Sports
USC makes a big opening statement with thrilling last-minute victory over LSU
Fatigue was setting in. Faith, ever fragile, was fading. USC’s revamped defense held tough. Its new starting quarterback looked comfortable. But USC’s grasp on its season opener had been slipping away since halftime. One drive, done in by a botched trick play. Another swallowed by a fourth-down swat.
Still, Miller Moss remained undeterred. More than nine months had passed since the quarterback’s memorable Holiday Bowl debut, long enough to wonder if his six-score performance was merely a bowl-season mirage. But at no point since, nor in any moment Sunday in his second start, did Moss waver. Not even as Louisiana State defenders barreled toward him on third down in the fourth quarter, forcing him to fling a prayer into the corner of the end zone.
That prayer would find its answer, along with a few others Sunday, landing in the hands of Ja’Kobi Lane for a touchdown that turned the tide USC. Poise turned to jubilation for Moss, as he pumped his fists, roaring to the highest reaches of Allegiant Stadium, his gutsy performance helping secure No. 23 USC‘s season-opening 27-20 victory over No. 13 LSU.
For Lincoln Riley, it was proof the changes he made have put USC closer to the College Football Playoff.
“We know what we’ve been building,” Riley said. “I know we’re making progress.”
USC still needed more help to secure the win after Moss’ dramatic touchdown pass to Lane. Its defense held on against LSU deep in its territory, forcing a game-tying field goal, and Moss maneuvered the Trojans down the field, completing five of six passes, before Woody Marks burst through a crease for his second touchdown run.
USC wide receiver Kyron Hudson makes a one-handed catch for 24 yards in front of LSU safety Major Burns and linebacker West Weeks, left, during the first half Sunday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
After an offseason of uncertainty and unanswered questions, Sunday made for a resounding response against the Tigers, the first time in his three regular seasons at USC that Riley beat a team ranked higher than his own.
He had new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn to thank, in part, for that, as USC’s defense held an opposing offense to 20 or fewer points for the first time since last September. The Trojans still gave up 421 yards, but LSU averaged 6.6 yards per play, a major improvement from much of last season.
USC’s tackling, a sore spot for the better part of a decade, was night-and-day different. The run defense, which was regularly run over last season, held LSU to 117 yards on the ground, much of which came on four plays.
“This new defensive identity is way different,” USC defensive end Braylan Shelby said. “We knew what we had. We knew what we had to do. And we just went out there and did it.”
Moss took full advantage of those stops when he got them, completing 27 of 36 passes for 378 yards and a touchdown. Where LSU was conservative with quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, Moss let it rip early and often, completing 12 passes of 20 yards or more.
But it was his poise late that was especially eye-opening. Twice on USC’s clinching drive, Moss snuck a bullet pass between two defenders. Earlier in the game, he threw into a crowd of LSU defenders to find wideout Kyron Hudson for a leaping, one-handed grab.
“I got a lot of belief in him,” Riley said. “He’s a tough competitor, man. That’s what he’s proven.”
USC wide receiver Zachariah Branch avoids a tackle attempt by LSU linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. after making a catch in the first half.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Nussmeier seemed well on his way to proving himself Sunday, too, as he moved the Tigers methodically down the field early. Getting rid of the ball quickly, he initially neutralized USC’s pass rush with a barrage of short and intermediate passes, extending four drives in the first half to eight plays or longer.
But after a 13-play LSU drive to open the game, USC’s defense came up with a critical stop on fourth down, inside its own 3-yard line. Lynn dialed up a inside linebacker blitz, and Mason Cobb delivered, forcing an errant throw to end the drive.
The moment loomed large, as neither team led by more than a touchdown the rest of the evening.
USC managed to punch it in just once in the first half, after two drives were stopped deep in the red zone. The first, jump-started by an electric return from Zachariah Branch, stalled at the five-yard line and resulted in a field goal. The second, in the final seconds of the first half, wasn’t so fortunate, as new kicker Michael Lantz missed an easy 29-yard field goal.
It was exactly the sort of setback that might have sent USC spiraling in the past. Not Sunday.
“Our identity really showed through,” Moss said.
Even after LSU mounted a third-quarter touchdown drive, USC’s defense regrouped and clamped down, holding LSU to just 16 yards duringits next two drives.
“There’s a vibe and a confidence about that group right now, and we’re just only going to get better,” Riley said. “It was cool to see in that moment, in that arena, us believing it as much as we did.”
And if Sunday is any indication, belief won’t be limited to USC’s locker room for long.
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Croatia thought their FIFA World Cup hopes were still alive when they scored the game-tying goal just before the end of stoppage time in the second half.
But a VAR review said Mario Pasalic was offside, and it was Portugal moving on instead.
Gonçalo Ramos’ goal just minutes earlier — a beautiful header into the back of the net in the 94th minute — was the decider in this 2-1 victory for Portugal. And it was only the second time in Portuguese World Cup history the nation needed to come from behind to win, underscoring its resilience on the sport’s biggest stage.
Luka Modric of Croatia and teammates react after the 1-2 loss during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 match between Portugal and Croatia at Toronto Stadium on July 2, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario. (Patrick Smith – FIFA)
It was a controversial ending, though, and one where Croatia tried to argue the ball never hit the head of Igor Matanovic, which made Pasalic offside during VAR review.
It’s also worth noting that a new chip within the ball shows when it is touched, giving more concrete evidence to the referee’s final decision in such a crucial time of the match. This was the 10th goal overruled by VAR thus far in the World Cup.
GABRIEL MARTINELLI’S 96TH-MINUTE GOAL RESCUES BRAZIL FROM JAPAN UPSET IN WORLD CUP ROUND OF 32
So, with the goal annulled, Croatia’s time at the tournament has ended. As a result, Croatian legend Luka Modrić is finishing his fifth World Cup, which will likely be the 40-year-old midfielder’s final one.
But another older legend on the pitch will move on, as Cristiano Ronaldo made some World Cup history during this match.
When No. 7 stepped foot on the pitch and the ball was kicked, he became the oldest player to participate in a knockout stage match at the World Cup at 41 years and 147 days old. He also became the oldest player to score in a knockout stage match when he saw a penalty situation while Portugal was down 1-0 in the match.
Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 match between Portugal and Croatia at Toronto Stadium on July 2, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario. (Patrick Smith – FIFA)
Ivan Perisic got the first goal of this game and put Portugal’s back against the wall. But after a foul was committed inside Croatia’s box in the 67th minute, it was time for Ronaldo to get his first career knockout goal, and he didn’t disappoint.
Ronaldo was ecstatic, sprinting toward the corner flag and performing his signature “SIU!” celebration, which the crowd bellowed with the score at 1-1. Ronaldo had also seemed to get that first knockout goal just minutes earlier but he was called offside.
Modrić and Ronaldo, two former teammates on Real Madrid, also made history together, as they were the first two players 40 years or older to play in the same match together.
Luka Modric of Croatia congratulates Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal after the 2-1 win during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 match between Portugal and Croatia at Toronto Stadium on July 2, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario. (Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
It was also an emotional moment after the match, as Ronaldo wore the jersey of late Portugal teammate Diogo Jota, who died in a car accident a year ago. A team photo was taken on the pitch, with Ronaldo holding up Jota’s jersey alongside his squad.
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Now that the job is done in the Round of 32 for Portugal, they face a big challenge against a key rival in the Round of 16.
Spain, who dominated Austria with a 3-0 finish earlier on Thursday, awaits Portugal at Dallas Stadium on July 6 at 3 p.m. ET.
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Roki Sasaki’s abysmal appearance faded away in the Dodgers’ 12-7 win over the San Diego Padres on Thursday night, but only after the National League West leaders rose from a catatonic first inning.
The Dodgers roared back from a 6-0 deficit as Andy Pages skirted a tying double down the left-field line, and Mookie Betts and Max Muncy each drove in runs to give them the lead for good in a four-run fourth inning. All of which sent the sold-out Dodger Stadium crowd into jubilant celebrations, some jumping, others breaking out World Cup chants.
“Thankfully, it played out the way I didn’t expect,” manager Dave Roberts said of the team’s ability to turn the game around, “or the way it started.”
By the time the game ended, Sasaki’s three-inning start seemed like a murky nightmare the Dodgers awoke from in a sweat. Except the Dodgers weren’t dreaming, and the team hadn’t done much to assuage the concerns with Sasaki.
The problem with Sasaki isn’t his stuff. On his best nights, when the velocity and command combine, Sasaki blows past batters with a triple-digit fastball and cutting off-speed pitches. The problem has been how to tick the radar without making the strike zone look like a Jackson Pollock painting — and recently, it has.
Sasaki’s June swoon, impervious to the calendar change, continued into Thursday’s series opener against the Padres, in which the right-hander gave up three home runs among seven hits before Roberts called it quits going into the fourth inning.
“They were on everything,” Roberts said. “You could see it.”
One possible concern? Tipping pitches. While Roberts and catcher Dalton Rushing said the team would need to do more research into Sasaki’s start, both left the door open to this answer.
“That would be a big explanation as to how they felt like they were on every pitch,” Rushing said.
As San Diego chugged through its lineup, Sasaki struggled to keep up. With his first pitch, he gave up a double to Fernando Tatis Jr., who scored on Manny Machado’s home run that left center fielder Pages staring at the ball’s path as it plopped down on the other side of the blue outfield fence.
The inning was only a preview of the Padres’ power. Each of the nine San Diego batters got his chance against Sasaki in the second, and the team quickly dug the Dodgers into a six-run hole. He surrendered two home runs in the second inning. Jackson Merrill blasted a ball to left-center field leading off, and, two outs later, Jake Cronenworth drove in two runs with a shot to right-center.
Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo that he needed to work on his command, but he felt like his fastball was good.
Roki Sasaki has his head down after giving up a solo homer to Jackson Merrill in the second inning.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
“I don’t think my stuff was bad today,” Sasaki said. “Overall, it wasn’t great but a lot of things evolved.”
Part of Sasaki’s issue lies with his approach. Roberts said he wants the second-year pitcher to be aggressive, to play the cat-and-mouse game required to beat batters in the box. But when given the opportunity, Sasaki has shrunken in recent outings, struggling with his command and his ability to pitch deep into games.
“We had a great May, so let’s just get back to competing and making pitches,” Roberts said.
When reliever Will Klein walked out to the mound in the fourth to the aggressive, rambunctious clamor of the Dropkick Murphys’ “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” and collected two scoreless, one-hit innings, the relief was immediate: The Dodgers took the lead.
The lineup already was revving, as Rushing homered in the second inning while Sasaki was still in the game, and both Kyle Tucker and Muncy drove in runs off starter Randy Vasquez in the third, cutting the deficit to two. The Dodgers broke through against the Padres’ bullpen to score six runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
“The bullpen was fantastic tonight, and then the offense came up big,” Roberts said.
A late catch by Pages helped close out the game after he gloved a ball despite ramming into the padding of the center field wall. A combined effort by Paul Gervase and Tanner Scott shut down San Diego’s ninth-inning momentum after it pushed across a run.
“Turned back around, was able to find the ball and make a really good catch right there,” Tucker said of Pages. “That was a huge out.”
The Dodgers (57-31) beat their division rivals for the fifth time in seven games to open a 13-game lead over both San Diego and Arizona. The Padres, meanwhile, have lost six straight and given up 66 runs over the last six days, the most in such a span in franchise history.
But San Diego’s flaws don’t negate the Dodgers’ as they burned through six relievers in their win. So, while the Dodgers crawled out of the hole with a season-high 17 hits, the steep cost heightens the pressure on the rest of the rotation the rest of the series.
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In previous years, the Round of 16 was the first knockout stage match, but with an expanded field of 48 teams— it is now the second.
Let’s check out the odds at FanDuel Sportsbook as of July 2 for which countries are favored to make the Round of 16 and emerge from it.
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
To Reach Round of 16
Argentina: -2000 (bet $10 to win $10.50 total)
Colombia: -550 (bet $10 to win $11.82 total)
Portugal: -340 (bet $10 to win $12.94 total)
Switzerland: -235 (bet $10 to win $14.26 total)
Egypt: -148 (bet $10 to win $16.76 total)
Australia: +122 (bet $10 to win $22.20 total)
Algeria: +186 (bet $10 to win $28.60 total)
Croatia: +260 (bet $10 to win $36 total)
Ghana: +380 (bet $10 to win $48 total)
Cape Verde: +1160 (bet $10 to win $126 total)
Now let’s check out the odds at FanDuel Sportsbook as of July 2 for the matchups already in place.
SATURDAY, JULY 4
Canada vs. Morocco
To Advance: MAR -300, CAN +225
Moneyline: MAR -130, Draw +240, CAN +420
Paraguay vs. France
To Advance: FRA -1800, PRY +1140
Moneyline: FRA -600, Draw +600, PRY +1800
SUNDAY, JULY 5
Brazil vs. Norway
To Advance: BRA -245, NOR +196
Moneyline: BRA -120, Draw +260, NOR +340
Mexico vs. England
To Advance: ENG -134, MEX +110
Moneyline: ENG +145, Draw +210, MEX +200
MONDAY, JULY 6
USA vs. Belgium
To Advance: USA -110, BEL -110
Moneyline: USA +165, Draw +230, BEL +170
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Dodgers overcome Roki Sasaki’s poor performance to rout Padres
