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ByGregBeacham TheAssociatedPress PASADENA Matt Boermeester kicked a 46-yard field goal as time expired, and No. 9 Southern Cali- forniaralliedfroma14-pointdeficit inthefourthquarterforaspectac- ular 52-49 victory over No. 5 Penn StateonMondaynightinthehigh- est-scoring Rose Bowl ever played. Freshman Sam Darnold passed for 453 yards and five touchdowns whileleadingajaw-droppingcome- back for the Trojans (10-3), who won their ninth consecutive game andwontheirfirstRoseBowlsince 2009. "It was a whole team effort," Darnold said. "That's the way it's been all year. We never gave up." The Trojans were almost fin- ishedwhentheytrailed49-35with nine minutes to play, but Darnold andtheTrojanshadsomethingex- train one of themost entertaining chaptersinthe103-gamehistoryof the Granddaddy of Them All. DeontayBurnett,whohadthree TDcatches,caughtatying27-yard scoring pass from Darnold with 1:20 left to cap an 80-yard drive in 38secondswithnotimeoutsavail- able. Leon McQuay III then inter- ceptedalongpassbyTraceMcSor- ley and returned it 32 yards to the Penn State 33 with 27 seconds left tosetupBoermeester,whomissed two earlier field goals. Thejuniorconfidentlydrilledthe RoseBowlwinner,andhesprinted away to celebrate amid pandemo- nium in the packed stadium. "It's beautiful," McQuay said. "This is a special group of guys. Ohman,thisisthetimetostepup. This is the time to make plays." McSorley passed for 254 yards and threw two of his four touch- down passes to Chris Godwin for the Nittany Lions (11-3), whose nine-game winning streak ended in heartbreaking fashion. Saquon Barkley rushed for 194 yards and two TDs for the Nittany Lions (12-2), who followed up their 21-point comeback in the Big Ten title game with another ferocious rally. With one jaw-dropping play after another from two talent- laden offenses, the teams oblit- erated the combined Rose Bowl scoring record in the third quar- ter, surpassing Oregon's 45-38 victory over Wisconsin in the 2012 game. The Nittany Lions' offensive stars put together a highlight reel for the ages during a 28-point third quarter. After trailing 27- 21 at the break, Penn State scored threetouchdownsonitsfirstthree snaps of the second half: a stun- ning72-yardrunbyBarkley,ajaw- droppingbobbled79-yardcatchby Godwin and a 3-yard TD run by McSorley after an interception re- turn. ROSE BOWL US C hi ts F G at g un , be at s Pe nn S ta te By Chip Thompson editor@redbluffdailynews.com @editorchip on Twitter CORNING The undefeated Corn- ing Cardinals return to the court Thursday evening as hosts of the 16th annual Corning Shootout basketball tournament, which runs through Saturday. The Cardinals (12-0) will tip off at 6 p.m. against the Yreka Miners (4-7) in the third match of the day. Many of the Cardinals wins this season have been big ones, their closest margin being a 41- 38 victory Dec. 17 against Gridley at the Georgia Raczniak Tourna- ment in Colusa. They opened the season with a 76-70 overtime win Dec. 1 over their rival Orland Tro- jans at the Durham Tournament. The Trojans (5-7) will kick off the tournament Thursday with a 3 p.m. game against the Central Valley Falcons (2-8). The Durham Trojans (5-5) will face the Anderson Cubs (5-5) at 4:30 p.m. and the Sutter Hus- kies (7-4) will take on the Willows Honkers (2-9) to close out the day's action with a 7:30 p.m. tip off. The winners of Thursday's early games will square off at 6 p.m. Friday for the semifinals and the winners of the late games take the court at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The championship game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Satur- day with the third place game at 4 p.m. The losers of Thursday's early games will play at 3 p.m. and the losers of the late games at 4:30 p.m. Friday. The consolation match is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday with the seventh place game at 10 a.m. All games are scheduled in the North Gym on campus. The Junior Varsity Division tournament will run concur- rently in the South Gym. BASKETBALL CardstohostannualShootout ActionbeginsThursdaya ernoonforundefeatedCorning,finalsSaturdayevening By Jimmy Durkin Bay Area News Group ALAMEDA In terms of opti- mism, Raiders coach Jack Del Rio didn't start off his weekly news conference offering the sunniest picture. As Oakland faces a short week before opening the play- offs with Saturday's Wild Card round game against the Hous- ton Texans, Del Rio was asked if he was concerned about having enough healthy bodies. "Little bit, yeah," Del Rio sighed. "We got a few guys that are banged right now. Yeah, that'll be getting them as healthy as possible. Short week doesn't make it any better. But we're excited to be in the post- season. We'll be energized come game time." The Raiders lost strong safety Nate Allen to a first quarter con- cussion in Sunday's 24-6 loss to the Denver Broncos. He was wobbly as he was helped from the field and will now have to go through the concussion pro- tocol. The left side of the Raiders' vaunted offensive line also got banged up. Left tackle Donald Penn missed six snaps after in- juring his left knee and left guard Kelechi Osemele hobbled off the field and missed the final offensive snap. Penn did return to the game, coming back in as Osemele ex- ited. Connor Cook was sacked on fourth down on the play and the Texans ran out the clock. Os- emele was icing both his knee and ankle after the game as he left the locker room. Defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. also played limited snaps against the Broncos due to an illness. Then of course there's quarterback Matt McGloin, who is dealing what Del Rio termed a "sore" shoulder. The Raiders, mostly because of the short week, will have just a light practice on Tuesday — their first preparation for the Texans. Del Rio said it'll be closer to a walk-through than an actual practice. The bright side is that rookie strong safety Karl Joseph is getting closer to a return, Del Rio said. Joseph practiced in a limited capacity last week and made the trip to Denver, but was inactive. The expectation is that he'll play Saturday. The Raiders could also use the return of Stacy McGee, who was also inactive Sunday despite practicing throughout the week. He had missed six of the previ- ous eight games with an ankle injury that's now healed, but was out against the Broncos be- cause of a groin injury. The injuries to Joseph and Allen, plus some poor play from Keith McGill, led to Brynden Trawick getting his first defen- sive snaps of the season and Del Rio was happy with his play. He had a career high nine tackles and his first NFL interception. "He did a nice job, made some plays, made some tackles, had some good coverage," Del Rio said. "So yeah, he played well." • Latavius Murray had only five carries in Sunday's loss. That's unacceptable to Del Rio. "We didn't run it enough," Del Rio said of Oakland's 16 rushes for 57 yards. "I mean, Latavius ends up with five carries. How does that happen? It wasn't a great job of executing by the Oakland Raiders. That's what it is. We own up to it, and we're go- ing to put it us as quick as pos- sible and move forward." Murray's had an up and down season that's seen him break out with 12 rushing touchdowns, RAIDERS OAKLAND HOPE TO HAVE ENOUGH HEALTHY BODIES Injuries decimate roster ahead of playoff game against Texans JOEMAHONEY—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Quarterback Matt McGloin and le tackle Donald Penn are among several Raiders dealing with health issues. RAIDERS PAGE 2 By Cam Inman Bay Area News Group SANTA CLARA Speaking on the same stage where he explained the firings of Jim Harbaugh and Jim Tomsula the previous two Januarys, 49ers CEO Jed York vowed Monday to find the next general manager and coach wor- thy of ending the franchise's 22- year Lombardi Trophy drought. York spoke for 27 minutes, a day after the 49ers announced the fir- ings of general manager Trent Baalke and coach Chip Kelly, fol- lowing Sunday's 25-23 home to the Seattle Seahawks that wrapped up a 2-14 season. "We need to make sure we get it right,"Yorksaidofthesearch'sideal timeline. "I don't expect it to hap- pentomorrowbutwhenwefindthe right combination of people we're going to make sure they get hired." York, speaking in a contrite tone and channeling the frustration of his fan base, said the impending hires are ultimately his call. Noassistantcoachesorpersonnel members have been fired but they are free to leave and their futures areotherwiseatthediscretionofthe next regime. Atonepoint,Yorkwasaskedwhy he wasn't being dismissed. "I own this football team. You don't dismiss owners," York said. "I'm sorry that that's the facts and that's the case, but that's the facts. I'm going to do everything I can to get this right. "This isn't about a business and running an operation to make money. We're making sure we're doing everything we can to re-es- tablish this culture." York echoed those words ear- lier in the morning while speak- ing with players in the same audi- torium and offering them a chance to field their concerns. "He gave us time and nobody raised questions," center Daniel Kilgore said. "He's the boss. You don't question your boss, do you?" York informed players via text message after Sunday's season- ending loss that he had fired Baalke and Kelly, the latter of whom York said he met with for 90 minutes. York also summoned some players to his office individ- ually throughout Monday as they cleaned out their lockers. Several players agreed with York in the need to change the culture, and veterans such as Kilgore, of- fensive lineman Zane Beadles and quarterbackChristianPondernoted that the young players needed to be held more accountable and take their job more professionally in terms of learning the playbook. Evenamidafranchise-record13- gamelosingstreak,the49erslocker room was not a mournful place. Players sang songs, blared music and played ping pong while other 49ERS York weighs in on round of firings GARY REYES — BAY AREA NEWS GROUP Jed York, 49ers CEO, talks about the future of the team during a press conference at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara on Monday. York fired general manager Trent Baalke and first- year coach Chip Kelly yesterday a er a season-ending loss to the Seattle Seahawks. 49ERS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, January 3, 2017 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1