Los Angeles Times - 21.09.2019

SPORTS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2019:: LATIMES.COM/SPORTS

D

The sensible
option would
be to wait.
Wait for
Melvin Gor-
don to report,
wait for the
Pro Bowl
running back
to play his way
back into rhythm, wait to
deal with his unsolved con-
tract situation.
This is who the Chargers
are. This is what they do.
They are conservative.
They are methodical.
Their deliberate ap-
proach has worked to the
extent that it has produced
a Super Bowl-contending
team this season.
Changes in circum-
stances, however, require
adjustments in philosophy.
Their situation now calls for
that. They have to actively
shop Gordon.
Look at the depth chart
as the team prepares for a
visit from the Houston
Texans on Sunday. Count
the number of players who
are down.
Coach Anthony Lynn
steadfastly refused to blame
the defeat to Detroit last
week on a depleted roster,
but even he acknowledged,
“Never had this many [in-
juries] this early, to be hon-
est with you. This is usually
what you see around Week
12, Week 13. Some of this
adversity hit sooner than we
thought.”
Left tackle Russell

DYLAN HERNANDEZ

Time is

now for

Chargers

to trade

Gordon

Injuries have put the

onus on moving the

holdout running back

in an active market.

MELVIN GORDON
seeks an extension worth
around $13 million yearly.

Wally SkalijLos Angeles Times

[SeeHernandez,D3] The scene felt so painfully familiar:

USC’s quarterback pasted to the turf, un-

able to get up, an anxious crowd collec-

tively holding its breath, a lingering sense

of dread settling over the Coliseum.

Three weeks earlier, JT Daniels lay

crumpled just a few yards away from this

spot, his season over in an instant. Friday

night, at a critical juncture in USC’s sea-

son, here was the captivating freshman

backup who had taken his place, Kedon

Slovis, lying on his back, his head spin-

ning after it was slammed to the turf.

So, in a high-stakes Pac-12 Conference

showdown bursting with subplots from

the fickle job security of Clay Helton to

the return of banished Trojans legend

Reggie Bush to the looming presence of

Urban Meyer, it was Matt Fink, once the

Trojans’ third-string quarterback, who

was forced onto the field and into the

spotlight.

USC 30, 10 UTAH 23

COLLEGE FOOTBALL ::WEEK 4

The starting quarterback

was flattened. The head

coach was fired. The sea-

son was cooked.

The penalties were

dumb, the defense was

disintegrating, and a foot-

ball team was on the verge

of a collapse that would

have plunged a desperate

program into the deepest of chaos.

But then, in front of a half-filled Coli-

seum on a Friday night lined with dread,

something remarkable happened.

The USC football team fought on.

The Trojans still know how to do that.

They can still find strength from that

tradition. They can still live those words.

Utah knows it. Utah felt it. Utah

dragged itself from the field while reeling

from it.

The previously unbeaten Utes came

BILL PLASCHKE

A third-string fling

Fink comes off the

bench early and

leads impressive

victory over Utes

By Ryan Kartje

MATT FINKthrew for 351 yards after Kedon Slovis

was injured on the second play of the game.

[SeeUSC, D6]

AMON-RA ST. BROWNcomes up with a catch between two Utah defenders for a 31-yard touchdown, giving the Trojans a 14-7 lead.

Photographs by Luis Sinco Los Angeles Times

On improbable

night, Trojans live

up to their motto

and silence critics

[SeePlaschke, D7]

Manny Tejeda should go
into the wedding planning
business.
As the team administra-
tor for Atlanta United, the
reigning MLS champion, a
big part of Tejeda’s job is re-
settling players and their
families in Georgia. That
means filling out a lot of im-
migration paperwork and
the U.S. government seems
to like marriage a lot more
than soccer players do.
“I don’t know if you’d call
it an issue,” Tejeda said, “but
we have guys who have been
with their spouses for a long
time but they’re not legally
married.”
In many countries that’s
not a problem but it is in the

U.S, where a player can get a

work permit but his partner

can’t stay here longer than

six months. So when Tejeda

was helping midfielder Pity

Martinez, his longtime girl-

friend Priscila Ventura and

the couple’s daughter relo-

cate from Argentina, where

domestic partnerships are

recognized, he shared a

warning.

“If you don’t get married,

this issue is not going to go

away,” he told the player.

So Martinez flew home

on a weekend, got married

and came back.

On another occasion the

partner of a foreign-born

coach had little trouble with

her immigration status but

she didn’t qualify for medical

benefits without a marriage

license. So after training

camp the coach flew home,

got married and returned to

Atlanta.

“It’s a lot more common

than you think,” said Tejeda,

a Santa Ana native. “I’m re-

They make them

feel right at home

Administrators for

MLS teams help

foreign players get

situated in the U.S.

By Kevin Baxter

[SeeMLS, D8]

If getting ejected for com-

plaining about a strike call

from the dugout and storm-

ing onto the field to berate

an umpire were to inspire

the Dodgers like it seemed to

Friday night, then manager

Dave Roberts might want to

try it a little more often.

The Dodgers trailed the

Colorado Rockies by two

runs in the fourth inning

when Roberts was tossed by

plate umpire Greg Gibson

for arguing a two-ball pitch

to Gavin Lux that Roberts

thought was low.

As Roberts headed to the

clubhouse following his first

ejection of the season, Lux

walked to put two on with no

outs. More than a half-hour

Kershaw rocked then rolls

The left-hander gives

up three home runs

before settling down

to earn the victory.

DODGERS 12

COLORADO 5

By Mike DiGiovanna

THE DODGERS’Corey Seager homers — his 17th of

the season — off Rockies starter Pete Lambert.

Mark J. TerrillAssociated Press

[SeeDodgers, D5]

UCLA at 19 Wash. State

AT PULLMAN, WASH.

Tonight, 7:30 TV:ESPN

Patriots release

troubled Brown

Antonio Brown was

released by New

England in the wake

of another accuser

coming forward. D3

HOUSTON 6

ANGELS 4

Langston taken

to the hospital

The radio broadcaster

suffers a medical

emergency before a

loss to the Astros. D5

Defensive play

keys Narbonne

A pass deflection in

the final minute

preserves Narbonne’s

28-21 nonleague

victory over Serra. D9

Getting tougher

on tampering

Maximum penalty

will be increased to

$10 million for a rule

that’s still difficult

to enforce. D10