Saturday night was a heck of a night for Los Angeles sports fans. Not only did USC football go on the road and get a big victory over Nebraska, but the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in Game 7 of the World Series to win the franchise’s second consecutive championship.
As someone whose two jobs revolve around USC and the Dodgers, I, like many other, was following both games extremely closely on Saturday night. So what did the emotional roller coaster of an evening look like? Let’s look back:
(Note: This story does not represent the views of Trojans Wire writer Ethan Inman, who is a noted San Francisco Giants fan.)
USC gets a head start
USC-Nebraska kicked off approximately half an hour before the start of Game 7, giving fans a brief window to focus their attention solely on the Trojans. Unfortunately, that was just enough time to watch USC go three-and-out and Nebraska score an opening drive touchdown.
Not looking good early
Just as the Trojans got off to a slow start, so did the Dodgers, with Toronto taking a 3-0 in the third inning. For a while, it was looking like both teams were going to lose, leading to a rough night in LA.
Trojans come back
After trailing for nearly entire game, USC finally took the lead on a King Miller touchdown run in the fourth quarter. The Trojans’ defense held off Nebraska late, and Lincoln Riley’s team walked out of Lincoln, Nebraska with a massive road victory. Regardless of what happened in Toronto, the night would not be a total lost cause.
Headed to extra innings
After USC wrapped up the victory, Miguel Rojas’s ninth inning home run sent Game 7 of the World Series to extra innings. With the vast majority of college football action having wrapped up for the night, sports fans could focus all of their attention on the instant classic taking place north of the border.
Dodgers win it all
After surviving several massive scares, Will Smith’s home run in the top of the 11th inning put the Dodgers in front. In the bottom of the inning, Toronto had runners on first and third with one out, before a double play ended the game.
Los Angeles had its second consecutive championship, USC had a massive road victory, and the city of stars was ready to party. (Mostly because of the former, but maybe a little bit because of the latter, too.)