What can UCLA and USC expect in their bowl games?

The UCLA Bruins football team will play Baylor in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego on Dec. 27. So, who exactly are these Baylor Bears? It might be best to start with who they are not.

They are not Robert Griffin III’s Baylor Bears. The Heisman Trophy winner is the starting quarterback for the Washington Redskins these days. But even though Baylor lost a first-round quarterback to the NFL, the football team was left in two capable sets of hands.

The first pair belongs to receiver Terrance Williams. He is making a variety of All-America teams and breaking even more school records. Williams leads the nation with 1,764 receiving yards and was a finalist for the Fred Belitnekoff Award. (Marqise Lee of USC won the award).

Williams holds the school record for receiving yards and is second in school history in receiving TDs with 12 and receptions with 95. He needs 236 yards in the Holiday Bowl to become only the second player in NCAA football history with 2,000 receiving yards in a season. The  way Baylor runs its offense, 236 receiving yards is not out of the question.

Trevor Insley from Nevada is the only college receiver with more than 2,000 receiving yards in a season. He caught 134 passes for 2,060 yards in 1999. Only two receivers have more than 1,900 receiving yards in a season, Michael Crabtree at Texas Tech and Troy Edwards at Louisiana Tech.

Nick Florence, Baylor’s senior quarterback, has more than delivered after RG3 left the team. Florence is 174 yards shy of breaking Griffin’s school record for passing yards in a season. Florence is also six touchdown passes short of breaking Griffin’s school record in that category.

Florence leads the nation with an average of 387.7 yards per game of total offense. He is an academic All-American, the fourth quarterback from Baylor to earn that honor. Of course, the last quarterback to do it was Griffin in 2011.

Suffice it to say Baylor can put up some points. The team can put up points at Oregon Ducks pace. The Bears might have a more potent offense than USC. The Bruins will have their hands full, but then again, USC was supposed to give them a handful, too.

The Rematch: UCLA vs. Stanford

Can the UCLA football team beat Stanford? If Saturday’s outcome is any indication, the Bruins have a lot of work to do if they want to upset the Cardinal on Friday night in the Pac-12 championship game.

UCLA and Stanford will meet for the second time in six days. The venue will be different, in Palo Alto instead of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, but the outcome will be the same if the Bruins can’t make some key adjustments.

Stanford rolled UCLA, 35-17. By the second quarter, the rout was on. Stanford was up 21-10 at halftime and scored two more touchdowns in 13 seconds in the third quarter to pull away.

The Stanford defense scored. The Stanford running attack gave the Bruins fits. UCLA had one scoring drive that actually netted -8 yards, a 48-yard field goal in the second quarter.

UCLA coach Jim Mora was asked after the game what his team needs to do to beat Stanford.

“Once I look at the film, I can better answer that question for you,” Mora said. “There is a lot to learn. I’m not going to get into too many specifics. But I don’t want to give away what we need to do in order to improve.”

Famous fathers and their football sons

Cordell Broadus is developing into a top-recruited wide receiver at Diamond Bar High School. He already has a scholarship offer from UCLA and is drawing interest from Duke University and the University of Oregon.
His father is Snoop Dogg. If Broadus ends up at UCLA, he will be teammates with another son of hip-hop icon.
Justin Combs, a red-shirt freshman defensive back at UCLA, is the son of Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs.
But Justin Combs didn't exactly receive a warm welcome when he decided to attend UCLA on a football scholarship. He met criticism for accepting a scholarship to UCLA when his dad was such a rich and successful entertainer and singer.
Will the same reception await Broadus if he ultimately decides to go to UCLA or any other college to play football?
Time will tell. For now, Broadus is weighing his offers and looking forward to playing football at Diamond Bar and UCLA.
Go to SB Nation for more on Broadus, Combs and their famous fathers.

Photo: Cordell Broadus, a sophomore wide receiver at Diamond Bar High School, is becoming a top college recruit at wide receiver. (Credit: Tim Haddock)

Dodgers end season on a hot streak, but fall short of playoffs

The Dodgers finally caught fire, but it was a little too late to do any damage in the National League playoffs.
They put together a little six-game winning streak in the final week of the season and averaged nearly seven runs a game.
This is the kind of offense Dodgers fans can expect next season. Too bad it didn’t do them any good this season.
Still, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly told MLB.com there is no reason to think his players can produce like this on a regular basis.
“It’s good. It’s kind of fun playing like this,” Mattingly said. “It makes you think, ‘Why can’t you do this over the course of a season or a month?’”
Why, indeed.
It would have been nice if the Dodger bats woke up a month ago.
Adrian Gonzalez put together a 13-game hitting streak over the final two weeks of the season. It was the longest hitting streak for any Dodger this season. It started on Sept. 19 against the Washington Nationals. He hit .396 during the streak and the Dodgers were 9-4 over those 13 games.
Gonzalez had two hits, including his 47th double of the season, a career-high, against the Giants on Monday.
Matt Kemp ended the season on a hot note as well. He hit .458 with four home runs and nine RBIs in seven games from Sept. 24 to Oct. 1.
Luis Cruz was a tough out during that same time span, hitting .320 with a home run and four RBIs. He hit .313 in September and had the second-highest batting average on the team for the month.
Little-used Elian Herrera even got into the hitting act with a game-winning, RBI single against the Giants in a game the Dodgers needed to win to stay alive in the playoff picture.

UCLA football is hot, USC not, and other rivalries

The UCLA football team is 3-0 and ranked No. 19 in the nation by the Associated Press. Valencia High graduate Steven Manfro is turning out to be a big piece of Bruins puzzle.
Manfro scored the first touchdown of his career, on a 49-yard catch, in UCLA’s upset win over then No. 16 Nebraska, 36-30, at the Rose Bowl.
He scored again in UCLA’s 37-6 win over Houston. He has two touchdowns in three games and is becoming quarterback Brett Hundley’s favorite target.
Manfro is UCLA’s leader in receiving through the first three games of the season. He has 14 catches for 164 yards. He was also averaging nearly nine yards per carry in the first three games. In all fairness, he carried the ball only three times for 26 yards, but scored on a 14-yard run in garbage time against Houston. Manfro added five punt returns for 55 yards for good measure.

Delays at Dodger Stadium and the trade with the Red Sox

Sung to the tune of “Take Me Out To the Ball Game” with apologies to Jack Norworth:

Take me out to the ball game
Except on Vin Scully bobblehead night
Cuz if you run late
(Let’s face it, if you live in LA, who doesn’t run late?)
They’ll make you wait
Outside the gate for an hour
If your son scoots, scoots, scoots away from you
Security will make you stay
For it’s one, two, three innings you’ll miss
At the old ball game.

Suffice it to say, not a good time was had by all at Vin Scully bobblehead night at Dodger Stadium. Not only did the Dodgers lose to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 2-0, but it took nearly an hour to get into the stadium while Vin Scully bobbleheads were passed out at the gates.

Photo: Fans waited for about an hour to get into Dodger Stadium on Vin Scully bobblehead night. (Credit: Tim Haddock)

Manfro shines, Larimore retires at UCLA football camp

There was some good news and bad news out of UCLA Bruins football camp for the two Santa Clarita products on the team.
First, the good news. Valencia High graduate Steven Manfro is making quite an impression on first-year coach Jim Mora Jr. and his staff. The red-shirt freshman was working with the first-team offense in practice. He is running the ball, catching passes out of the backfield and is an integral part of the third-down package.
“Steven was kind of the surprise of the spring,” Mora said. “I think we’ve all gotten kind of used to him a little bit. But he’s doing well. He’s playing consistent. He’s a versatile guy. He catches the ball well out of the backfield. We can use him as a running back. He can run the ball. He’s a good pass protector.”
Where Manfro will make his biggest contribution is on special teams, Mora said. He envisions Manfro being either a punt returner or a kickoff returner. He likes Manfro’s field vision and bursts of speed.
“I think you’ll see him a lot in our return game,” Mora said. “I would be surprised if he’s not either our punt or kickoff returner or both, or at least in the rotation. We’ve got some pretty good guys who can do that for us. We’d like to see the ball in his hands.”
Now the bad news: Hart High graduate Patrick Larimore retired from the team and college football for medical reasons. He sustained a concussion in the spring and during camp earlier this month at Cal State San Bernardino. On July 30, he decided to end his football career after telling his coaches and teammates he would not return to practice or camp.
Larimore is a senior and was one of the team captains on defense for UCLA last year. He was the defensive MVP and started at linebacker in all 13 games for the Bruins. He led the team in tackles with 81. He had one sack, one interception, five pass deflections and one forced fumble.
In high school, he set a school record at Hart with 138 tackles in his junior season. He also had two sacks.
He finishes his college football career with 206 tackles, three sacks and two interceptions.
…
In the annual media poll, UCLA was picked to finish in third place in the Pac 12 South Division. USC was picked to win the South Division. Oregon was selected as the top team in the Pac 12 North Division.
From the start, Mora has been trying to create a clean slate with his football team. He decided to hold camp at Cal State San Bernardino to deliberately isolate his players.
“My thoughts were simply that I wanted us to be in an environment where we were isolated as a football team,” Mora said during the Pac 12 media day. “I think it’s important as we start this journey that we get to know each other very well.”
When Mora was asked about how he plans on improving the team’s 6-7 record and a loss in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl last year, he didn’t address the shortcomings of the 2011 squad. Instead he focused on trying to create a culture of toughness, discipline and accountability with his current players.
“You know what? I don’t know what they had or didn’t have last season, that’s not my concern,” Mora said. “My concern is what we have now and going forward.”
Perhaps the most telling comment Mora made about the upcoming season was about USC. He was asked about how he is going to deal with USC. Mora responded by saying he is focused on UCLA football.
“I think it’s a big mistake as a coach – and I understand the fans’ and the media’s perspective, because it is a unique and lively rivalry – but I think as a coach and as a football team, what’s important is you keep your focus on the game you’re getting ready to play,” Mora said. “I think it’s important you keep your focus on the practice you’re getting ready to participate in, and that’s our approach.”
UCLA opens against Rice in Houston on Aug. 30.
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Santa Clarita’s Allyson Felix redefined the term gold rush at the Summer Olympics in London. The United States women’s track and field team won nine gold medals at the Olympics. Felix won three of them.
She finally removed the albatross around her neck by winning the gold medal in the 200 meters. She won silver medals in the 200 at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics.
She added to her gold medal haul as part of the world-record breaking 4×100 relay team. Her third gold medal came in the 4×400 relay.
College of the Canyons track coach Lashinda Demus did her part to contribute to the U.S. women’s medal collection by winning the silver medal in the 400 meter hurdles.
Kim Rhode made Olympic history by medaling in five Summer Games in a row. She won a gold medal in women’s skeet shooting. It was her third Olympic gold medal and her fifth medal total. She won her first gold medal in double trap in the 1996 Atlanta Games. She won her second gold medal in double trap at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens.
Rhode, who trains in Newhall and lives in El Monte, also has a silver medal from the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing and a bronze medal from the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney.
…
The high school football season starts for three teams in the Foothill League. Canyon kicks off the prep pigskin party against Morningside on Aug. 23.
Saugus plays Calabasas at College of the Canyons the following night. West Ranch travels to play Moorpark on the same night.

Tim Haddock is the sports director for KHTS AM 1220 and writes the Santa Clarita Gazette and the ESPN Los Angeles web site. He can be reached by e-mail at tim@hometownstation.com. Follow him on Twitter @thaddock.

Photo: The UCLA defensive backs practice during camp at Cal State San Berardino. (Credit: Tim Haddock)

UCLA QB Brett Hundley

UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley takes some snaps during camp at Cal State San Bernardino after being selected as the starter to open the season against Rice. (Credit: Tim Haddock)