Text messages from press row . . .

UCLA and top-ranked USC both waded into a sea of red Saturday. . . .

UCLA got in over its head. . . .

Coach Karl Dorrell was right last week when he told reporters that altitude would not be a factor in the Bruins’ game against Utah at Salt Lake City. . . .

It was attitude, not altitude, that submerged the overconfident Bruins. . . .

Note to ABC, which televised the USC-Nebraska game: Was one of your producers under the mistaken impression that Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller was the only player whose parents were in attendance at Lincoln, Neb.? . . .

John David Booty, though victimized by several dropped passes in USC’s dominating performance, improved to 6-0 against ranked opponents. . . .

In games against Nebraska, Oregon, Cal, Notre Dame and Michigan last season, then Nebraska again Saturday, Booty completed 62.8% of his passes for an average of 251.3 yards per game and 15 total touchdowns, with only three interceptions. . . .

Actor Keanu Reeves, inundated with photo and autograph requests as he stood along the USC sideline Saturday night, probably felt like Neo fighting off a legion of rapidly multiplying Agent Smiths in “The Matrix Reloaded.” . . .

Reeves, wearing a trucker cap, was politely accommodating. . . .

How many Dodgers fans would admit that one year ago tonight, while Jeff Kent, J.D. Drew, Russell Martin, Marlon Anderson and Nomar Garciaparra produced an unforgettable moment in club history, they were in the parking lot? . . .

Kent, Drew, Martin and Anderson, of course, hit consecutive home runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, matching a major league record, before Garciaparra added a two-run shot in the 10th to defeat the San Diego Padres, 11-10. . . .

With the Pittsburgh Pirates assured of their 15th consecutive losing season, former Dodgers manager Jim Tracy might soon be looking for work. . . .

Is there an athlete less in need of $10 million than Tiger Woods? . . .

Maybe Scott Niedermayer, who will leave $13.5 million on the table if he decides to retire instead of returning to the Stanley Cup champion Ducks. . . .

And he’s still undecided? . . .

NFL ‘07: Pats, lies and videotape. . . .

With a standing ovation Sunday, adoring New England Patriots fans sent a clear message to Coach Bill Belichick: If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’. . . .

Terrell Owens used an old-school “camera” to mock Belichick. . . .

LenDale White scored his first NFL touchdown Sunday, leaving the second-year Tennessee Titans running back only 51 shy of the number he rushed for in three seasons at USC. . . .

Carson Palmer or no Carson Palmer, the Cincinnati Bengals are going nowhere if they continue giving up 35.5 points and 434 yards a game. . . .

Kurt Busch, who fell from fifth to 12th in the Chase for the Nextel Cup standings after finishing 25th in Sunday’s Chase opener at Loudon, N.H., should take heart in the knowledge that Jimmie Johnson finished 39th in the same race a year ago before rallying to win the Cup. . . .

Clint Bowyer’s victory stunned even hard-core NASCAR fans. . . .

Lindsay Davenport, who won a title Sunday after nearly a year’s absence from the WTA Tour, is an inspiration to working mothers everywhere. . . .

The WNBA championship won Sunday by the Phoenix Mercury over the Detroit Shock had to be encouraging news to fans of the Phoenix Suns. . . .

The Suns’ similarly aggressive, high-octane style has made them the NBA’s most entertaining team the last three seasons and made Steve Nash a two-time MVP, but it has yet to produce a title. . . .

For Lakers fans, Paul Westhead over Bill Laimbeer was sweet too. . . .

The last major U.S. sports team to capture a title with a winner-take-all victory on the road, as Diana Taurasi and the Mercury did Sunday, was the Pirates over the Baltimore Orioles in Game 7 of the 1979 World Series. . . .

“I’m O.J. Simpson,” the former Heisman Trophy winner told The Times before his arrest Sunday in Las Vegas on felony robbery charges. “How am I going to think that I’m going to rob somebody and get away with it?” . . .

Why not?

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jerome.crowe@latimes.com