Two members of the TCU team that was routed in the College Football Playoff title game at SoFi Stadium scored touchdowns at the stadium Saturday evening helping the Los Angeles Chargers to a 34-17 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in the preseason opener for both teams.
Derius Davis returned a punt 81 yards nine minutes, 50 seconds before halftime for the Chargers’ first touchdown following 50- and 25-yard field goals by Cameron Dicker. Quentin Johnston caught an 8-yard pass from Easton Stick with 17 seconds left in the first half.
Elijah Dotson scored the Chargers’ other two touchdowns. On the first, the undrafted rookie from Northern Colorado took a handoff from Max Duggan, the Horned Frogs’ quarterback in their 65-7 loss to Georgia Jan. 9, and ran 37 yards around left end for the score with 14:01 to play.
Dotson scored on a similar play with 3:47 left for a 40-yard touchdown.
Dotson ran for a game-high 92 yards on six carries, all in the second half.
Stetson Bennett, who was selected as the MVP of the College Football Playoff title game for throwing four touchdown passes and running for two more scores, quarterbacked the Rams on all three of their scoring drives.
Bennett entered the game 9:50 before halftime and the Rams trailing 13-0, then led the team on a 16-play, 75-yard drive that consumed 8:02 and was culminated by an 11-yard pass to rookie receiver Puka Nacua. Bennett completed three of seven passes for 37 yards on the drive.
The drive was extended when Chargers’ second-year defensive back J.T. Woods slapped Bennett on the helmet after his pass fell incomplete on a third-and-goal play from the 4-yard line. The unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Woods gave the Rams an automatic first down.
The Rams’ next three possessions consisted of Bennett kneeling once to run out the clock at the end of the first half, the Rams being forced to punt after five plays and Tanner Brown, an undrafted rookie from Oklahoma State who also played for Saugus High and College of the Canyons, missing a 46-yard field goal attempt.
The Rams scored on both of their next two possessions.
Royce Freeman, a running back in his sixth season in the NFL who signed with the Rams July 30, one day after Sony Michel announced his retirement, ran three yards around right end for a touchdown with 11 seconds left in the third quarter.
Bennett completed three of five passes for 48 yards on the seven-play, 64-yard drive that took 2:37.
Brown kicked a 39-yard field goal with 11:13 to play.
The Rams were forced to punt after three and seven plays on their final two possessions.
Bennett, who the Rams chose in the fourth round of the NFL draft with the 128th overall selection, completed 17 of 29 passes for 191 yards and one touchdown for a passer rating of 89.9 on a scale of 0 to 158.3 based on completion percentage, yards per attempt, touchdowns per attempt, and interceptions per attempt.
Bennett was sacked three times for 36 yards in losses.
Brett Rypien started for the Rams, completing three of six passes for 36 yards for a 56.2 passer rating. He was sacked once for a 2-yard loss.
Rypien quarterbacked the Rams on their first three possessions which all ended in punts. The Rams had one first down on their first possession and none on their second or third.
Rypien is a five-year veteran who signed with the Rams on May 4 after playing in eight games for the Denver Broncos from 2020-22, including two starts, completing 80 of 130 passes for 778 yards and four touchdowns with eight interceptions.
He is a nephew of Mark Rypien, the MVP of the Washington Redskins’ 37-24 victory over the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVI in 1992.
Stick played the first half, completing 14 of 21 passes for 109 yards and one touchdown for a 95.1 passer rating. The Chargers punted once, had two field goals and one touchdown on their four first-half possessions.
Stick has thrown one pass for four yards in the regular season since the Chargers selected him in the fifth round of the 2019 draft, the 166th selection overall.
Duggan completed two of three passes for 19 yards and one touchdown for a 84.0 passer rating in five second-half possessions, where the Chargers punted twice, Dotson ran for two touchdowns and the game ended after Duggan kneeled twice.
The Chargers chose Duggan in the seventh round of the 2023 draft, the 239th overall selection.
The Chargers outgained the Rams, 319 yards to 263, but trailed 21-20 in first downs and 31:42-28:18 in time of possession in front of a crowd announced at 70,328.
The Rams converted four of 10 third downs, 40%, the Chargers four of 13, 30.8%.
The Chargers were penalized 11 times for 106 yards, the Rams nine times for 111 yards.
The Chargers kicked a field goal and scored a touchdown on their two red zone possessions. The Rams scored two touchdowns and kicked a field goal on their three red zone possessions.