THOUSAND OAKS — If nothing else, Rams running back Todd Gurley should be rested.
Gurley, a potential candidate for Comeback Player of the Year and perhaps even Most Valuable Player just a couple weeks ago, has seen his role diminish of late. Opponents, naturally, have been keying in on Gurley, and even Rams coach Sean McVay said he has too quickly turned away from Gurley in games.
Expect that to change Sunday, when the Rams host the New Orleans Saints at the Coliseum.
The Saints typically run the ball well and chew up time of possession but still score a lot. The Rams would like nothing more than to control the game on the ground and get Gurley another 100-yard game.
The Rams, 7-3 overall, are 4-0 this season when Gurley tops 100 rushing yards, and they're 6-1 when he reaches 100 yards through a combination of rushing and receiving.
For the season, Gurley is at 791 yards, or only 94 fewer yards than he totaled in all of last season. Gurley, though, failed to reach the 100-yard mark last week against Minnesota. He had only 15 carries for 37 yards and caught three passes for 19 yards.
It stands to reason that Gurley would get a lot of work Sunday, because the Saints' run defense has been average at best this season, but on Friday, the Saints announced that both of their starting cornerbacks, Marshon Lattimore and Ken Crawley, will miss the game because of injuries.
Still, the Rams would be wise to get the ball to Gurley. In their seven victories this season, Gurley averaged 20.2 carries. In the Rams' three losses, Gurley averaged 15 carries.
It's not unusual for teams to pass more when they trail in games, but even when the Rams have lost, they've been in close games in the second half. One of the rare knocks against McVay, who also is the Rams' play-caller, is that he abandons the run game too quickly, but McVay also pointed out that the Rams need to run the ball better on first and second downs.
The Saints also can expect to see more of Tavon Austin, particularly since the Rams' other backup running back, Lance Dunbar, is considered questionable for Sunday with a sore knee.
Starting cornerback Kayvon Webster, who suffered a concussion last week, was a full participant in Friday's practice at Cal Lutheran and is expected to play, McVay said, but nickel back Nickell Robey-Coleman (thigh) is listed as doubtful, which almost certainly means he won't play.
Backup running back Lance Dunbar is considered questionable because of a sore knee and, as previously noted, receiver Robert Woods is out for at least two games with a shoulder injury.
Star defensive lineman Aaron Donald is expected to play, McVay said, even though Donald missed Thursday's practice with an illness and was limited Friday.
Saints quarterback Drew Brees is returning to the Coliseum after a 19-year absence.
Brees, then a Purdue sophomore, faced USC on a sweltering August afternoon in 1998, and the Trojans won the season opener 22-17. Brees completed 30 of 52 attempts for 248 yards and threw two touchdowns and two interceptions.


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Concerts at Manchester United
At Thursday's Planning Committee Gorse Hill Councillors Mike Cordingley and Dave Acton spoke passionately for residents against a proposal to host rock/pop concerts at Manchester United between the end of May and end of June each year. United propose to host up to 7 concerts each year in this period including concerts on consecutive nights like we had to endure from Take That.
The planning committee and officers callously rejected our opposition. They rejected our claims that:
residents are entitled to peace in the close season
noise from the concerts and their dispersal would affect schoolwork at the most important time of the year
concert dispersal is harder to achieve than football supporters, who are familiar with the area. Concert goers tend to be younger with more loitering in the area waiting for lifts with a tendency not to appreciate the noise they're making, having being enjoying loud amplified music for the previous hours.
that by allowing noise levels of up to 75db, they were ignoring planning guidance from the Noise Council that venues hosting more than 3 events a year should be limited to 15db(A) above background noise.
What were the reasons for rejecting residents' objections?
Tory Councillor, Ken Weston said that clearly if residents were against the proposal, more of them would have written in. He believed this indicated that residents were not overly concerned.
Tory Chair of Planning, Viv Ward legitimately felt that United were important employers and generators of prosperity in the borough, but disdainfully suggested that since the stadium had been there for a 100 years, households knew what they were living next to. It's hard to avoid the implication that she feels that by living near the ground we lose our rights to peace and quiet at the whim of its American owners.
The planning committee ignored the reasonable demand for peace at exam time and ignored the Noise Council's guidance. When Tories say we're all it together, what they mean is "put up and shut up".

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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News, Cool Courses
Coming to UCSB: Embark on a Virtual Excavation in Rome
History of Art and Architecture professor Claudia Moser and Writing Program lecturer Christian Thomas have received a $94,000 grant from UC Santa Barbara's Innovative Learning Technology Initiative (ILTI) to develop an interactive, game-based course called Rome: The Game. The lower division course, which will be available to students in winter 2021, is an introduction to the art, archaeology, and history of ancient Rome, with an emphasis on writing and research.
Blog, Cool Courses
A Closer Look at Linguistics: Speech Therapy and Beyond
While Olivia Saunders isn't majoring in Linguistics, her major in Communication has provoked many questions from others about whether she wants to pursue speech therapy. That led her on a search to learn more about Linguistics, the major that is most closely linked to speech therapy. She found that its career options and students' pursuits go much further, as she explains in this article.
Religious Studies: Yasmeen Faris on the Course that Changed Her Life
"Jesus's words and deeds made him one of the most impactful historical figures in the world," writes student Yasmeen Faris, in a personal reflection on the intersection between her secular studies and her own faith.
In this piece, Faris talks about how a course in the Religious Studies department at UCSB changed her outlook on Jesus Christ, expanding her understanding of his impact on her personal life and religion and the effect that he had on the history of the world.
Student Spotlight, Cool Courses
Hunter Johnsen: Creative Freedom in Crew Production
Student film director Hunter Johnsen discusses his passion for film and his involvement in the Film and Media Studies Crew Production class. His movie called "Obsolete," a project for this course, is set to premiere March 22 at the Pollock Theater.
A little curiosity about a Music course in UCSB's College of Creative Studies leads Phillip Mitchell to reunite with a classmate from his past. In this piece, Mitchell explores this long-lost connection, what has changed about it, and what significance of his old friend's passions.
Cool Courses, Student Spotlight
Student Spotlight: An Art Director On Digital Humanities
Word Magazine explores life in Isla Vista, the neighborhood next to campus. As current art director of the magazine, Alaska Yokota is one of a team of students who writes for the magazine and designs its layout. In a recent interview, Yokota discussed her experience with Word Magazine and her views on the future of digital humanities.
COOL COURSES: Independent Music in America
"I grew up listening to independent music," writes third-year UCSB English major Angie Garcia. "But until recently, I had never questioned how and when music should be categorized as indie. Then, an intriguing question popped out at me from a UC Santa Barbara music course description: 'What does it mean for music to be independent?' The class was called Independent Music in America and I immediately knew I had to sign up for it."
The course takes a historical look at the underground music from the 1970s to the present in the United States. In seminar style, the class is led by David Novak from the Ethnomusicology Program and specifically explores the punk movement that began with bands such as Minor Threat, Black Flag, and Beat Happening and the genres that expanded out it.
COOL COURSES: Students Speak Out
In this edition of the Cool Courses series, we asked students of a variety of majors, such as Film and Media Studies, Art, and English, within the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts to describe their most memorable class experiences.
COOL COURSES: Jon Nathan
Jon Nathan is the director of the UCSB jazz and percussion ensembles and has taught jazz performance for over 20 years. He has performed in a variety of music groups and collaborations, from concerts to musical theater and wants to see more students joining his ensembles. Becoming a member of the jazz ensemble provides opportunities for people with a range of musical abilities -- and students can join regardless of major. These ensembles perform both on-campus and off-campus in Isla Vista.
The Excursion Club: The mountains are calling and we must go
When I hear the term "ice breaker" I picture the Titanic's engines at max capacity, steam escaping profusely from gigantic cylinders, a ship aiming right at me full speed ahead...