Sports
Brock Purdy's origin story, the Ames chapter: How Iowa State crafted the 49ers QB
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AMES, Iowa — Taylor Mouser leaned forward in his office inside Iowa State’s football facility, digging through his computer’s files. The Cyclones’ offensive coordinator was looking for the practice tape of the play that started it all.
Brock Purdy is now the star quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, fresh off a season in which he led the NFL across the efficiency spectrum and finished as an MVP finalist. Just months from now, he’ll be eligible for what might end up being the NFL’s largest contract.
At this time six years ago, Purdy was a third-string true freshman grinding through his first college training camp. Mouser was reminiscing on Purdy’s meteoric 2018 ascent at Iowa State when he struck gold.
“Here it is,” Mouser interrupted himself. “I found it.”
He rolled tape of a goal-line rep from training camp. The Cyclones ran an option play they call “Bengal.” If the strong-side defensive end doesn’t crash inside, the quarterback typically flips the ball to a running back on an inside pitch. But there was nothing typical about Purdy.
The freshman wearing No. 15 stared down defensive end JaQuan Bailey, who’d earn All-Big 12 honors that year. Bailey didn’t crash, but Purdy didn’t care. He faked the pitch inside. Bailey bought it and lunged that way. Purdy exploded in the other direction. In a blink, there was space. He dove across the goal line.
Those on the practice field, including Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell, stood stunned.
“It was a ‘wow’ moment,” Campbell said, sitting on the couch in his office this past May. “It was our (No.) 3 offense and they’re going against our (No.) 1 defense. Brock just has this elite way to maneuver his body, to set up the precise angle against the defensive end. You could almost feel the entire place erupt on that play.”
That play confirmed to Campbell and his staff that Purdy packed the moxie to succeed at the college level. Weeks later, an injury would open the door for Purdy to grab the starting job, a role he wouldn’t relinquish until he graduated following the 2021 season — 30 wins and a Fiesta Bowl championship later.
“Brock totally transcended our football program,” Campbell said. “We were climbing when Brock got here, but this was a place that had not consistently won, ever. I think what Brock did is he turned simply believing into showing what it takes to win here every day, instead of being a flash in the pan.
“Can we consistently win and compete for championships here at Iowa State? He did all those things and more.”
Purdy’s ascent with the 49ers four years later started with him turning heads as the scout team QB before grabbing the reins for good following an injury to starter Jimmy Garoppolo. So it’s easy to understand why folks in Ames weren’t necessarily surprised.
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A trip around the college town with a population of about 70,000 offers just a few reminders of Purdy’s time there. There’s a signed 49ers jersey that’s mounted next to Joe Montana’s No. 16 San Francisco jersey at Wallaby’s Bar and Grille on the north side, but it’s hard to find Purdy’s college No. 15 anywhere else outside Iowa State’s football facility.
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Wallaby’s Bar and Grille in Ames was able to add a signed Brock Purdy 49ers jersey to its collection, which already featured a famous red No. 16. (David Lombardi / The Athletic)
Even in those hallways, there’s no glitzy shrine to the greatest quarterback in program history who ended his college career owning 32 school records. The facility, simultaneously sleek and modest, embodies the down-to-earth vibe Campbell has striven to establish since he took the head coaching job in 2016. This aura happened to mesh perfectly with Purdy’s.
“Ames, Iowa, is such a unique spot in the country,” said Kyle Kempt, an offensive assistant for the Cyclones who started at quarterback in 2017 and the beginning of the 2018 season. “There’s nothing really around here. You’re coming here for football and the people in the locker room, the people in the building. So it started with the vision coach Campbell had for this place. When we were recruiting Brock — that was the kind of kid we needed in the program to have success.
“We figured out we’re not going to be the most talented team in the league. We’re playing Oklahoma and Texas every year, but our edge is going to be the culture in the locker room.”
Though Purdy enjoyed considerable success at Perry High School in the Phoenix area, his recruitment escaped fanfare until after his junior season thanks to a debilitating bout with mononucleosis and — in a twist on brand for the Arizona native — a hand injury caused by a cactus.
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But Iowa State was unusually late on the QB market in the fall of 2017, Purdy’s senior year in high school. The Cyclones weren’t sure if Kempt — who orchestrated one of the greatest wins in school history that year in a 38-31 triumph over Oklahoma — would be granted eligibility to return for a sixth year. So Campbell had simple marching orders for Mouser, the program’s assistant scouting director at the time: Make a list of the 10 best uncommitted quarterbacks in the country.
“He brought me Brock’s tape,” Campbell remembered. “We sat there for 45 minutes, watching it three times. Then I made everybody get Baker Mayfield’s senior year of high school.”
That conversation happened in the midst of Mayfield’s 2017 season at Oklahoma, which featured spectacular improvisational play and finished with Mayfield winning the Heisman Trophy. Campbell saw a resemblance in Purdy.
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Matt Campbell saw glimpses of Heisman Trophy-winning Baker Mayfield when he watched Brock Purdy’s high school tape. (David Purdy / Getty Images)
Campbell immediately called Preston Jones, Purdy’s coach at Perry High, and learned about the hardships that had left Purdy without a scholarship offer. Campbell was convinced he’d unearthed sensational value. His next phone call was to a 17-year-old Purdy.
“We talked for almost an hour and a half,” Campbell said. “We had a conversation of two grown men. It was the most incredible conversation. When I got off the phone, I said, ‘This kid’s really special and we’re going to do everything in our power to get him. He’s one of the most impressive humans I’ve ever talked to.’
“There was maturity, eloquence in describing his recruiting journey, raving about his parents, who they are, what they’ve meant to him, talking about his brother and his sister. … I didn’t want to get off the phone because I was so enamored by the maturity and the eloquence of this young man who knew who he was and knew what he stood for. I remember telling him, ‘Listen, I feel like this is a place you’re called to be at. This can be an incredible journey together.’”
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Campbell, Mouser and then-offensive coordinator Tom Manning flew to Arizona for an in-home visit. They played pingpong with Brock and his younger brother, Chubba, now a QB at the University of Nevada. The boys’ mom, Carrie, baked cookies for the visitors. Their dad, Shawn, shared his experience of playing minor-league baseball.
“When we walked out of that home visit, we felt like a million bucks,” Mouser said. “But as we were driving to the hotel, Brock got an offer from Alabama and we said, ‘This thing is going to get interesting fast.’”
Purdy took his official visit to Ames, but the secret was out. Both Alabama and Texas A&M ended up offering Purdy scholarships. The young quarterback assured Campbell’s staff that Iowa State was where he wanted to be and that he simply owed visits to the two powerhouses as a courtesy to his parents, but the Cyclones staff braced for a white-knuckle ride to the finish line.
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Brock Purdy took visits to Alabama and Texas A&M, but Iowa State and Matt Campbell were always the right fit. (Courtesy of Shawn Purdy)
It was Iowa State’s culture that ended up pulling through. The simple sense of separation that Ames offered, away from traditional football factory fanfare, appealed to Purdy.
There was a homeyness about the program that a juggernaut like Alabama couldn’t offer. Purdy could fish frequently at local ponds around the small town, where player hangouts at Campbell’s house were the most popular form of entertainment.
“You don’t have to schedule a meeting with the secretary to come talk to (Campbell),” Mouser said. “We play golf all the time. We eat dinner together all the time. There’s just not a ton to do in Ames, Iowa, other than hang out with your group. It’s a brotherhood.”
Purdy committed to the Cyclones and never wavered.
“Texas A&M, Alabama, us — 99 times out of 100, a quarterback is going to one of those (first) two schools — but he knew Iowa State was the right fit for him,” Campbell said. “He always knew who he was. … Brock was always this man on a mission to do something. He knew what he stood for. He was never trying to be anybody else. He was never trying to fit in. He was just trying to be the best version of Brock.”
Mark Coberley, the head of Iowa State’s sports medicine and performance crew, walked downstairs into the bowels of the athletics facility. He strode into a room used to store a defunct Dynavision D2, a clunky-looking apparatus featuring dozens of lights that’s been replaced by a niftier machine in the nearby training room.
Purdy’s quickness, both in processing and movement, stands out in the NFL. The old Dynavision machine, which tasks users with rapidly contacting randomly illuminating lights, is where he perfected those reflexes. There were spirited contests with tight end Charlie Kolar, who’s now with the Baltimore Ravens.
“It became a daily game: 60 seconds, how many dots can you hit, which quadrant is the quickest, which is slowest,” Coberley said. “They had some stiff competitions. When it comes to quickness, Brock has such innate ability. I don’t think this created that ability for him, but it certainly let him practice it.”
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Purdy became one of six quarterbacks in Big 12 history to pass for over 10,000 yards and rush for over 1,000 yards in his career. His ticket to those gaudy numbers came through anticipatory play that would regularly flummox opposing defenses who thought they’d corralled him.
“He wasn’t this unbelievable runner at the QB spot, but he had this ability to extend plays,” Campbell said. “He had the ability in critical situations to scramble, no different than you saw against Detroit in the second half of the NFC Championship Game. If you look back to some of our biggest wins, he’s making those same plays and he’s getting himself out of Dodge against some elite defensive linemen.
“He has two elite qualities: one is his short-area burst, and then he’s the pump-fake king. He could pump-fake and get himself out of trouble with subtle variations as good as anybody.”
Brock Purdy keeps on doing damage with his legs!
📺: #DETvsSF on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/lPi4pqPzJT— NFL (@NFL) January 29, 2024
The practice play on which Purdy announced his arrival at Iowa State — the option run for a touchdown — came on a fake. Even as an 18-year-old freshman, Purdy showed command of the position’s subtleties.
Kempt was the Cyclones’ starter to open the 2018 season but hurt his knee in the second game. Iowa State turned to backup QB Zeb Noland but dropped to 1-3 with a gut-wrenching 17-14 loss to TCU at the end of September. At practice the following Wednesday, Purdy — who’d been elevated to the second-string offense — led an authoritative touchdown drive against the first-team defense in a two-minute drill, even punching in the two-point conversion without issue.
“And now the buzz was, ‘Holy cow, we’ve got to play this guy,’” Campbell said.
Kempt, who was slated for a midseason return from his knee injury, went into the coach’s office. He also sensed Purdy was ready. Campbell told Kempt that he’d start Noland in the next game against Oklahoma State but was planning to work Purdy into the mix.
“If we were going to go with Brock, it was probably going to put Kyle’s career on the shelf,” Campbell said. “He was a sixth-year senior, and we had this emerging quarterback we really believed in. Credit to Kyle. That took a lot of courage to come in. His response: ‘I think that’s a great idea. I’ll get him ready to go’ — which was one of the all-time selfless acts I’ve ever seen in a football program.”
“I wasn’t going to put myself above the team,” Kempt said. “This wasn’t about me.”
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Brock Purdy, left, celebrates an Iowa State win with Kyle Kempt, middle, and linebacker Mike Rose. (David Purdy / Getty Images)
Just like he would in 2022 after Garoppolo suffered an injury against the Miami Dolphins, Purdy entered on the second series and didn’t relinquish the QB job. He finished Iowa State’s 48-42 road victory over Oklahoma State with 318 passing yards, 84 rushing yards and five total touchdowns — including one on a zone-read run set up by a fake pitch.
“You could just feel the first time Brock went in,” Campbell said. “Everybody believed we could win when he was in the football game and touched the ball. You could feel it on the sideline — immediately.”
The Cyclones ripped off five straight wins to salvage their season. By 2020, they broke through, finishing 9-3 with a 34-17 victory over Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl back in Purdy’s home state of Arizona.
Mouser, also originally from Arizona, savored that win. And so did Kempt, who’d moved on to Iowa State’s coaching staff by that point. As a successful Cyclones starter and one of Purdy’s predecessors — and then his first key mentor in the QB room — Kempt had a unique seat to watch the future NFL star’s rise.
Kempt maintains that Purdy’s huge reserve of experience prepared him for the NFL level. That’s something the 49ers also say that they valued, although it wasn’t as obvious in 2022 when they waited until pick No. 262 to draft him.
“Reps are so important,” Kempt said. “You keep seeing that with the NFL Draft. They add up over time. To see as many snaps as Brock did and be in that many crunch-time situations — I can’t tell you how many of those he’s been in, that’s just how we are: every game is close. It’s in his DNA to be a part of those things.
“He had a lot of reps here. He got to see every high and every low. He had a lot of times where he did really well and he had times where he probably tried to make too much out of something and he made a poor decision or bad throw. But he took all those experiences and used them to become even more even-keeled, and that over four years is what truly prepared him for the NFL.”
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From 2010 to 2018, Iowa State did not enjoy a single season with one quarterback starting every game. After taking over the position, Purdy started every game until he graduated. His college career straddled two offensive styles — Iowa State went from running a spread attack over his first two seasons to a pro-style, play-action-based system after that — and he operated both successfully.
“If you don’t know who you are or what you’re about, then when the chaos hits, the emotions take over. You’re either so high or so low that you can’t conduct through the chaos,” Campbell said. “But this young man was built from a young age to handle all of those emotions, through his faith, through his family, through knowing who he is and what he stands for.”
And that, according to Campbell, is where the key to understanding Purdy’s ascent lies.
“Obviously, you have to have enough talent to be able to throw the ball where it needs to be, but it always comes back to mental control,” Campbell said. “Do you know who you are? Do you know what you stand for? Do you know what you’re about? Because if you do, it brings a sense of calm to everybody around you — and that’s a game changer.”
For Iowa State, Purdy’s presence was a program changer. And history reverberates. A trip to Ames puts Purdy’s NFL surge, which the 49ers are currently enjoying, into a familiar context. It all started with a phone call that Campbell will never forget — and with a leap from third string to stardom that few saw coming.
“We had a profound impact on Brock,” Campbell said. “And I think Brock had a profound impact on all of us.”
(Top illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photo: John Locher / Associated Press)
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Sports
Amid the 4 Nations noise, Canada reclaims its throne as ‘the king of hockey’
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They crossed the 49th parallel, from Manitoba into North Dakota — and drove through day and night — across eight states and more than 3,000 kilometers, according to the Canadian odometer on their Nissan Murano.
Two canceled flights meant they were desperate. So they piled into a car, stopping only for gas. And, despite a two-hour detour through Milwaukee, off a middle-of-the-night wrong turn, they made it to Boston in 30 hours.
They were five among the thousands of Canadians who lined up outside TD Garden hours before the start of the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off final between Canada and the United States.
“We’re here for the Maple Leaf,” said Matt McLeod. And they were there for their childhood friend Seth Jarvis, who was living his dream of playing for Canada.
But at the most hyped international hockey game in more than a decade, everyone had their reasons to care. And beyond the 60 minutes and overtime, it felt like there was so much more than a win at stake.
With more than a decade of built-up tension between the two rivals, heat on the ice was inevitable. But for many, the championship game wasn’t about bragging rights alone. A looming trade war between the United States and Canada, following tariff threats by President Donald Trump and repeated claims that he’d like the sovereign neighbor to become the country’s 51st state, created an unparalleled level of hostility between the two nations.
Canadian fans booed the American national anthem when the teams met in a round-robin match in Montreal, which was followed by three fights in the first nine seconds of the game.
It was impossible to ignore the wider implications, especially when the U.S. team’s general manager Bill Guerin said his players used the political tensions as inspiration and invited Trump to attend the final. Before the championship, Trump encouraged the Americans while taking another shot at Canada becoming the 51st state and referring to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a governor.
Outside TD Garden, that tension was evident hours before the opening face off.
“Welcome to the USA, Canada’s 11th Province,” read a massive sign carried by Ian MacKinnon, as fans dressed in Canada and USA jerseys shuffled in a queue that stretched down Causeway Street. He’s an American, by way of grandparents who first immigrated to Nova Scotia. MacKinnon doesn’t care much about sports, but he biked there with his sign in hopes of making a point and maybe offering a touch of levity.
“The way the series started with fist fights in the first 10 seconds, I felt maybe tonight I could make people smile,” MacKinnon said.
And most people did, while some tossed light jabs.
“51st state!” one man yelled as he passed in line.
“U-S-A! U-S-A!” chanted another.
One fan tried to rip the sign from MacKinnon’s hand, but he held firm.
In the concourse, American fans posed with Mark Goggin, who’d painted his face red and white, with temporary tattoos of a cartoon moose and beaver on each check. Goggin crossed the border from his home in Windsor to catch a flight from Detroit with his son. As innocent and playful as most of the interactions between the fans were, Goggin felt the wider implications that the game carried seemed somewhat lost on his American counterparts. They didn’t seem to appreciate just how serious Canadians have taken the threats and taunts, he said. It might be fun and games to them, but in Canada the aggression has spurred a rush of patriotism.
“Canadians are so pumped to win this game. Because we can’t beat Trump, right?” Goggin said. “It’s the only thing we can beat them at — hockey.”
His eyes reddened as he described the emotion many Canadians carried into the final.
“It’s so big for Canadians,” Goggin said. “It’s more than a game.”
Mark Goggin’s rooting interests were easily discerned. (Dan Robson / The Athletic)
Harjinder Sidhu flew from Winnipeg to attend the game with his brother and his 5-year-old nephew, who traveled from Edmonton. The 30-year-old said the outside context matters.
“Canada will never be the 51st state. … It’s very disrespectful,” he said. “Our soldiers have died next to their soldiers in wars, which we do happily because they’re our brothers. But that brother is acting a little too aggressive right now. And today we’ll show them who’s the king of hockey.”
For more than a century, hockey has been Canada’s game. But it has long been anticipated that the Americans would catch up and possibly surpass Canada. Recent trends underscore that reality. The majority of Canadian NHLers play for American teams. And as has been pointed out many times, no Canadian team has won a Stanley Cup since 1993.
That tension filled the TD Garden too. It hung uncomfortably when Wayne Gretzky, hockey’s greatest icon, stepped onto the ice representing Canada in a pregame ceremony wearing a suit, to respectful stick taps and cheers. Mike Eruzione, captain of the 1980 Miracle on Ice team, followed to a riotous roar wearing a U.S.A. jersey — fist-bumping the American players and waving his hands to pump up the crowd as they chanted “U.S.A.”
It wasn’t lost on many Canadians watching that Gretzky, star of the famed 1987 Canada Cup winning team, attended President Trump’s election victory party at Mar-a-Lago and his recent inauguration ceremony.
A smattering of boos greeted the Canadian national anthem, but a chorus rose alongside singer Chantal Kreviazuk, who made her own comment on the moment by changing the lyrics in a verse from “in all of us command” to “that only us command.” Kreviazuk later posted on Instagram that she believed Canadians needed to stand up and use their voices in the face of a “potentially consequential moment.”
“We should express our outrage in the face of any abuses of power,” she wrote.
A hockey game happened, and a thrilling one, with a crowd heavily on the American side.
But after the most dramatic show of international men’s hockey in more than a decade — sealed by Connor McDavid’s overtime winning goal — it was Canadians piling on the ice and embracing in the stands. American fans streamed out into the concourse as “O Canada” played once more, to fireworks around a giant Canadian flag. The red-and-white jerseys filled the lower bowl, surrounded by empty seats.
Drew Doughty sang as loud as he could. It had been so long since he’d last felt this moment, and he didn’t know if he’d ever feel it again.
And later, in the locker room, the Canadian players belted “We Are The Champions” by Queen, Molson Canadian and Moet sloshing on the floor. Their reign as the world’s greatest, secured for at least another year.
Above, in the concourse, a chant of “Can-na-Da, Ca-na-da” echoed as fans marched toward the exits, and out onto Causeway Street.
A woman in a grey sweater with a U.S. flag on it shouted after them: “You’ll be the 51st state soon.”
But no one bothered to listen.
As the champagne dried on the locker room floor, and other Canadian players reveled in the hallway en route to the team’s afterparty at a nearby bar, Mark Stone acknowledged that the political tension weighed on the team throughout the series.
“I definitely read and saw everything, Saturday to tonight,” Stone said. “It’s hard to stay off that stuff, the way the world is with social media. This game meant a lot to us, a lot to our country, and we’re proud to put on that jersey and get a win for our country.”
In the hall, Brad Marchand, Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon posed for a photo together. MacKinnon held up a Canadian flag. Crosby, the captain, clutched the 4 Nations Cup.
Seth Jarvis and the friends who’d driven from Winnipeg, piled in to pose for some photos, too. They wore the sweaters of Crosby, McDavid, MacKinnon and Mitch Marner — just a few among the thousands that still filled Boston’s streets, shouting and laughing and cheering, for a victory that felt so much bigger than a game.
(Illustration: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic. Photos: Dan Robson / The Athletic; Brian Babineau / 4NFO/World Cup of Hockey; Bruce Bennett, Ben Jackson / 4NFO/World Cup of Hockey via Getty Images)
Sports
Fresno State men's basketball players allegedly placed sports bets on games they played in: report
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Fresno State men’s basketball is mired in a sports gambling scandal, and ABC 30 Action News learned two of the three athletes involved allegedly bet on games they played in.
The Bulldogs removed forward Mykell Robinson from the team while suspending guards Jalen Weaver and Zaon Collins for alleged sports betting.
ABC 30 Action News reports Robinson and Weaver placed bets that their team would go under their projected points and rebounds totals. This is a clear violation of NCAA rules, which prohibit student-athletes, coaches and athletics staff members from betting on games or providing information to anyone involved in or associated with any type of sports betting.
Fresno State Bulldogs guard Jalen Weaver (5) (Brian Losness-USA TODAY Sports)
The rule includes sports betting involving intercollegiate, professional or amateur games or competition.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL PLAYER UNDER FEDERAL INVESTIGATION FOR ALLEGEDLY FIXING GAMES: REPORT
ABC 30 Action News also reports that Fresno State men’s basketball head coach, Vance Walberg, was the one who discovered his players’ alleged gambling and notified the university. After an initial internal investigation, the NCAA got involved with an investigation of its own.
Fresno State told ESPN that Weaver and Collins were “being withheld from competition as the University reviews an eligibility matter.”
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Fresno State Bulldogs guard Jalen Weaver (5) (Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports)
These are two of the Bulldogs’ top scorers this season, with Weaver averaging 12.5 points per game, while Collins is close at 12.0 points per game and leads Fresno State with 4.7 assists per game.
Meanwhile, Robinson has not been on the team since Jan. 11.
Fresno State Athletics also told ABC 30 Actions News it would no longer comment on the matter “at this time.”
The Bulldogs have lost 10 straight games, owning a 5-23 record this season, which is a record for most losses in a single campaign.
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(Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)
With three players away from the team, the Bulldogs only dressed seven players in Saturday’s 72-69 overtime loss to Air Force.
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Sports
Defending champion Galaxy lose in season-opening stunner to San Diego FC
It was just 11 weeks ago that the Galaxy raised the MLS Cup for a record sixth time, an occasion the team celebrated Sunday with a relay of supporters and first responders carrying the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy back to midfield at Dignity Health Sports Park.
A triumphant video played on the stadium’s huge video screens, fireworks filled the air and a dark blue championship banner was unfurled above the southwest grandstands of the newly refurbished stadium.
Then the new season kicked off and all of that suddenly seemed like a distant memory with San Diego FC, an expansion team playing its first MLS game, crashing the Galaxy’s party by riding two second-half goals from Anders Dreyer and a clean sheet from goalkeeper CJ dos Santos to a stunning 2-0 upset before a sellout crowd of 25,244.
The loss was the Galaxy’s first in 22 games at home, dating to the final game of 2023.
“The challenges are going to be different,” coach Greg Vanney had said before the game. “It’s going to be a different road to success this year.”
Indeed. And with four of the players who led Vanney’s team to the title last year missing, that road was closed Sunday. Among the missing were MLS Cup MVP Gastón Brugman and Dejan Joveljic, who scored the winning goal in the final. Both were sacrificed to the league’s salary cap.
Joveljic was one of four Galaxy players to reach double digits in goals and assists last season; no MLS team had done that before. But just one of the four, winger Gabriel Pec, was in uniform since Joveljic was traded last month, and Joseph Paintsil and Riqui Puig are out with injuries.
“We start again,” Vanney said. “It’s all just about fitting these [new] pieces into our puzzle.”
The pieces didn’t fit against San Diego. Christian Ramírez, the replacement for Joveljic up front, was ineffective in his 63 minutes while German veteran Marco Reus was unable to provide either the pace or the passing of Puig in the midfield. That left Pec isolated — and frustrated — for most of the afternoon.
Bruce Arena’s Galaxy teams of 2011-12 were the last to win back-to-back MLS titles, a piece of history Vanney’s team will be chasing. But the league has changed a lot since then, growing from 19 to 30 teams while the addition of allocation money, U22 initiative signings and young designated players has changed the way teams are built, making MLS more competitive.
Yet history and a rebuilt roster aren’t the only things working against the Galaxy. They also have a huge target on their backs.
“Everyone’s going to come after us,” midfielder Diego Fagundez said.
Dreyer, a Danish international who last month was playing in Belgium with Anderlecht, scored the first goal in franchise history seven minutes into the second half. It was set up by a massive Galaxy error with keeper Novak Micovic, making just his fifth MLS start, taking a backpass from Miki Yamane in front of his goal and flipping a poor waist-high outlet ball to center back Emiro Garcés deep in the Galaxy penalty area.
Garcés lifted a boot but was unable to control the pass, which bounced to San Diego’s Chucky Lozano. He then sent it into the center of the box for Dreyer, whose left-footed shot beat Micovic cleanly.
The Galaxy, pushing for the equalizer, nearly got it in the 79th minute when a Yamane cross found a sliding Miguel Berry, but Berry’s left-footed deflection was smothered by Dos Santos. A minute later Dos Santos made another save, one of three on the day, on a try from the center of the box by Ruben Ramos Jr.
Dreyer then made all that moot with his second goal three minutes into stoppage time. Tomás Ángel, the son of former Galaxy player Juan Pablo Ángel, got the assist.
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