brandon McKinney, Safety, Utah; Jordan Genmark Heath, LB, UCLA; Jahad Woods, LB, Washington State
Also nominated on Defensive Line: Mo Diallo, DL, Arizona; Keonte Schad, DL, Oregon State; Tuli Letuligasenoa, DT, Washington; JH Tevis, DE, California; Mika Tafua, DE, Utah
SPECIAL TEAMS: Luke Musgrave, So., TE, Oregon State (Bend, OR)
Blocked a punt and then recovered it to score a 27-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter in Oregon State’s 42-34 win over Utah.
The blocked punt for touchdown return gave the Beavers the lead for good. OSU scored 14 points later to extend the lead.
Utah was punting from its own 37 when Musgrave blocked the punt.
The touchdown marked the first of Musgrave’s career, offense, defense or special teams.
First time an OSU player has won this award this season. Two Beavers won this award last season with Champ Flemings and Jesiah Irish both winning in November 2020.
OFFENSIVE LINE: Nous Keobounnam, RS Sr., RG, Oregon State (Portland, OR)
Made the start at right guard in the Beavers’ 42-34 win over Utah on Saturday night.
Helped the OSU offense to 260 rushing yards. The Beavers have now rushed for 200 or more yards in six consecutive games, OSU’s longest streak since 1993.
Made his 23rd all-time start and ninth consecutively.
First time he’s won this award and second time an OSU player has won this season. Nathan Eldridge won it after Week Four.
Also nominated: T.J. Bass, OL, Oregon; Matthew Cindric, C, California; Josh McCauley, C, Arizona
FRESHMAN: Noah Sewell, Fr., ILB, Oregon (Malaeimi, American Samoa)
Second straight week that Sewell has won this award, first player to win this award in consecutive week’s since Utah’s Ty Jordan won it the final 3 weeks of the 2020 season.
Tied for the team lead with nine tackles (six solo) to help lead Oregon to a 34-31 win at UCLA. Also recorded a tackle for loss and broke up a pass.
Led or tied for the team lead in tackles for the fourth time this year, all coming in the last five games. Leads the team with 63 tackles on the season, including 51 in the last five games.
Earned a solid 82.4 tackling grade by Pro Football Focus.
