UCLA football breakdown: How the Bruins look at defensive line

• January 12, 2024

Newly promoted defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe played a significant role in bringing edge rushers Laiatu Latu and Gabriel and Grayson Murphy to Westwood, helping make the defensive line a strength for UCLA over the past two seasons.

Latu had 13 sacks for UCLA in 2023, which ranked third on the program’s all-time list for a single season, tying him with Carnell Lake (1987). Latu also recorded 49 total tackles (21.5 TFL), two forced fumbles and two interceptions in 12 games played.

Latu has been projected as a first-round pick in the upcoming NFL draft. The edge rusher won the Lombardi Award, recognizing college football’s most outstanding lineman, and the Ted Hendricks Award, for the sports’ top defensive end, for his performance throughout the 2023 season. He was also voted as the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year.

The Murphy twins decided to forgo their remaining eligibility and also declared for the draft.

The Bruins finished as a top-10 defense this past season, allowing 301.5 yards per game. The defensive line also helped produce a solid rush defense that ranked second in the country after allowing just 80.5 yards per game.

Carl Jones Jr. is also expected to be finished with the program after playing several defensive positions during his five years in Westwood but mostly outside linebacker in his later years. He started four of the 13 games he played this season and finished with 39 tackles (5.5 TFL), two sacks and a fumble recovery.

There’s still some level of uncertainty on how the Bruins will manage to make up the same level of production.

The position group will be tested going forward after it loses most of its experienced players. Defensive lineman Jay Toia is expected to return and will bring a level of consistency and serve as an anchor for the defense. He finished with 28 tackles (four TFL), one sack and forced a fumble in 12 games played in 2023.

The Bruins announced the hiring of Tony Washington Jr. as the new defensive line and outside linebackers coach Friday.

Here’s a full breakdown of UCLA’s offensive line entering spring ball, the fourth in a six-part series by the Southern California News Group examining the post-portal outlook for every part of the roster.

DEFENSIVE LINE

Returning: Jr. DL Jay Toia, Sr. DL Gary Smith III, R-Jr. DL Choé Bryant-Strother, R-So. DL Keanu Williams, Fr. DL Grant Buckey

Arriving: Sr. DL Jacob Busic (transfer, Navy), Fr. DL Collins Acheampong (transfer, Miami)

Departing: Sr. DL Laiatu Latu (NFL draft), R-Jr. DL Gabriel Murphy (NFL draft), R-Jr. DL Grayson Murphy (NFL draft), R-Sr. DL Carl Jones Jr. (5th-year player), R-Sr. Jake Heimlicher (sixth-year player)

TOP QUESTION

Why didn’t the Bruins sign any high school defensive linemen in the 2024 recruiting class? The Bruins emphasized offense during this recruiting cycle, especially with three of 10 recruits being offensive linemen. The Bruins have started to address the need to reload the defensive line, with Acheampong and Busic, through the transfer portal.

Busic’s arrival in Westwood reunites him with former Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo. Busic spent four years with the Midshipmen and was a captain this past season. He was denied a fifth year of eligibility at Navy, which led to his decision to enter the transfer portal.

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THE GROUP X-FACTOR

Acheampong was ranked as a four-star prospect by 247sports as a member of the 2023 class coming out of Santa Margarita High before signing with the University of Miami. The 6-foot-7, 270-pound edge rusher spent just one season with the Hurricanes and didn’t see the field. Acheampong had familiarity with coach Chip Kelly and UCLA from his high school recruiting process. If Acheampong can impress the coaching staff throughout the spring and training camp, there’s potential that he could see some playing time this season as he settles in as a promising player for the future.

​ Orange County Register 

LAPD Chief Michel Moore to step down at the end of February

• January 12, 2024

Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore will retire at the end of February, Mayor Karen Bass said Friday.

Moore has served as LAPD chief since his appointment by former Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2018.

In tearful remarks at City Hall, Moore said he was stepping down to spend more time with his family. He previously had announced his intention not to serve his entire second term after he was re-appointed by Bass.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

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​ Orange County Register 

Galaxy season opener vs. Inter Miami and Lionel Messi sold out

• January 12, 2024

One of the hottest dates on the Galaxy schedule is always the season opener.

When it is against Inter Miami CF, the interest is only increased with Lionel Messi scheduled to make his first trip to Dignity Health Sports Park.

On Friday, the Galaxy announced that single-game tickets for the season opener against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami on Feb. 25, along with all season-ticket inventory that included the game, are sold out.

The six-game packs, which included the season opener, are also sold out.

The club said there is a “limited number of premium inventory options” available for the opener. Fans are able to sign up to be notified if additional seats become available, when any available holds are lifted on seats.

Tickets went on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Thursday, one day after season-ticket members had the opportunity to purchase tickets.

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​ Orange County Register 

Alexander: A low point for L.A. basketball – really low – Thursday night

• January 12, 2024

The world according to Jim:

• True, it’s important not to overreact in January, and especially not important to overreact to one night’s work – but if you were paying attention to L.A. basketball on Thursday night, how could you not help but think that this is going to be a miserable springtime for two of this region’s proudest teams?

The Lakers were drilled by Phoenix, 127-109, and while it broke a two-game winning streak it’s also the team’s 11th loss in 16 games since the increasingly hollow In-Season Tournament “championship.” The Lakers are back below .500 at 19-20, tied for 10th in the Western Conference with Utah and could drop out of the play-in zone with a loss in Salt Lake City on Saturday night. And just because this franchise made a mid-course correction last year at midseason, is it really feasible to assume that it can do it again? …

• Meanwhile, a UCLA men’s basketball season already circling the drain got worse with a 90-44 embarrassment at Utah on Thursday night. It’s not the worst loss in school history only because of a 48-point drubbing at Stanford in 1997. And Channel 9 sports anchor Darren M. Haynes noted Thursday night that this was the first time since the Lakers moved to Los Angeles in the fall of 1960 that they and the Bruins had lost on the same night by a combined margin of more than 60 points. …

• Nor is it just the records that have been discouraging. UCLA is pretty much unwatchable, and you wonder if maybe Mick Cronin has finally realized that high-volume (as in decibel level) coaching doesn’t work with this particular mix of players. He all but dared players to leave with his postgame remarks after last week’s loss to Stanford, and I’m willing to bet a good chunk of the roster will head for the transfer portal when this season ends.

As for the Lakers? They seem disjointed, out of sync. And no, the coach is not the problem. Neither are LeBron James or Anthony Davis. That still leaves a lot of territory. …

• The talk last week that agents of some Lakers players had registered complaints about playing time and roles brought to mind one of the great stories of the distant past, which turns out to have been apocryphal. The story was that the agent for Green Bay Packers center Jim Ringo visited Coach/GM Vince Lombardi to discuss a contract, and Lombardi excused himself after a few minutes, then came back into the room and informed the agent that his client had been traded to Philadelphia. It turns out the story wasn’t accurate – there was a trade but it wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment negotiation – but Lombardi didn’t discourage its retelling.

Would Rob Pelinka try that threat? Probably not, as a former agent himself. But if he is getting those calls, maybe he should remind the agents that he can arrange more minutes for their clients – with, say, the Pistons or Trail Blazers or Hornets. …

• I hesitate to write this, given the way history has been so cruel to the Clippers, but they could be SoCal’s best hope in May and June given continued growth and – most significantly – continued good health. If you’re a Clippers fan, knock on wood every chance you get, just to be safe. …

• Elsewhere, USC’s men are 8-8, have no resume-building nonconference wins in their bid to make the NCAA Tournament, and now will be without freshman star Isaiah Collier for the next month with a hand injury. There are plenty of games left, but those who thought the Trojans might have a deep tournament run in them (guilty!) might need to recalibrate. …

• SoCal’s best (only) shot at an NCAA Tournament presence could be UC Irvine. The Anteaters are 12-5, 5-0 in conference and the region’s highest-ranked team in the NCAA’s NET rating (No. 71). Then again, the Big West gets one bid, it will go to the winner of the conference tournament, and strange things happen in that conference in March. …

•  As for that NET rating? USC is 92nd, and UCLA is 209th – behind Cal State Northridge (147), Long Beach State (158), Cal Baptist (176) and Loyola Marymount (208) as well as the Anteaters and Trojans. The 10 SoCal Division I men’s programs are 0-29 in Quad 1 games (defined by the NCAA as home games against teams ranked 1-30, neutral court games against 1-50 and road games against 1-75). And UCLA has accounted for six of those L’s. …

• Is Sunday’s USC-UCLA women’s rematch at Galen Center close to a sellout yet? Those teams truly are the best bets to make some March Madness noise from this region. (And if you need additional motivation to go to the 2 p.m. game between the second-ranked Bruins (14-0) and ninth-ranked Trojans (12-1), the only TV coverage is again provided by the Pac-12 Network. …

• UCLA is fifth in the women’s NET ranking, behind South Carolina, Stanford, Texas and Connecticut, the latter of which the Bruins have already beaten. USC is 16th. …

• While the coaching carousel has spun wildly out of control this week – Nick Saban retiring, Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick nudged aside, Washington’s Kalen DeBoer opting to replace Saban at Alabama while Jim Harbaugh hovers above it all – there are crickets from Costa Mesa, where the list of presumed Chargers candidates includes the traditional group of coordinators and no apparent indication as yet that the team is aiming higher.

Belichick or Carroll – and possibly Harbaugh – would almost certainly seek a certain amount of influence in player personnel, and I would need to be convinced that such a request wouldn’t be a deal-breaker with Dean and John Spanos. Thus far, I am not.

[email protected]

​ Orange County Register 

Ducks head to Tampa Bay for Alex Killorn’s return

• January 12, 2024

The Ducks made their way down to Tampa Bay, where winger Alex Killorn spent 11 seasons grinding for the Lightning, whose crowd will surely embrace him warmly in his return Saturday.

Killorn picked up two assists during Tuesday’s 5-3 win in Nashville to kick off this six-game road trip, the Ducks’ longest of 2023-24, but was held scoreless and shotless with a minus-three rating on Thursday when the Ducks fell 6-3 to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Both teams struck quickly en route to a 3-3 score, with Carolina scoring twice in 15 seconds during the first period and the Ducks tallying two goals in 45 ticks of the second. But the Ducks were overmatched overall by one of the East’s deepest and most tenacious teams. They needed acrobatics fit for Cirque du Soleil from goalie John Gibson, who made at least three highlight-reel stops in the first period and more still before he exited the game with an upper-body injury.

“Gibbie kept us in the game, it easily could have been five-nothing after two periods,” coach Greg Cronin said.

Though no goalie was recalled Friday, if Gibson were to miss any more time, he would be the latest admission into the Ducks’ triage unit. They placed Trevor Zegras (broken ankle) and Pavel Mintyukov (separated shoulder) on injured reserve Thursday, where they joined forward Max Jones. Those absences, combined with the uncertain health of Tristan Luneau and departure of Jamie Drysdale in the Cutter Gauthier trade, have left an already inexperienced and not-so-deep roster in even more of a bind, despite notching an impressive eight goals in its past two outings.

“Nobody’s going to magically appear and score goals for us,” Cronin said. “We’ve got to get them out of what we’ve got currently, for players, and we’ve got to find creative ways to create offense. It is what it is, it’s an offensively challenged group.”

Cronin pointed to the contributions of Carolina’s defensemen to its offense, 28 goals this season, as one significant difference-maker. The Ducks’ have received a modest dozen goals from the blue line this year and in less than convincing fashion. Six of those goals have come from rugged Radko Gudas and four more have come from rearguards that are either injured or no longer with the team, meaning the existing group outside of Gudas has a meager two goals, both by Cam Fowler.

There could be some offensive relief in the form of center Leo Carlsson, who was a full participant in practice Friday. He sustained a knee injury Dec. 22 that was to sideline him for about a month, but 2023’s No. 2 overall pick has healed quickly. Isac Lundeström, who missed 35 games (Achilles), scored his first goal since February of last year on Thursday, and Brett Leason notched his first point since being a healthy scratch for two games.

Next up, the available version of the Ducks will square off with the Lightning, who brought two championships to Tampa Bay and lost in two more Stanley Cup Final series during Killorn’s tenure, which spanned from 2012-13 to last season. In a letter he penned to the Tampa fans after signing a four-year pact with the Ducks this past offseason, he said he “always imagined being a Bolt forever.”

“When I was drafted in 2007, I never would have imagined all the accomplishments and memories that were made with this organization,” Killorn wrote on social media. “I am so proud of these memories and they will last forever.”

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Those memories may seem a bit distant for all parties, however, since the Bolts are clinging to the final wild card spot in the East. Among teams currently occupying a playoff position, only the New York Islanders have a worse goal differential than Tampa Bay.

Winger Nikita Kucherov sits atop the NHL scoring leaderboard, continuing to fend off a surge from Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon, who has outscored Kucherov by two points since Nov. 1 and by eight since Dec. 1.

Ducks at Lightning

When: 4 p.m. Saturday

Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Fla.

How to watch: Bally Sports SoCal

​ Orange County Register 

Corky: Remembering a childhood with Mr. Surfside

• January 12, 2024

When I was a little kid, growing up and learning to surf, I lived in Surfside Colony, a small private beach community just south of Seal Beach and bordering Sunset Beach.

Back then the houses were small and wooden, you almost have to call them “shacks.” But honestly they were probably one small step above that.  My parents bought our house, B-21, for $2,100.  It was the early 1950s.  Later we got a bigger one, B-44, for $4,400.

One of my best pals back then was a kid who lived up the street from us, closer to the jetty.  He was a year or so older than me, his name was Steve Rowe.  He had an older brother, Ron, and a sister my age, Tina.

Both Ron and Steve surfed.  Ron was actually very good, while Steve and I were learning.  We spent a lot of time together riding whatever stray watery peak that we could find up and down our little stretch of beach.  My first trip to Rincon, near Santa Barbara was with the brothers in Ron’s red Woody.

Steve recently passed away, having spent his entire life living in Surfside.  He was a really good guy and excellent surfer.  So, today I want to tell you a few good memories I have from our surfing childhood together.

The first time I ever had my name in SURFER magazine was in the Photos from the Readers section.  It was a shot I took with my mom’s old “box” camera of Steve from the Huntington Beach Pier.  We are thrilled to have our names in print.

When Steve was about 15, he got his own Ford Woody Wagon.  He could only drive it inside of Surfside because he was too young to get his driver’s license.  So, he would come pick me up and we would drive down to surf at the “Water Tower.”

This was all of about 200 yards from my house, 400 yards from his.  But to us we were “on safari to stay.”  Sometimes we would do a lap or two up and down the street just to be “cool.”

At one point, Steve got a bad ear infection.  In order to surf he had to wear ear plugs and a white girls bathing cap to keep his ears dry.

Poor dude got endless grief from other surfers in the water.  Finally, he wrote “EAR INFECTION” in big letters across the bathing cap.  That did little-to-nothing in stopping the comments.

Then there was the infamous “pet frog” incident.  This was when he was pretty young.  He had got a pet frog.  How he got it I am not sure, but he had it and loved it like it was a dog or something.  It had a name, which I have forgotten, but it could have been Larry.  For telling-the-story reasons I am going to go ahead and call him that.

Steve kept Larry in a box on a shelf above his bed.  But, more nights than not, Larry liked to jump out of the box and get in bed with Steve.

Related links

Corky: Swapping wipeout stories for a laugh
Corky: A surfing safari along 1960s OC coast
Remembering Jack O’Neill’s big personality
Corky: John Severson makes interesting list for many reasons
Corky Carroll: Remembering the ultimate waterman you might not know

The downside to this was that many times Steve would roll over and almost squish the snoozing frog.  So, in a moment of cleverness for a little kid, Steve figured out how to tie a thread around Larry and attached the other end to a rock inside the box.  This way the leaping Larry couldn’t jump out of the box and into the bed.

In theory this was a good plan.  But Steve didn’t calculate the length of the thread quite right and left just enough that Larry could still make it out of the box.  But not long enough to make it to the bed.  Next morning poor Steve opened his eyes and dangling right in front of them was Larry, who had hung himself.

Steve went into tear-filled shock and was virtually inconsolable.  But the thread had been tied around Larry’s body, not his neck. (Do frogs have necks?)  Larry was still alive.  After Steve’s mom got him down, and it was clear there was no harm done, all was OK again.  But the frog jokes lasted for years.  Probably until the bathing cap thing happened.

Steve went on to marry Ella Hendershot, whose family owned a house almost across the street from us.  After a brief stint as a lifeguard, working for Chief Timmy Dorsey in Seal Beach, Steve became the custodian of Surfside.  Together, Steve and Ella lived in the house at A-40 from then on, along with spending time on the Big Island of Hawaii where they got into growing coffee.

Steve surfed when it would get good, had a great wife, a couple of good kids and, all-in-all, an excellent and well-lived life.  Steve Rowe, “Mr. Surfside.”  Happy to have called him my pal.

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​ Orange County Register 

Here are the coldest dates on average of the year for your area

• January 12, 2024

Time to chill

We’re having some colder days, but Southern Californians know better than to complain about our climate. Today we put our mild winter weather in perspective. On average, the coldest day of the year for Southern California is behind us, except for areas with higher elevation or the low desert.

Coldest date of the year

To give you a better idea of the coldest time of year for your area, on average, climate experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information have created maps showing the coldest days of the year.

You can zoom in to find your area’s coldest date with NOAA’s interactive map here.

The maps are derived from the 1991-2020 U.S. climate normals — NOAA’s 30-year averages of climatological variables including the average low temperature for every day. From these values, scientists can identify which day of the year, on average, has the lowest minimum temperature.

In the West, the coldest day of the year usually occurs in December.

In the East, the coldest day of the year is typically later in the season, thanks to cold air from snow-covered parts of Canada dipping down.

While the map shows the coldest days of the year on average throughout the United States, this year’s coldest day may vary from the normal based on actual weather and seasonal climate patterns. For prediction of your actual local daily temperature, and to see how it matches up with the climate normals, check out your local forecast on Weather.gov.

Snowpack

This chart shows how the cumulative statewide snowpack is tracking relative to the historical average. This allows us to see how well the snowpack is doing to date, as well as how much snow may still be needed to reach the average peak snowpack around April 1.

Percentage of normal to date: 42%

Percentage of April 1 average: 19% (up from 15% Wednesday)

You can find daily updates on the snowpack here.

Notable date

On Jan. 15, 1932, almost 2 inches of snow fell in downtown L.A., the most recorded in the city on a single day.

Wind chill

Wind chill is calculated baed on air temperatures and wind speed. This chart shows temperature, wind chill calculations and frostbite times. Frostbite times reflect how quickly exposed body tissue can be damaged by cold.

Cold in Southern California is rarely dangerous. but there have been some severe weather events. In January 1913, temperatures dropped to 10-15 and ruined citrus production in the state. The freeze was the coldest in Southern California history and led to the U.S. Weather Bureau establishing the fruit frost forecast program. A freeze in the Central Valley in December 1990 lasted five days, with temperatures not rising above 25 degrees, inflicting an estimated $3.4 billion in damage on the produce industry.

Sources: NOAA, California Nevada River Forecast Center

​ Orange County Register 

Popular plant-based San Diego County restaurant opens its first Orange County location

• January 12, 2024

Jessica and Davin Waite, the husband-wife team behind The Plot, a plant-based/seafood restaurant in Carlsbad and Oceanside, have been leaders in San Diego’s food scene for over a decade. Their inventive and sustainable seafood and plant dishes have attracted a loyal following and acclaim from critics, scoring best-restaurant accolades in San Diego Magazine (Best New Restaurant of the Year in 2020) and VegNews (Best San Diego Vegan Restaurants of 2022), to name two.

Now you can find it in Orange County.

On Friday, Jan. 5, The Plot opened in Costa Mesa inside The Camp, a green and eco-friendly retail space. The Costa Mesa location will be The Waites’ first eatery outside of San Diego County.

“There’s so much stigma about what vegan food is,” said co-founder Jessica Waite, whose husband, Davin, started preparing plant-based food for her. “His food was just so good. And I didn’t have to carry my own condiments around anymore.” This helped spark the idea for The Plot, which first opened in Oceanside in 2020, then an express version in Carlsbad followed in 2023. (The Waites also own and operate Wrench and Rodent Seabasstropub, Shoots Fish and Beer, and Brine Box, all of which can be found in Oceanside.)

SEE ALSO: Orange County restaurants opening in 2024 to put on your radar

While the couple have seemingly opposing culinary practices — Jessica is a vegan and a name within the sustainability movement while Davin, an omnivore, is regarded as an skillful sushi chef who honed his skills in Hokkaido, Japan — their combined creative efforts are what, in part, make The Plot a success.

“Most of our chefs either eat seafood or to some degree meat, but are excited to create bad-ass plant food,” she said.

The beet “reuben” sandwich. (Photo courtesy of The Plot)

The sustainability aspect of The Plot, which means a little- to no-waste method of preparation, results in innovative ways of making dishes. For example, their banana crème brûlée uses the pulp of the fruit to for the dessert, but the peel is used to make a plant-based carnitas for separate dish. And sweet potato skin peels, instead of being discarded after roasting, are used to make either a dashi or crisped then crumbled atop a dish.

“From stems to leaves to root, we use everything; it’s a creative way to bring in more flavors and textures,” explained Jessica.

The Plot will source from local growers like Black Sheep Farms in Tustin, The Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano and the Waites’ own regenerative Plot Garden in Oceanside. The Plot will feature a plant-based lunch and dinner menu, retail items, kombucha and craft beer, biodynamic wines by the glass or bottle and even a non-alcoholic cocktail program.

The plant-forward, comfort-food dinner menu (4-9 p.m.) includes cräb cakes made with lion’s mane mushrooms, biscuits and gravy, shepherd’s pie, cheesy truffle fries and roasted yuzu yam. The brunch menu (weekends 11 a.m.-3 p.m.) features cinnamon roll that uses the house sourdough brioche, spam and kinchi bowl (made with red lentils and beet brine), chicken and waffles (organic tofu), chilaquiles, patty melt (lentils and wild rice) with fries and more.

And, yes, the entire menu is prepared without meat; The Plot’s plant-based proteins are all made in-house from scratch.

Find it: 2937 Bristol St., suite E100 in Costa Mesa.

​ Orange County Register