USC earns statement victory vs. LSU

Lincoln Riley had a flashback to three years ago when he coached Oklahoma. The Sooners were driving against archrival Texas in a tie game when a 33-yard run into the end zone with 3 seconds left beat the Longhorns. Knowing that a field goal was all No. 23 Southern California needed Sunday night in Las Vegas, Riley thought back to that play. A run was called for Woody Marks, who rushed 13 yards up the middle to score with 8 seconds left and beat No. 13 LSU 27-20. “I told someone on the headset, ‘It wouldn’t surprise me if he creases this,’ ” Riley, above, said. “And, of course, it happened.” Miller Moss passed for 378 yards and a TD and his 20-yard completion to Kyron Hudson and a subsequent targeting penalty on LSU with 18 seconds to go set up the winning score by Marks in the season opener for both teams. It was Marks’ second TD run. USC, in its first season of Big Ten play, sent a message with this victory in the teams’ first meeting in 40 years that the Trojans could be a factor after going a disappointing 8-5 last year. “That was some pretty good Big Ten football today,” Riley said with a smile.

Tiafoe back in US Open quarterfinals

A point away from losing the second set with his opponent serving, Frances Tiafoe looked at a positive. At least, he figured, he would be able to change out of his sweaty shirt and sneakers. A couple minutes later, he hadn’t changed his clothes. He had changed around the match. Tiafoe rallied to steal the second set and went on to earn his way back to the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the third straight year, beating Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-3 on Sunday night in New York. “I think the second set was a huge, huge win for me,” Tiafoe said. “You know, 5-3, 40-love, him serving, how good he serves, that was really, really big. To break there and then to win that set was huge.” The No. 20 seed will attempt to match the best Grand Slam result of his career when he faces No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov on Tuesday for a berth in the semifinals. Tiafoe lost to eventual champ Carlos Alcaraz in that round in 2022, and was eliminated last year in the quarterfinals by Ben Shelton. Tiafoe, 26, is the first American man to reach three consecutive U.S. Open quarterfinals since Andy Roddick from 2006-08.

Slump baffles F1 champ Verstappen

What a difference a year makes. Even Max Verstappen is at a loss as to how he went from having such a dominant Formula 1 car last season to one that he now describes as “a monster.” The Red Bull driver had a weekend to forget at the Italian Grand Prix as he could only qualify in seventh place and went on to finish sixth in Sunday’s race. “Last year we had a great car, which was the most dominant car ever. And we basically turned it into a monster,” a dejected Verstappen said. “So we have to turn it around.” Last year at Monza, Verstappen secured a record 10th straight win in a season where the final outcome was never in doubt. Now the three-time defending F1 champion is without a victory in six straight races, his longest winless run since 2020. Verstappen’s lead over McLaren driver Lando Norris is just 62 points. There are eight races left, including ones in Austin, Texas, Mexico City and Abu Dhabi — three tracks on which Verstappen has triumphed in each of the last three years. “It doesn’t matter. With how we are at the moment, we’re bad everywhere,” Verstappen said. —AP