USC 38, Syracuse 17 (final)

 

USC quarterback Matt Barkley passed for five touchdowns as USC remained unbeaten with the victory over the Orange at the Coliseum.

Barkley connected with fullback Rhett Ellison, receivers Robert Woods and Marqise Lee and tight ends Randall Telfer and Xavier Grimble to help the Trojans improve their record to 3-0 heading into next week's Pacific 12 Conference game at Arizona State.

Barkley completed 26 of 39 passes for 324 yards, without an interception.

The Trojans led 17-3 at halftime and blitzed to a 38-10 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib completed 25 of 37 passes for 230 yards and a touchdown for the Orange (2-1).

MORE:

Photos: USC vs. Syracuse

USC 38, Syracuse 17 (6:34 left in the fourth quarter)

Syracuse scored, but the real drama involves whether USC quarterback Matt Barkley will come back onto the field in a blowout to attempt to break the school record of five touchdown passes in a game.

The Orange might have helped Barkley's bid to make history by cutting into the Trojans' lead on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Nassib to Alec Lemon.

USC 38, Syracuse 10 (11:51 left in the fourth quarter)

Matt Barkley is on the verge of a record-breaking day.

The USC quarterback just tied a school single-game record by completing his fifth touchdown pass, a nine-yard connection with tight end Xavier Grimble that has given the Trojans an insurmountable lead. Barkley was the last USC quarterback to pass for as many scores, doing it last season against Hawaii and California.

Barkley has completed 27 of 40 passes for 326 yards without an interception, and there's still nearly 12 minutes to play. Will we see the likes of Jon Manoogian, Cody Kessler or Max Wittek the rest of the way, or will Coach Lane Kiffin allow Barkley to go for the record?

USC 31, Syracuse 10 (2:54 left in the third quarter)

It's another big game for the receivers from Gardena Serra High.

Marqise Lee just hauled in a perfectly thrown 43-yard touchdown pass from Matt Barkley, the quarterback's fourth scoring pass of the game.

Robert Woods has eight catches for 82 yards and a touchdown and Lee has two catches for 63 yards. Barkley has completed 24 of 35 passes for 309 yards and has not had a pass intercepted.

USC 24, Syracuse 10 (10:43 left in the third quarter)

Syracuse isn't going to roll over.

Floyd Mayweather defeats Victor Ortiz by knockout

Floyd Mayweather knocked out Victor Ortiz in stunning fashion in the fourth round of their welterweight title fight Saturday, but the finish will win probably cemented his reputation as a villain in the eyes of most boxing fans.

Late in the fourth round, Ortiz head-butted Mayweather and was given a warning by referee Joe Cortez. Ortiz apologized to Mayweather, and leaned in to him as if to give him a hug while Cortez seemingly gave a weak signal for the fight to resume. Mayweather used the opening to throw a hard right that knocked Ortiz out. Mayweather was greeted by a cascade of boos.

In an interview in the ring after the fight, Mayweather talked about being booed. "I got hit by a dirty shot. The rule is protect yourself at all time. We're not here to cry and complain about what he did or I did dirty."

Referee Joe Cortez: "Time was in. [Ortiz] needed to keep his guard up. Mayweather did nothing illegal."


Lance Pugmire will have more on this controversial fight later at latimes.com/sports. You can read his round-by-round update here.

RELATED:

Photos: Mayweather vs. Ortiz

--Houston Mitchell

Photo: Floyd Mayweather Jr. delivers the knockout punch against Victor Ortiz in the fourth round of their title fight on Saturday night in Las Vegas. Credit: Eric Jamison / Associated Press

Floyd Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz live updates

 

 

Round 3

Mayweather slaps Ortiz with lefts. Ortiz looking for opening to no avail. Mayeather gets in jab. Nice firm right to face by Mayweather. Nice right to jaw by Mayweather. Ortiz too slow, walking into punches. Mayweather lands right, quickly backs away. Mayweather hides behind left shoulder and lands rights. All Mayweather now. Mayweather 10-9

Round 2

Ortiz lands a shot. Mayweather lands big counter right. Ortiz charges in. Mayweather again. Ortiz right to body. Mayweather holds in corner. Ortiz flails. Mayweather lands. Mayweather 10-9

Round 1

Mayweather throws two rights and ducks after each. Both guys feeling jab. Mayweather lands jab and right. Ortiz swings a glancing left. Mayweather gets in a right. Ortiz charges with a left. Mayweather to body before hold. Mayweather 10-9.

 

Pre-fight

Call him a villain if you want, but Floyd Mayweather Jr. is 41-0 with 25 knockouts and the most successful pay-per-view fighter in the world.

"Floyd is motivated because he's the best thing out here at this time in boxing, and he wants to show the world how great he is," said his uncle and trainer, Roger Mayweather.

If Mayweather's boxing skills match his swagger tonight, look out.

Mayweather, 34, expressed no concern about the issues some fight fans feel could be detrimental to him inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena boxing ring.

Has a 16-month layoff built up rust on his aging body? Might legal problems, including a three-felony domestic violence case set to resume next month, distract him?

"Next question," Mayweather said earlier in the week while playfully flipping a reporter's notebook page.

 Ortiz, 24, listened and reasoned, "He tries a little too hard to scare people. I think it's funny how hard he tries to get into somebody's head. He talks some stuff. I'll take it."

Ortiz will receive $2 million in guaranteed money, plus a share of pay-per-view revenues, while Mayweather is guaranteed $25 million, and could make as much as $40 million.

--Lance Pugmire

 

Jets vs. Jaguars: Matchup to Watch

JAGUARS (1-0) AT JETS (1-0), 1 P.M. EASTERN, CBS

Matchup to Watch: Jets’ Defense vs. Luke McCown

All week, the Jets’ defense spoke in glowing terms about the 30-year-old McCown, who has made eight career starts and threw his last touchdown pass in December 2007. That graciousness was repaid by Jason Hill, a backup receiver for Jacksonville, who suggested that Darrelle Revis did not deserve his reputation as one of the N.F.L.’s top corners. Already smarting after allowing 390 yards to Dallas, the Jets’ defense has one more reason to prove itself, and its aggressive schemes could harass McCown all afternoon.

Number to Watch: 2.7

The average yards per carry last Sunday by Chris Johnson, the Titans’ superb running back, against the Jaguars’ defensive front. That could portend bad news for the Jets, who were held to 45 rushing yards last Sunday, their fewest in the Rex Ryan era. Improved blocking could open up the running game, diversify the offense and help keep Mark Sanchez upright, something the Jets struggled to do against Dallas. After being pummeled by the Cowboys’ blitzes, Sanchez needed concussion testing. “You don’t want your quarterback to get hit that many times, that’s for sure,” Ryan said.

Quote of the Week

“It feels like a fresh-out-of-the-womb knee.”
MAURICE JONES-DREW, Jacksonville running back, who amassed 97 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries in his first game since having off-season surgery on his right knee.

Will Floyd Mayweather Jr remain on top of the world ? Ortiz v Mayweather LIVE BLOG

Here in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, the atmosphere is building slowly…

The first thing of note from my perspective. Floyd Mayweather has been insisting that Amir Khan should face his promoted fighter Jesse Vargas before they ever meet. Vargas has just won a 10-rounder on a split decision against Josesito Lopez.

That Vargas got the decision was frankly absurd.

A ridiculous split decision with Lopez getting 95-94, and Vargas 96-93, 95-94. There were boos around the arena. Khan would have nothing to concern him and a meeting between the pair would be a mis-match. Vargas is at best an aggressive banger. He clearly lost this fight against Lopez. Apart from on the cards of the two people who counted – judges Duane Ford, and Patricia Morse Jarman.

Slumping Angels fall to Orioles again

Angels Manager Mike Scioscia has long said his team will go only as far as its starting pitchers carry it. If that is true, the Angels probably won't go much further.

On Saturday, the Orioles pounded the Angels' Ervin Santana for two home runs in a five-run first inning, then cruised to a 6-2 win. The Angels' fourth loss in six games left them at least 3 1/2 games behind Texas in the American League West standings with 11 games to play.

Santana, who has lost his last three starts, struggled from the outset, walking leadoff hitter Matt Angle on four pitches and then giving up a two-run homer to the next batter, J.J. Hardy. After a single and a walk, Mark Reynolds followed with a three-run homer.

Santana drilled the next hitter, Nolan Reimold, and hit Reynolds in the head when he came to bat again in third inning, earning a warning from plate umpire Alfonso Marquez.

Although Santana eventually settled down, giving up one more hit before leaving after seven innings, the Angels never did get their offense on track against Baltimore starter Zach Britton (10-10), who struck out a career-high seven in seven innings did not give up a hit until Mike Trout's infield single with one in the fifth.

Trout later scored on Bobby Wilson's sacrifice fly. The Angels' only other run came after a leadoff walk and Vernon Wells' two-out triple in the ninth, but by then the game had been decided.

Texas 49, UCLA 20 (final)

Texas turned the tables.

Embarrassed last season in Austin when they were run over by UCLA in a three-touchdown loss, the Longhorns delivered payback in an even bigger way Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

With a lot of help from the host Bruins.

UCLA committed four turnovers, including three first-half interceptions of passes thrown by Kevin Prince, and the Bruins were unable to recover.

Texas, ranked No. 23 by Associated Press, ran its record to 3-0 by running and passing at will. Sophomore Case McCoy completed 12 of 15 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Malcolm Brown ran for 110 yards and a touchdown in 22 carries.

And the UCLA running game, unstoppable in this matchup a year ago, simply couldn't bust enough big plays to get the Bruins back in the game.

UCLA, which ran for 264 yards in a 34-12 win over Texas last season, gained 141 yards in 34 carries  Saturday.

Prince, making the start at quarterback after missing last week's win over San Jose State because of a shoulder injury, was benched after having three of his seven passes picked off.

Richard Brehaut came on to complete eight of 19 passes for 150 yards.

UCLA is 1-2 and will open Pacific 12 Conference play next Saturday at Oregon State.

RELATED:

Photos: UCLA vs. Texas

Texas 49, UCLA 20 (2:57 left in fourth quarter)

From start to finish, the Texas offense is cashing in opportunities provided by its defense.

Taking over at midfield after stuffing UCLA on a fourth-and-one play, the Longhorns drove 50 yards in 11 plays for their seventh touchdown in 11 possessions.

USC vs. Syracuse: Live updates from the Coliseum

Pregame

USC and Syracuse are both 2-0, but what do those undefeated starts mean?

The Trojans have a pair of less-than-convincing triumphs over unranked teams, and the Orange struggled to beat Wake Forest and Rhode Island.

A victory Saturday at the Coliseum would certainly be an eye-opener for Syracuse. Not so much for USC, which has lost only once at home against nonconference opponents since 2001.

Statistically speaking, the Trojans appear to have an edge. They are averaging more yards passing and rushing while giving up fewer on the ground and through the air than their counterpart.

MORE:

USC defensive linemen aim to be a cut above

Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib will test the Trojans

Trojans, Orange have quite the run on tradition

--Ben Bolch

Photo: USC quarterback Matt Barkley (7) and receiver Robert Woods during a 23-14 win over Utah. Credit: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times

Angels look to chase the clouds away

If the Angels had a sense that a black cloud has been following them since they left home last weekend, you couldn't have proven them wrong Saturday. In fact, a lot of black clouds -- or at least gray ones -- were hovering over Baltimore all afternoon, with some dropping a light rain at times.

The rain, which never got strong enough for the grounds crew to pull out the tarp, was supposed to pass by game time, although the wind chill is expected to drop into the 50s. When the Angels were last in Baltimore in July, the heat index hit 120 degrees.

Ervin Santana will start Saturday for the Angels, who have lost three of five games on their road trip and have just a dozen games left to make up a 3 1/2-game deficit on the Texas Rangers in the American League West. Manager Mike Scioscia confirmed that right-hander Jered Weaver will get the ball on three days' rest in the series finale Sunday. Weaver has started on short rest just one other time in his career, giving up a seven runs in six innings in an August loss to Texas. Overall, Weaver is 3-2 with a 4.84 ERA in his last seven starts. Before that, Weaver was 14-5 with a 1.78 ERA.

The lineups:

Kings begin practices without unsigned Drew Doughty

The Kings took to the ice Saturday for their first training camp scrimmages minus restricted free agent defenseman Drew Doughty, who remains unsigned.

General Manager Dean Lombardi said he had not spoken Saturday with Doughty’s agent, Don Meehan.

On the ice, it was business as usual -- or as close to usual as you can get without a franchise-quality defenseman.

“The plans do not change at all,” Coach Terry Murray said. “We’re going to miss Doughty. I wish he was here to be a part of it. He’s a very important player, a big part of the locker room. He’s a fun guy to be around. He’s a great player for us but the plan does not change for the training camp. We have to get ready for the start of the year. We’ll go through the same plan as we had in the early part of August.”

Murray said he didn’t think he needed to caution players about not letting Doughty’s contract talks become a distraction.

“It’s not my area of concern,” Murray said. “I know I’m the coach of the team and I want Doughty here but that’s the business side of it that everybody is very aware of the way it is. It’s been like that for years.

“Players use the opportunity, I guess, to get as much money as they possibly can. I don’t begrudge anybody that. I’m not going to be upset at Doughty when it finally gets settled. I’m going to be very happy that he’s here and welcome him to the team and let’s get going.”

No one quite knows when that will be, of course. The Kings’ last offer was an average of $6.8 million for about seven years, but Doughty is believed to be seeking $7 million or slightly more.

Devon Alexander poised for 147-pound tourney

Golden Boy Promotions added St. Louis' Devon Alexander to its stable of fighters Saturday, and introduced plans to create a multi-fighter tournament in the welterweight division.

Obviously, the division already has the greatest star power in boxing with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.

Richard Schaefer, chief executive of Golden Boy, said he will begin negotiations next week with HBO and Showtime to televise a single-elimination tournament of four to eight fighters that could start as soon as January.

"The tournament doesn't need to have a belt, but it needs a network committed to telling the backgrounds of these guys," Schaefer said. "Let's say Mayweather and Pacquiao fight each other [in 2012], we need to have some opponents -- fighters people recognize -- to challenge them."

Two of the obvious backup challengers in place to fight either Mayweather or Pacquiao should they win their next bouts -- Mayweather on Saturday against Victor Ortiz and Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez Nov. 12 -- are long shots to participate in the Schaefer tournament.

World Boxing Assn. welterweight champion Amir Khan will fight in December against Lamont Peterson, and he'd be well-positioned to be Mayweather's next foe, perhaps at England's Wembley Stadium.

UCLA vs. Texas football: Live updates from the Rose Bowl

Texas 7, UCLA 0 (early first quarter)

The Longhorns converted an intercepted pass into a touchdown.

Carrington Byndom picked off a poorly thrown pass by Kevin Prince, giving Texas the ball at the UCLA 45-yard line. Two plays later, Case McCoy connected with a ridiculously wide open D.J. Grant, who coasted into the end zone on a 45-yard yard touchdown pass.

The interception was on Prince’s first pass since he sprained his right shoulder against Houston in the season opener two weeks ago.

Pregame

Kevin Prince will start at quarterback for UCLA today against Texas at the Rose Bowl.

Prince missed last week’s game against San Jose State because of a sprained right shoulder. He was the Bruins’ starting quarterback in the season opener against Houston, but injured his shoulder and sustained a concussion when he was upended on a scramble in the second quarter.

Richard Brehaut started against San Jose State.

Prince engineered a 34-12 victory over Texas in Austin last season.

MORE:

Bruins, Longhorns have things to prove

Can UCLA beat Texas and capitalize on the win?

Derrick Coleman is pounding out tough yards again

--Chris Foster

Photo: Kevin Prince (4) and Richard Brehaut during pregame drills last week at the Rose Bowl. Credit: Bret Hartman / Associated Press

Rugby World Cup 2011: Oh ye of little faith, I always knew Ireland would beat Australia

So, who was that fool who predicted Ireland would possibly not progress to the quarter-finals? Oh, yes, that would be me. Apologies to every lover of Guinness. Ireland were simply magnificent, and humble pie will accompany my pint of the dark stuff tonight.

Man meets boy: the immense Sean O'Brien hands off James O'Connor

What a momentous day it's been in New Zealand. Not just for the six teams involved – as South Africa and Argentina thumped Fiji and Romania respectively – but  for the tournament as a whole.

I think it's fair to say that after the first week, only Australia could really, honestly say that they were happy with their performance. Bang! A week later, and they'll have the most jitters of all. The Irish outplayed them in just about every facet and turned the form book on its head.

In 80 minutes Ireland showed exatly what other teams have to do to beat Australia (and it's not rocket science). Crush their scrum and commit ample bodies to the breakdown to keep Will Genia and Quade Cooper on the backfoot. The rest of the backline is then largely impotent.

And let's not have whingeing from Australians about referee Bryce Lawrence, who rightly penalised the weaker scrum for losing the plot and the contest.

The result will not only have thrilled every Irishman and woman across the world, but Kiwis too. Not only to see their neighbours and most recent conquerers come well unstuck, but also because it sets up – barring further upsets – a quarter-final between Australia and South Africa. One big beast will be out of the way come Oct 9.

Your thoughts please!

This blog is supported by Maximuscle, suppliers of creatine to Courtney Lawes, Joe Simpson and the Welsh team Team.

Rugby World Cup 2011: South Africa showed they are still a force in big win over Fiji

Huge: Schalk Burger put in another impressive performance (Photo: GETTY IMAGES)

In the 'Group of Death' South Africa are the chief executioners, brushing aside the challenges in front of them and bringing an abrupt end to any fanciful ideas of upsets and fairytales.

Wales produced one of their best ever Rugby World Cup performances against South Africa, but they were denied at the death by a team who knows how to win.

The 'Flying Fijians' came out of the blocks at a fearsome pace early on and tried to run South Africa off the park. The Boks' first-up defence was poor, but the scramble was excellent and this meant that all Fiji's efforts added up to nil.

Come the second half, with the defensive job emphatically done, the Boks were able to unveil their attacking game for the first time since the opening 10 minutes against Wales, adding four more tries to the two scored in the first half, and winning by a much bigger margin than people were predicting.

For context's sake they beat Fiji by 17 points in 2007, when the Islanders were arguably a much better side. Today the difference was 46, so perspective is needed.

There are still things to work on but there is also plenty to suggest that these Boks will not be giving up their title without an almighty fight.

The good:

Defence: getting better and better. First-up tackling is still a bit ropey, with 26 missed in total, but the scramble continues to be excellent. Star performers in defence were Heinrich Brussow (21) and Schalk Burger (17).

Offloading: South Africa's forwards were particularly impressive in this respect with Burger, Danie Rossouw and Brussow always looking up for the pass. If the Boks forwards can come to the party with the ball in hand in the knock-out stages then they could be difficult to stop in attack.

Discipline: referees are stricter than ever at this World Cup and the Boks only leaked seven penalties. In this context that has to be considered a bonus.

The bad:

Errors and execution:  the Boks made 11 handling errors and still looked a bit scratchy at times in attack. They will be particularly annoyed at not scoring a seventh try at the end when they had several chances to go over. Still, this can only get better.

Selection headaches: does Pieter de Villiers know who his best team is yet? Frans Steyn looked quality at No. 12 but Jean de Villiers is hardly going to get dropped if he is fit enough to play. Morne Steyn missed three kicks at goal, but to his credit came back into the game well with the ball in hand. Pat Lambie also made a big claim to be included in the run-on team. There are so many question marks for the coaches to deal with and I'm sure they'd prefer to have a definitive idea.

The ugly:

Bakkies Botha: he went off at half-time. Was this to wrap him up in cotton wool? Or is 'The Enforcer' actually way off match fitness? They could do with him when they come up against the big boys in the knock-outs.

Thoughts?