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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 , 2021. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/SPORTS M2 D
BY GLYNN A. HILLAmerican rugby proponents
look to the past when they consid-
er their future, and inevitably
their gaze turns to 1994.
The United States that summer
hosted the men’s soccer World
Cup, an event that helped launch
Major League Soccer, led to the
construction of soccer-specific
stadiums around the country and
exposed the sport to millions of
adults and children, some of
whom developed into national
team stars.
A quarter-century later, soccer
has become the fourth-most pop-
ular sport to watch in the United
States, narrowly trailing baseball,
according to Gallup research.
MLS club valuations have soared,
and both MLS and the National
Women’s Soccer League continue
to expand.
Rugby executives and advo-
cates are drawing up a similar
blueprint, hoping to lure a pair of
future World Cups to help bolster
the country’s fledgling pro league
and expose more Americans to a
sport that has been a niche pas-
sion for some and an esoteric
spectacle to others.
Their plan hinges on providing
sustained exposure, which is
what makes Saturday’s exhibition
match between the U.S. and New
Zealand men’s national teams at
FedEx Field so important.
“The only way we’re really go-
ing to compete from a long-term
perspective is having more regu-
lar games against the bigger
boys,” said Ross Young, CEO of
USA Rugby, the sport’s nationalgoverning body. “[New Zealand’s]
All Blacks are the biggest brand in
rugby; it’s like watching Brazil in
soccer. Hopefully this helps us
raise the profile and opens the
doors for more people to then
come and play the game.”
Saturday’s exhibition outside
Washington is the first in what is
meant to be a series of matches
that help build American interest
in the sport by attracting top
teams to play stateside. Organiz-
ers hope the event, named the
1874 Cup to acknowledge the year
the first recorded rugby match
was played in the United States,
can generate momentum as the
United States vies to host the
SEE RUGBY ON D6All Blacks’ visit is USA Rugby’s big chance
PRO FOOTBALL
Covid issues linger for the
undefeated Cardinals,
who could be without their
coach again Sunday. D2
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Kobi Thomas took the
long way from DeMatha to
a walk-on spot at College
Park. He’s not done yet. D5DARREN ENGLAND/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK
U.S. officials hope exposure against top international rugby teams
helps bring future World Cups to America and grow th e sport here.JEFFREY MCWHORTER/ASSOCIATED PRESSBY CHUCK CULPEPPERT
he latest American football sen-
sation is Caleb Williams, born so
recently that, as he arrived, Jim
Tressel and Ohio State prepared
for a 2002 doozy against Lloyd
Carr and Michigan. Williams, who won’t
reach 19 until mid-November, has thrown
only 23 passes as an Oklahoma starting
quarterback, but then, as a people, we
aren’t really noted for patience.
Before Williams arrived at Oklahoma,
which wasn’t so long ago, and before
Oklahoma put the clamp on family inter-
views, his father, Carl, a D.C.-area real
estate developer, sounded understated
when he told Sports Illustrated: “He can
make Aaron Rodgers-like throws, PatrickMahomes-like throws. He runs probably
more like Adrian Peterson than any partic-
ular quarterback. And we wanted him to
have the intelligence of Tom Brady.”
That does sound above average, and
then last Saturday after the TCU game,
Oklahoma wide receiver Jadon Haselwood
told reporters this: “He’s a great leader for,
like, being a freshman. I don’t think he ever
feels pressure. He’s always in a good mood.
Even last week [during his backup, then
starring, role against Texas] he felt no
pressure, like no fear, and you can tell by
the way he played. Just a g reat kid. He can
sling it. He can run. He can do whatever he
needs to do to get the ball downfield.”
SEE WILLIAMS ON D4Sooner than expected
Freshman QB Williams,
a former Gonzaga standout,
has played like a starter
and put OU in a quandaryBY AVA WALLACEWhen his first home game as
coach of the Washington Wizards
finally arrived, Wes Unseld Jr.
hardly had time to take in all the
emotions that came with the mo-
ment.
He had helped unveil a bronze
bust of his father, the legendary
Washington center, coach and
general manager, the night before
the game. His mother, sister, wife,
children and a few friends had
come out to cheer him on. An
energetic crowd of 15,407 at Capi-
tal One Arena gave him a warm
welcome when he was introduced
for the first time on the big screen.
But all the ceremony surround-
ing the moment had to wait —
Unseld had decisions to make Fri-
day leading up to his team’s 135-
134 overtime win over the Indiana
Pacers.
Franchise cornerstone Bradley
Beal did not play after suffering a
right hip contusion Wednesday in
the season opener at the Toronto
Raptors, and Unseld, with plenty
of choices given the flexibility of
his roster, opted for backup point
guard Aaron Holiday to take his
place.
SEE WIZARDS ON D2No Beal,
no problem
as Wizards
top Pacers
WIZARDS 135,
PACERS 134 (OT)MLB PLAYOFFS
NLCS Game 6: Dodgers at Braves
Today, 8 p .m., TBS
Braves lead series 3-2
Scherzer scratched: Dodgers’
Game 6 pitching plans upended. D3Caleb Williams replaced OU’s
preseason Heisman candid ate
to rally the Sooners past Texas.
Now he ’s a H eisman contender.1874 Cup: U.S. vs. New Zealand
Today, FedEx Field, 3:15 p.m.BY DAVE SHEININhouston — Across this great
land, there were untold groans,
screams and remote controls
chucked at TVs late Friday night
when the result of the American
League Championship Series was
in the books. The Houston Astros,
whom everyone outside of these
parts knows to be dirty, rotten
cheaters, are back in the World
Series — and with everything
we’re dealing with these days in
this twisted world, did anyone
really need that?
But here, at Minute Maid Park,
in the southeastern corner of
downtown Houston, in the south-
eastern corner of Texas, if there
was a hint of distaste, or even
ambivalence, about the Astros’
march to a third AL pennant in
five years, it was drowned in a sea
of orange-shirted, full-throated
love.
The Astros couldn’t hear your
groans and screams over the roars
of 42,718 adoring fans celebrating
a pennant-clinching, 5-0 win over
the Boston Red Sox in Game 6 of
SEE ALCS ON D3DoggedHoustonclinchespennantASTROS 5,
RED SOX 0Berth in World Series is
club’s third in five yearsBY GENE WANGcharlottesville — Well before he was
on his way to becoming one of the most
prolific passers in Virginia football history,
Brennan Armstrong was an unpolished
understudy to Bryce Perkins, who at the
time was rewriting program records him-
self.
But after Perkins played his final game,
setting school marks for passing yards and
total offense in 2019, he provided assuranc-
es that the quarterback succession would
be seamless, even declaring Armstrong a
natural and the left-hander’s innate under-
standing of the game the keenest he had
seen in some time.
Perkins has proved prophetic, with Arm-
strong leading the country with 2,824 pass-ing yards. He is just 715 shy of eclipsing his
immediate predecessor for the most at
Virginia in a single season. Armstrong is
averaging 403.4 passing yards per game,
which ranks second nationally and first in
the Power Five.
He also is second overall in total offense
(414.6 yards per game) and has four games
of at least 400 passing yards. Before this
year, no Virginia quarterback had thrown
for 400 yards more than twice in one
season.
Armstrong next faces Georgia Tech in an
ACC Coastal Division contest Saturday
night at Scott Stadium. The Ca valiers (5-2,
3-2) have won three straight and are
seeking to become bowl eligible for the
fourth time in the past five seasons under
SEE CAVALIERS ON D4It’s no stretch — Armstrong is a rising star for Cavs
COLLEGE FOOTBALL SATURDAY:
GAMES TO WATCHNationallyNorthwestern
at 6 Michigan
Noon, Fox
16 Wake Forest
at Army
Noon, CBS S ports
8 Oklahoma State
at Iowa State
3 :30 p.m., Fox
USC
at 13 Notre Dame
7 :30 p.m., NBCLocally
2 Cincinnati
at Navy
Noon, ESPN2
Syracuse
at Virginia Tech
12:30 p.m., MASN
Maryland
at Minnesota
3:30 p.m., ESPN2
Georgia Tech
at Virginia
7:30 p.m., ACCNWizards at Nets
Monday, 7:30 p.m., NBCSW