Tag: UCLA

LOOK: Exciting rookie posts top pictures from Chiefs training camp

Rookie RB Carson Steele shared a series of pictures from #Chiefs training camp on his Twitter account during the team’s day off.

The Kansas City Chiefs’ stable of young running backs is set to be one of the team’s best assets in 2024 as the defending champions seek to win a third-consecutive Super Bowl title.

Among the group’s most intriguing players is rookie Carson Steele, who was a superstar at the college level during stints at Ball State and UCLA before signing with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in the offseason.

He has already impressed coaches during Kansas City’s practices in St. Joseph and, on the team’s day off, he shared a series of pictures from his first taste of life at Chiefs training camp:

Though Steele faces an uphill battle to make Kansas City’s 53-man roster in the coming season, his upside as a versatile back makes him an excellent candidate to make the Chiefs’ practice squad as a developmental prospect.

Steele will be a key player to watch during Kansas City’s preseason tilt against the Jacksonville Jaguars next week.

USC receiver Kyle Ford is glad to be away from UCLA

Kyle Ford made a hilarious comment on UCLA.

When a USC player transfers to UCLA, it’s hard to fathom for any Trojan. Why would you ever want to do something like that? Credit to Kyle Ford: He admitted his mistake. In a candid and frankly hilarious comment earlier this week, Kyle Ford admitted that his UCLA experience was less than great after he transferred from USC. He is thrilled to be a Trojan once again and help Miller Moss drive the USC football offense this season.

Ford told Antonio Morales of The Athletic, “It was rough. I think it was really hard for me because this is somewhere I didn’t want to leave. I’ve always loved this place. My house is all USC, blankets, everything. I hated wearing that blue, honestly. That blue is something I’d never see in my house. I barely even have a Dodgers hat in my house that’s blue. It was definitely tough to leave here. I didn’t want to leave in a sense but I think I kind of had to in order to get what I wanted. I let him know that. It was a mutual respect thing and everything was left on good terms. It’s the reason why I’m allowed back here. So it was rough.”

It’s all good, Kyle. You know you hate that Bruin blue. You know you belong in Cardinal and Gold.

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Big Ten drops updated version of beloved “Maps” commercial

It’s so beautiful.

With USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington set to join the Big Ten, an important question crossed everyone’s minds. That question was what would happen to the conference’s football commercial that literally mapped out every school and famous nearby landmarks. Surely, a conference as hungry for money would ignore the fans’ concerns, right?

It turns out the Big Ten’s higher-ups do have a shred of humanity in them as with the aforementioned four schools officially joining the conference, an updated version of the “Maps” commercial officially has dropped, and it’s absolutely beautiful:

It does not matter whether you root for Notre Dame or anyone else. This is the best commercial in college football, bar none. It hits all the right notes, and it makes those who live in the areas near the schools proud of where they’re from.

So major props to the Big Ten for actually giving the fans what they wanted for once. Hopefully, this new era of college football provides many more such examples.

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Big Ten officially adds four former Pac-12 powers

Big Ten officially adds four former Pac-12 powers

The Wisconsin Badgers officially have four new conference mates as of Aug. 2, 2024. The Big Ten officially announced the additions of Oregon, USC, UCLA and Washington, and welcomed them with a full day of programming on the Big Ten Network.

The conference now officially includes 18 member institutions. That means an official start to its new era in football, basketball and every other scholarship sport.

Related: Big Ten power rankings in CBS Sports’ latest 1-134 ranking for 2024 season

The immediate impact of the new-look conference includes the elimination of the East-West division model in football and the subsequent introduction of a new pool play format. Otherwise, the landscape just got more competitive with several more premier basketball and football brands now in the fold.

For fans of traditional Big Ten programs including Wisconsin and Iowa, there are now four new destinations to watch their favorite teams play. For the teams themselves, there are more roadblocks than ever on the way to a conference title.

The season officially kicks off at the end of August, with most conference play beginning during the final weekend of September.

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Big Ten Network announces hours of Oregon Ducks programming as conference welcome

The Big Ten Network has set out two hours of programming to be Duck-centric to welcome Oregon into the conference.

The Ducks officially become members of the Big Ten Conference on Aug. 1 and on the next day, the Big Ten Network welcomes Oregon with Duck-centric programming for a couple of hours.

On Wednesday, the network announced the programming lineup that will come as a welcoming party for the Ducks.

At noon PT, two hours of Oregon programming kick off with B1G Welcome: Oregon, giving fans an inside look at the Ducks. The B1G Moment: Women’s Track Triple Crown debuts at 12:30 pm PT and highlights the historic achievements of the 2017 women’s track team.

At 1 pm PT, B1G Trailblazers: Tinker Hatfield provides a sit-down with Hatfield, an Oregon legend, and tells the story of his time at Oregon and his legendary career at Nike.

The Big Ten Network is setting out blocks of time for Washington, USC and UCLA also on Aug. 2.

Fans can find the Big Ten Network on most television and streaming providers.

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Big Ten head coach unintentionally throws shade at UCLA

Indiana’s head coach didn’t mean to roast UCLA, but people still laughed.

Curt Cignetti is the new head football coach at Indiana, taking over from Tom Allen this season. Cignetti was one of the stars at Big Ten media days. His remarks to assembled media in Indianapolis were more colorful, humorous, and generally interesting than most of the other speeches delivered by the 18 coaches in the new-look conference. Indiana is one of the little guys in the Big Ten, predicted to finish near the bottom, alongside UCLA. Cignetti was feisty and lively at the podium, noting that at his previous coaching stops in smaller college conferences, his teams were usually favored to win the league title. Now it’s all different.

One of the things Cignetti was asked about at Big Ten media days was cross-country travel to places such as the Rose Bowl for the UCLA game. Cignetti’s response: “We’re just going to an old stadium to kick somebody’s ass.” Reporters clarified that the statement wasn’t meant to be UCLA-specific, but that point of clarification did nothing to reduce the force of the comment.

Given DeShaun Foster’s viral moment at Big Ten media days, UCLA did not have a good week in Indianapolis, that’s for sure.

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College football pundits acknowledge USC-UCLA as a top Big Ten rivalry

It’s good to see USC-UCLA being recognized like this.

Michigan-Ohio State is the number one Big Ten football rivalry. No one will debate that. Does USC-UCLA merit top-five status now that the Trojans and Bruins are entering the Big Ten? UCLA Wire picked up a report in which one college football analyst says yes.

With the new-look Big Ten Conference and the disappearing Pac-12, the UCLA-USC rivalry continues as both programs go to the Big Ten.

Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports ranked the best Big Ten rivalry matchups in the new-look Big Ten. UCLA and USC are 4th on the list, and here’s what Fornelli wrote about that matchup:

“I know this will ruffle the feathers of plenty of Big Ten fans who won’t want to see the newcomers ranked this highly. But I am an unbiased observer, and the Victory Bell has to be a top-five rivalry. There are plenty of bordering state schools and rivalries between teams that share a state. These two share a city. Also, for my money, there is no better uniform matchup in the sport than when these two square off in their home uniforms.”

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Report: Former Wisconsin RB Jalen Berger on the move to another Big Ten program

Report: Former Wisconsin RB Jalen Berger on the move to another Big Ten program

Former Wisconsin and Michigan State running back Jalen Berger is projected to transfer to UCLA, according to a report from 247Sports’ Matt Zenitz.

Berger played the last two seasons at Michigan State after beginning his career with the Wisconsin Badgers. He re-entered the transfer portal back in April and is now reportedly close to finding a destination.

Related: Where Wisconsin lands in USA TODAY Sports’ 2024 Big Ten football preseason poll

The former four-star recruit has recorded 1,165 rushing yards over his four-year college career. His most productive season came in 2022 at Michigan State when he took 148 carries for 683 rushing yards and six touchdowns.

Berger is best known in Wisconsin circles as the former heir apparent to All-American RB Jonathan Taylor when he left for the NFL after the 2019 season. The former four-star recruit flashed that potential in limited action in 2020 with 301 rushing yards on 5.0 yards per carry. He was dismissed from the program early during the 2021 season, however, and ended up landing at Michigan State.

Zenitz projects Berger to join a UCLA program that is in the midst of transition as it moves to the Big Ten. Longtime head coach Chip Kelly took the vacant offensive coordinator position at Ohio State this offseason, leading the Bruins to hire program legend and former running backs coach DeShaun Foster as their next head coach.

The Bruins’ roster is in somewhat of a rebuild after Kelly and ace defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn left after the 2023 season. It would present Berger with an opportunity to play, something that is sure to be atop his list of desires for his final two seasons of eligibility.

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1987 USC football win over UCLA to be featured on Big Ten Network

Watch Rodney Peete, Erik Affholter, Mark Carrier, and the rest of the Trojans shock UCLA in 1987, new on Big Ten Network.

USC moving into the Big Ten means that classic USC football games will air on Big Ten Network. It also means that great USC football moments will become the subjects of Big Ten Network documentaries. BTN’s first big USC item: the Trojans’ 1987 football win over No. 5 UCLA, which catapulted the Men of Troy to the 1988 Rose Bowl. We don’t have a precise air date, but it will be part of BTN’s initial effort to include more USC content on its airwaves.

There were lots of big plays in the 1987 USC-UCLA game, but the biggest was Rodney Peete’s unforgettable touchdown pass to Erik Affholter in the fourth quarter. USC fought back from a 13-0 third-quarter deficit to pull off the 17-13 upset win in front of more than 92,500 roaring fans in the Los Angeles Coliseum:

Mal Florence of the Los Angeles Times wrote about Erik Affholter:

As for his touchdown catch, the junior from Agoura said: “The pass wasn’t designed to come my way. I was supposed to clear out with the tight end getting the ball underneath. I just saw the ball at the last minute and pulled it down.”

Affholter added that that it was the first pass he had juggled all season. “I feel if I can touch a ball I should catch it,” he said.

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Rudy was on Sports Illustrated cover featuring Notre Dame and UCLA

Before he was famous.

[autotag]Rudy Ruettiger[/autotag] is a name that needs no introduction to Notre Dame fans. Obviously, that wasn’t always the case, and it really only became such after his movie came out. But Ruettiger had a brief brush with fame well before his famous play.

In 1973, UCLA was in the middle of a lengthy winning streak en route to its seventh straight national championship. That prompted the attention of Sports Illustrated, which opted to highlight the Bruins on their cover with none other than Bill Walton as the centerpiece.

However, one thing about the cover easily can be overlooked. Sportswriter and Notre Dame alumnus John Walters brought this to everyone’s attention:

Yes, that’s Ruettiger. Walters indicates in the replies that Ruettiger told him himself. If you remember the end of the movie, you’ll know he’s sitting behind the in-universe version of his family at the game. This definitely looks like him.

If you look at the date, you’ll notice this aligns with when Ruettiger was a student at Holy Cross. So this happened in the middle of the journey that would immortalize him. Hey, we all have to start somewhere.

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