usatoday.com photo: Dodgers manager Dave Roberts relieves Rich Hill in the seventh inning in Game 4. The Dodgers were up 4-0 at the time.
On the MLB The Show podcast with Daniel:
1 The 2018 World Series — Boston vs. LA Dodgers — Red Sox are up 3-games-to-1
2 President criticizes Dodgers manager via Twitter for pulling starter in game 4
3 Reports: Mets have picked a player agent as new GM
Daniel does the MLB The Show podcast each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
By Morris Phillips
BERKELEY, Calif. — Jake Browning passed for nearly 400 yards and six touchdowns on his previous trip to Memorial Stadium. With his pair of fleet receivers repeatedly making big plays, an overmatched Cal defense was completely taken apart, allowing 66 points for only the second time in school history.
Flash forward two years, and Browning’s field of dreams morphed into a house of horrors, as the senior quarterback was intercepted, and benched briefly in Cal’s jaw-dropping, 12-10 upset win.
One touchdown allowed as opposed to nine? Browning on top of the world, then benched in the return engagement? Clearly, Cal’s defense has come a long way in a short period, just ask Coach Petersen and the Huskies.
“Obviously, they had good players and I just think we just did not execute in a lot of stuff,” said UW’s Drew Sample. “We missed some blocks from a tight end perspective. We just, as a whole, were not in good positions so you know it showed. We couldn’t sustain drives. We couldn’t get in rhythm and we had shots at the end. We couldn’t execute.”
Still, Washington led at the half, 7-6, in part due to Cal’s Greg Thomas missing a 41-yard field goal attempt on the final play before halftime. But when Petersen saw his offense sputter on two possessions in the second half, the one-point lead mattered little. Browning, the senior leader with 90 career touchdown passes, was briefly benched.
“That had more to do with me trying to do something to help this offense way more than it did with Jake,” said Petersen. “Jake is a competitor. Jake does everything we ask. But, you know, we got to try help this offense out somehow, someway.”
Instead redshirt freshman Jake Haener helped Cal’s defense. On his second pass attempt, Haener overthrew his man and was picked by Cal’s Evan Weaver. Weaver deftly worked his way to the end zone, reaching for the corner pylon.
Cal assumed the lead, 12-7, add stubbornly held on even as their offense managed just 245 yards the entire game. And that’s after Browning missed just two series before Petersen relented, and put his senior quarterback back in the game.
Cal’s defense never snapped, erased the issues stopping the run they experienced against UCLA, and did it from the start. The Huskies–again without top runner Myles Gaskin–scored just seven points in the opening, their fewest this season. The Bears allowed three points in the second half, the fewest they’ve surrendered after halftime this year.
“It’s a great environment in the locker room as you would expect but I also don’t think anybody’s surprised,” coach Justin Wilcox said. “We weren’t perfect but found a way to win.”
Cal embarks on a brief, two-game road trip starting with a Saturday, November 3 matchup against No. 10 Washington State at 7:45 pm PT on ESPN.
Photo credit: @StanfordFball
By: Ana Kieu
The No. 24 Stanford Cardinal had hoped to build a two-game win streak when they returned to Stanford Stadium to welcome the No. 14 Washington State Cougars on Saturday. For the Cardinal, it was Homecoming Reunion weekend and a lot of folks were decked in red and white as they took in all the festivities.
Just moments after the Pac-12 action went underway, Stanford had a strong opening drive with a 1st and 10 on the WSU 22. Then, just like that, K.J. Costello threw a touchdown pass to J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, who scored an 18-yard touchdown for his 24th career touchdown of the season. Jet Toner kicked in the extra point for the Cardinal for a 7-0 lead at the 11:09 mark of the first quarter.
With the touchdown catch, Arcega-Whiteside moved into a tie with DeRonnie Pitts (1997-2000) for third-most in school history. He also moved past Mike Tolliver (1979-83) for 16th on Stanford’s all-time career receiving yards list (1,821). In addition, he became just the sixth Cardinal with 10 touchdown catches in a season–the most since Ty Montgomery in 2013.
It didn’t take long for the Cougars to tie the game 7-7 with 8:17 left in the first. James Williams ran for a 5-yard touchdown and Blake Mazza kicked in the extra, game-tying point for the Cougars.
The Cougars took a 14-7 lead on a Cardinal turnover just a little over three minutes later. Gardner Minshew II connected with Max Borghi for a four-year touchdown and Mazza kicked in the point for the Cougars.
The Cardinal tied the game 14-14 with just 1:22 left in the first. Cameron Scarlett ran for a 2-yard touchdown and Toner kicked in the extra, game-tying point for the Cardinal.
On the last drive, Bryce Love became the fifth Cardinal with 3,500 career rushing yards. As a result, Love surpassed Toby Gerhart for fourth on Stanford’s all-time career rushing list.
The Cardinal and Cougars were tied 14-14 at the end of the first. Stanford scored the most points (14) in the first this season. Stanford’s previous high was 7 points.
The Cardinal went ahead 21-14 with 9:25 left in the second quarter. Costello threw a touchdown pass to Kaden Smith, who scored a 10-yard touchdown. Toner kicked in the extra point for the Cardinal.
With the touchdown pass, Costello tied his career-high with his 14th touchdown pass of the season. He has 28 for his career. This was his eighth career game with multiple touchdown passes (four this season).
The Cougars, however, reduced the Cardinal’s lead 28-17 as the clock winded down. Mazza kicked a 23-yard field goal to cut the Cougars’ deficit.
The Cardinal doubled its lead 28-17 with 1:04 left in the second. Once again, Costello worked his magic, throwing a pass to Houston Heimuli, who scored a 1-yard touchdown. Toner kicked in the extra point for the Cardinal. With the touchdown reception, Heimuli notched his first career reception and touchdown.
The Cardinal brought a 28-17 halftime lead to the locker room. Stanford’s 28 points in the first half were the team’s most in the first 30 minutes since scoring 38 against Rice in Sydney, Australia on August 26, 2017. ost first half points against a conference opponent since putting up 38 at Oregon on November 12, 2016.
The Cougars struck first in the third quarter. Williams ran for a 3-yard touchdown and Mazza kicked in the extra point to pull within 4 at the 10:32 mark of the third.
The Cardinal responded quickly with a 40-yard field goal from Toner, who gave Stanford a 31-24 lead with 6:16 left in the third.
After running around and forcing 3 and outs, the Cardinal led the Cougars 31-24 at the end of the third. Don’t forget that Stanford has won 52 of its last 54 games when leading after three quarters, dating back to 2012. One of those two losses was at WSU last season.
The Cougars tied the game 31-31 at the 12:26 mark of the fourth quarter. Minshew II threw a touchdown pass to Davontavean Martin, who scored a 7-yard touchdown. Mazza kicked in the extra, game-tying point.
The Cougars snatched a 38-31 lead with 4:28 left in the fourth. Minshew II threw a touchdown pass to Renard Bell, who scored a 3-yard touchdown. Mazza kicked in the extra point.
The Cardinal tied the game 38-38 with 1:25 left in the fourth. Costello threw a touchdown pass to Arcega-Whiteside, who scored a 25-yard touchdown. Toner kicked in the extra, game-tying point.
The game would’ve gone into overtime, but the Cougars grabbed a 41-38 lead with just 19 seconds left in the fourth. Mazza kicked in a 42-yard field goal to seal the Cougars’ 41-38 win over the Cardinal.
Despite the tough loss, Costello became the first Stanford quarterback to record multiple four touchdown passing games in a season since Andrew Luck in 2010 and 2011, respectively.
Notes
Senior inside linebacker Ryan Beecher was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma on December 21, 2017. His final chemotherapy session came on June 4, 2018, and he returned to action in the Cardinal’s season opener against San Diego State on August 31, 2018, a span of 253 days after his diagnosis.
Up Next
The No. 24 Stanford Cardinal head to Seattle to take on the No. 15 Washington Huskies next Saturday, November 3.
Photo credit: @SJSUSpartanFB
By: Ana Kieu
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Next stop for San Jose State? Home sweet home. In the Spartans’ case, however, they weren’t just tweeting out “#BeatUNLV” but were also filled with feelings of terror. To be fair, UNLV was one of SJSU’s assumed victories, but SJSU previously lost to Colorado State 42-30, despite putting up 30 unanswered points in the second half. That being said, SJSU not only had to put their foot on the pedal, but also keep it down…and that was exactly what they did on Saturday.
The Spartans wore customized helmet decals with the initials “AJ” in honor of the late SJSU cheerleader Anjela Jose, who died in a single car accident on October 14, and held a moment of silence for Jose prior to the kickoff inside CEFCU Stadium. After that, fireworks lit up the clear blue sky and the Spartans took the field.
Josh Love was the starting quarterback for the Spartans. The kickoff shocked a lot of fans in attendance as a UNLV returner called for a fair catch, caught it and ran through the defense for a long return. As a result, the officials whistled it dead and spotted the ball back at the 15.
“I’m a fighter and I always try to put in my input” Love said. “I’ll continue to fight for this team…We’re going to continue to fight for this team.”
Unfortunately, UNLV got on the board first to open the scoring 7-0 with 7:39 left in the first quarter. Max Gilliam scored a 6-yard rushing touchdown for his first rushing touchdown of the season and Evan Pantels kicked in the extra point for the Rebels.
But SJSU quickly evened the score 7-7 just 1:23 later as Tyler Nevens scored a 4-yard rushing touchdown and Bryce Crawford kicked in the extra point for the Spartans. Nevens’ game-tying score came just moments after Love threw to Thai Cottrell, who recorded a 60-yard reception for a career-long reception.
The Spartans and Rebels were tied 7-7 at the end of the first. SJSU had a season-high 179 total yards in that span.
The Spartans took a 14-7 lead at the 12:28 mark of the second quarter. The Josh effect was in full effect as Love threw to Josh Oliver, who scored a 2-yard passing touchdown for his third touchdown of the season. Crawford kicked in the extra point for the Spartans.
“Everything on the offensive end showed up,” Oliver said. “I think part of our success was the o-line. They played really hard. They played really good.”
The Spartans got ahead 17-7, thanks to a 50-yard field goal from Crawford with 6:25 left in the second. However, 11 seconds instilled a fear inside SJSU when UNLV pulled within 3 points after Gilliam connected with Tyleek Collins for a 75-yard passing touchdown and Pantels kicked in the extra point for the Rebels.
The Spartans’ excitement decreased as soon as the Rebels snatched a 21-17 lead with 1:36 left in the second. Collins scored the second of back-to-back touchdowns–a 4-yard rushing touchdown–and Pantels kicked in the extra point.
But the Spartans weren’t ready to back down just yet. Love threw a touchdown pass to Tre Walker, who scored a 37-yard passing touchdown. Crawford kicked in the extra point for the Spartans, who went back on top 24-21 with just 34 seconds left in the second.
The Spartans carried a 24-21 lead to the locker room at halftime.
The Spartans extended its lead 31-21 at the 10:48 mark of the third quarter. Love connected with Brett Foley, who scored a 1-yard passing touchdown. Crawford kicked in the extra point for the Spartans.
The Spartans continued to wreck havoc when Love threw a touchdown pass to Tre Hartley, who scored a 9-yard passing touchdown. Crawford kicked in the extra point for the Spartans, who expanded its lead 38-21 with 4:17 left in the third.
The Rebels pulled within 10 points when Collins scored a 46-yard passing touchdown, and Pantels kicked in the extra point. Simultaneously, the Spartans’ penalty for offside was declined.
Crawford attempted a 36-yard field goal–his second field goal of the game–to put the Spartans up 41-28 with just 15 seconds left in the third.
The Spartans held a commanding 41-28 lead at the end of the third.
The Spartans proceeded to rise up for the most part. Dakari Monroe picked up a 50-yard interception touchdown, but Crawford missed the extra point. Still, SJSU got a 47-28 lead at the 13:44 mark of the fourth quarter.
“We could’ve played better,” Monroe said. “We had a lot of yards, but I think the biggest thing for us…we made the big plays when they were needed and that’s always needed.”
The Rebels intimidated the Spartans when Pantels kicked a 23-yard field goal to reduce its deficit 47-31 at the 10:46 mark of the fourth. SJSU responded with a 23-yard field goal by Crawford just 3:35 later. SJSU led UNLV 50-31 with 7:11 left in the fourth.
The Rebels put a scare into the Spartans late in the fourth. Gilliam threw a touchdown pass to Collins, who scored a 4-yard passing touchdown to slice its deficit 50-37 with 2:26 left. UNLV attempted a 2-point conversion, but it failed.
The Spartans defeated the Rebels 50-37.
“It was an awesome night for our team,” head coach Brent Brennan said. “It has obviously been a tough couple of months and I’m just so proud of them because they never stopped working.”
Notes
Spartans’ possible starters
Offense: Tre Walker, Jackson Snyder, Troy Kowalski, Kyle Hoppe, Jake Colman, Deano Motes, Josh Oliver, Josh Love, Tyler Nevens, Thai Cottrell and Tre Hartley.
Defense: Bryson Bridges, Boogie Roberts, Sailosi Latu, Jesse Osuna, Jamal Scott, Ethan Aguayo, Alii Matau, Dakari Monroe, Zamore Zigler, Tre Webb and Jonathan Lenard, Jr.
If you’re into beer, you can get your tickets for the Spartans’ upcoming Beer Fest in their game versus the Nevada Wolf Pack on November 17 at 2:00 pm PT. You can click this link bit.ly/SJSUBEERFEST and use the promo code “BEERFEST” or call/text (408) 924-7589.
If you’re getting fired up about San Jose State basketball, there’s less than two weeks before the boys in Blue and Gold ball it out on the court. The Spartans host the Life Pacific College Warriors on November 7th at 7:00 pm PT.
Up Next
The Spartans travel to Laramie, Wyo. to take on the Wyoming Cowboys next Saturday at 11:00 am PT.
Photo credit: @sjbarracuda
By Marko Ukalovic
It wasn’t exactly the “Four Dead in Five Gun Fight” 137 years ago in Texas, but it was as close as it could get for a hockey game. The San Jose Barracuda (7-1-0-1) scored four goals in the second period in a 6-1 thrashing of the Texas Stars (4-3-1-1) on Saturday evening at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park to sweep their two-game Texas road trip.
Texas didn’t take long to get the opening goal. Michael Mersch tipped in a shot from Denis Gurianov past the five-hole of Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (3-1-1) for his fourth goal of the season at the 1:17 mark of the first period.
San Jose would respond with the equalizer just over a minute later, in what would start six consecutive unanswered goals by the Cuda. Jayden Halbgewachs would score his fifth goal of the season after receiving a pass from co-team goal leader Maxium Letunov and jammed in his own rebound past Texas goalie Colton Point (1-2-1) from point-blank range at the 2:33 mark. Filip Sandberg received the secondary assist.
The Cuda took over the lead just 61 seconds later and never looked back when defenseman Keaton Middleton jumped all over a loose puck and wristed it inside the far left post for his first career AHL goal at the 3:34 mark. Alexander True and Lukas Radil received assists on the Middleton’s first ever professional goal.
San Jose expanded their lead early in the second period when Manny Wiederer was able to deflect a shot from the point from Jacob Middleton that just trickled past the goal-line at the 3:50 mark. It was Wiederer’s third goal of the season. Kyle Wood received the secondary assist.
The Cuda poured it on the rest of the second period. Jeremy Roy received a pass from Radil, skated in from the point and rifled a shot past Point for his first goal of the season at the 14:24 mark. Matt Fonteyne received the secondary assist.
Radim Simek joined the goal party over a minute later when his shot from the point beat Point through his five hole for a 5-1 lead at the 15:36 mark. Simek’s second goal of the season would send Point to the showers as he was replaced by Landon Bow. Praplan and Manny Weiderer received assists.
Letunov, who assisted on Halbgewachs goal, beat Bow through his five hole to complete a four-goal second period. His fifth goal of the season was assisted by Halbgewachs at the 16:18 mark.
Bibeau was sharp in the net with 20 saves on 21 shots for the win. Point allowed five goals on only 16 goals in suffering the defeat. Bow finished with nine saves on 10 shots in mop up relief.
GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/2 on the power play. Texas was 0/2.
San Jose stays undefeated on the road at 5-0. This is the first time in franchise history they finished the month of October with a perfect road record.
This was only the second time this season the Cuda didn’t score the first goal.
Fisticuffs! San Jose’s Jeffery Viel and Texas’ Samuel Laberge late in the second period.
Gurianov has scored a point in six straight games.
The Cuda will only play Texas twice this season as the Stars were realigned into the Central Division (along with San Antonio) of the Western Conference.
The announced attendance was 4,841.
UP NEXT: San Jose returns home on Friday, November 2 to host the San Antonio Rampage at SAP Center at 7:00 pm PT.
Photo credit: @NESN
On the MLB The Show podcast with Matt:
The way that Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora had managed the 18 inning affair on Friday night at Dodgers Stadium from a hitting stand point where he missed not executing a double switch properly and didn’t make the right substitutions so heading into extra innings you in that Sox line up missing JD Martinez, Rafael Devers, Mitch Moreland, Steve Pearce.
So they really took a couple of weapons away and also no Andrew Benintendi as a pinch hitter. The Red Sox took away a lot of their weapons early in that game and they went with a makeshift line up that included having the pitcher bat through the game and the Sox kind of piecemealed the game and lost by a run in the end.
Matt Harrington does the MLB The Show podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
Photo credit: @NHLCanes
On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Len:
#1 The Carolina Hurricanes and San Jose Sharks forced a shootout. Both teams had very respective records going in.
#2 The Sharks got goals from Timo Meier, Antti Suomela, and Tomas Hertl. Hertl is listed out with an injury and is not expected to be in the line up for Sunday’s game in Anaheim.
#3 In goal, Aaron Dell made 38 saves on 41 shots for San Jose.
#4 The Hurricanes outshot the Sharks by 61% and the Canes beat the Sharks on the draw by 39%.
#5 The Sharks (5-3-2) head to Anaheim (5-5-1) for a Sunday Night draw.
Len does the Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
By: Charlie O. Mallonee
Photo credit: nba.com/warriors
By Jerry Feitelberg
The Golden State Warriors put on a show at Madison Square Garden on Friday night, trailing at times but rallying in the fourth to obliterate the New York Knicks 128-100.
When asked what happened in the final quarter, Knicks head coach David Fizdale replied: “Kevin Durant.”
“I saw our young guys, I just saw that look of, ‘We’ve done enough tonight. We played them hard enough.’ We played three and a half really good quarters,” Fizdale said his postgame interview. “With a champion, that’s not enough. That’s not even enough if you’re an established team against a champion so you’ve got to keep your focus and maintain your discipline all the way to the end. We just haven’t been able to sustain that.”
Durant scored 25 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter. He also contributed throughout the game. He made a dunk on a Warriors fast break early in the first to tie the game at 10 points. The Warriors regained a lead, but Trey Burke made a running layup tie the game again at the end of the quarter at 25.
The teams were tied at the half, too, at 53.
New York played a solid game until the Warriors decided to dominate late in the third. Golden State trailed 10 points with less than two minutes left in the quarter, and whittled the Knicks’ lead to 3 points.
“I think that group that we had in the end of the third kind of changed the mindset,” Draymond Green told reporters after the game. “They were battling, and they got us a little momentum going into the fourth and we picked it up from there.”
Durant was on fire in the fourth, making layups, jump shots, a fadeaway shot and a free throw.
“We’ve seen KD do it like he did tonight,” Stephen Curry said postgame. “To do it in the garden is a different buzz as well. Low-key we become fans on the court watching greatness.”
Durant, whose future could be with the Knicks in light of his free agency, had 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Curry scored 29 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had a hard time remembering exactly when the team had consecutive games with such “spectacular” performances from the two stars. Curry scored 51 points on Wednesday night at Oracle Arena.
“They generally both play well every night so it’s hard to assess that kind of stuff. In back-to-back games they have both been phenomenal,” Kerr said. “Obviously, we are tough to beat when they both play like that.”
The Warriors (5-1) continue their three-game road trip on Sunday against the Brooklyn Nets (2-3) at Barclays Center. Tip-off is at 2 p.m.
