Death, injuries deflate Alabama after big win
From wire dispatches
Alabama’s football team had as much to mourn as to celebrate after a huge opening victory.
On the field, linebackers Terrell Lewis and Christian Miller had season-ending injuries in the top-ranked Crimson Tide’s 24-7 win against No. 3 Florida State. About 24 hours after the game, a son of wide receivers coach Mike Locksley was shot and killed in Maryland.
That left players and coaches with much more on their mind than football Monday.
“I just feel real bad, just like everyone else,” said Tide receiver Calvin Ridley, who texted his support to Locksley. “I just want him to know I love him and I really don’t know anything else about it.”
Howard County Police said 25-year-old Meiko Locksley was shot in Columbia, Md., just after 10 p.m. Sunday. Locksley died at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Police didn’t release further details on Monday.
Florida State
Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois will have season-ending knee surgery Tuesday, leaving command of the offense to a freshman. Coach Jimbo Fisher said Monday that Francois faces four to seven months of rehabilitation after his operation Tuesday to repair the torn patellar tendon in his left knee. Francois was hurt in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s 24-7 loss to topranked Alabama in Atlanta. Fisher announced that James Blackman will start for the third-ranked Seminoles when they host Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday. Blackman was in for the final series against Alabama but didn’t attempt a pass.
UCLA
A light rain fell on the Rose Bowl in muggy, 90-degree Sunday evening heat during the miserable first 40 minutes of UCLA’s season opener. Thousands of dampened fans had already hit the exits with their Bruins trailing by 34 points. They missed nothing less than the greatest comeback in UCLA history and a defining moment in Josh Rosen’s threeyear quest to reach his enormous potential. Down 44-10 late in the third quarter, the Bruins scored touchdowns on five consecutive possessions. Rosen’s fake spike and ensuing 10-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Lasley with 34 seconds left capped one of the most flabbergasting victories in college football history, 45-44 over Texas A&M. UCLA (1-0) made the secondbiggest comeback in Football Bowl Subdivision history, surpassed only by Michigan State’s rally past Northwestern from a 35point deficit in 2006. Rosen passed for 292 yards and four TDs in the frantic fourth quarter.