SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- With the San Francisco defense loaded up to stop Todd Gurley and the Los Angeles Rams running game, quarterback Case Keenum was unable to capitalize.With top overall draft pick Jared Goff watching as an inactive third-stringer, Keenum frequently threw off-target, had two interceptions and was unable to get the Rams offense moving at all in a 28-0 season-opening loss to the 49ers on Monday night.This team deserved better play from its quarterback and I intend on doing that, Keenum said. This is not going to define me. Obviously it was a big stage and would have been a lot of fun to win on Monday night to start the season. Its a long season. This is not us, offensively. This is not us.It better not be if the Rams have any hope about making their return to Los Angeles a successful one on the field. L.A. football fans waited more than 21 years for a team of their own to cheer for and now must wait at least another week for the first score.The Rams were held to 185 yards, 10 first downs, and failed to make a single trip into the red zone in a rough opener.That wasnt what we expected, certainly not what I expected for the first game back in L.A., coach Jeff Fisher said. We have some work to do obviously. Im very disappointed in the outcome.Fisher did say he is sticking for Keenum for now, even though he went just 17 for 35 for 130 yards and two interceptions. He said he briefly considered putting in backup Sean Mannion late in the game but decided to ride with Keenum to end this game and for at least the near future.Thats even with Goff waiting in the wings after the Rams gave up a boatload of draft picks to get the top pick in April and select Goff as their future franchise quarterback.This doesnt change anything as far as the quarterbacks are concerned, Fisher said.Gurley was held to 47 yards on 17 carries and had no runs longer than 10 yards. The Rams couldnt back the Niners defense out of the box because Keenum was unable to threaten the Niners deep, relying mostly on short horizontal throws underneath the coverage.We have to stretch the field, said receiver Tavon Austin, who had 13 yards on four catches. We need to keep doing what we were doing. We were open a lot out there today. We just couldnt connect. Thats the main thing. Well connect on it.Even the Rams vaunted defensive front struggled at times with Carlos Hyde running for 88 yards and the Niners gaining 150 yards in all on the ground with three scores.That frustration boiled over when star defensive lineman Aaron Donald was ejected in the fourth quarter when he made contact with an official.The infraction came after Rams linebacker Alec Ogletree gave an extra push to Blaine Gabbert following a scramble. As players on both teams started jawing, Donald pushed a 49ers player and then made contact with an official. Donald was called for two personal fouls on the play and ejected.I just let emotions get the best of me, he said. Theres no excuses. I cant make mistakes like that and hurt my team.After preparing all offseason for this game, the Rams now have a short week to prepare for their real return to L.A. with their home opener next week against Seattle.Its embarrassing definitely for us to go out there and not put any points on the board, Gurley said. Its a long season. Were going to bounce back, shake this off and get ready for Sunday. Superstar NZ Outlet . Vaives lawyer Trevor Whiffen claims the former 50-goal man wasnt provided with a copy of the claim beforehand and that he would not have agreed to the allegations made against the NHL had he been asked to review its contents. Discount Adidas Shoes NZ . Isner, ranked No. 14, won his eighth career singles title and took the title in New Zealand for the second time after his victory in 2010. The match was similar to Isners quarterfinal victory over fifth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber which went to three sets, all tiebreaks and contained no breaks of serve. http://www.clearancesuperstarnz.com/ . Nathan MacKinnon, Jamie McGinn and Jan Hejda also scored for the Avalanche, who won despite being outshot 38-23. MacKinnons goal, also on the power play, came with just over a minute remaining. Wholesale Superstar NZ . The Canadian squad, skipped by Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, got on the board first with two in the second end, and followed that with two more apiece in the fourth and sixth ends. Adidas Sale NZ . The judges scored it 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 for Jones (19-1). It was the champions closest call. Despite the loss, it was a remarkable show by the confident Swedish challenger, who had the best of the early rounds and then hung on in the fourth and fifth. AUSTIN, Texas -- Charlie Strong has a masters degree in education, but like any head coach with 35 years on his resume, he is an expert in chemistry. What gnawed at Strong during his first two years of trying to excavate Texas from the muck of mediocrity is that he had to go downstairs to the locker room to find his players.It wasnt the flight of stairs that bothered him. Strong, 56, awakens at 4 a.m. every morning to jog. He has the physical presence of a man 20 years younger. What bothered Strong was the players lounge, or as he calls it, the game room, right down the hall from his office.The lounge looked as if it belonged in a business titans vacation home. The lounge was a man cave of dark wood, cushy chairs, high-top tables and two big flat-screens hovering above eye level. In the middle sat a pool table with burnt orange felt. What the game room didnt have was bodies. It looked emptier than Perry-Castaneda Library on Saturday night.You walked in there, and it was always clean, Strong said. Youre like, God almighty! We dont even use this thing.If the Longhorns return to glory in their third season under Strong, it will be because the 30-man freshman class, with players like guard Patrick Hudson, receiver Devin Duvernay, and especially quarterback Shane Buechele, have the maturity to match their athletic skill. It will be because the players who sat home during last bowl season came back in January with the desire never to do that again.But dont forget about the pingpong table.The transition from Mack Brown to Strong was rocky, which explains why only three seniors are expected to start this season. The difference in attitude between Strongs first two teams and this one is stark.I dont have to say, Hey, listen, tomorrow Id like for some of you guys to be over (here), doing something, Strong said. They show up now. Players used to come over to the football building, get their snack and go back to their dorm room. Strong, the defensive coordinator on Floridas two most recent national championship teams, knew a lack of chemistry when he saw it.So in June, Strong began serving lunch to the players in the lounge. He also had the lounge upgraded, adding a pingpong table, a second pool table, a foosball table, an air hockey table and even an old-school arcade game. The change came almost overnight.The place is always packed, Strong said. Even in the afternoons, theyre in there. Theyre always in there. Theyre always in there. Theyre sitting around, and its such a big deal. Theyre interacting! Theyre shooting pool. Theyre waiting on a pool table. Hey, Coach! Im the best pingpong player EVER! OK, whatever. You cant beat so-and-so.When August practice began, that so-and-so might have been Buechele, undefeated at pingpong since the table arrived in June. Junior defensive end Naashon Hughes has been seen taking down Strong at the billiards table.ddddddddddddThe players lounge used to be a spot where people would go and take naps. People would go and relax, senior safety Dylan Haines said. And now weve added all these different games and stuff. It just provides more areas for competition for the players, and it gets us all in there and all involved with talking to one another.You see a team coming together, which we had never had happen before, Strong said.When players want to be in the football building, it means they want to be around football. That sounds simplistic to the point of idiocy. Until its missing. When senior offensive tackle Kent Perkins began taking his bench-press test this summer, his teammates gathered. As Perkins continued past 20 reps, past 30 reps of the 225-pound bar, his test became a team event.He was going for rep 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, defensive line coach Brick Haley said, and you could just feel the energy in the room. Everybody is into their teammate and not into themselves.You see guys doing extra where theyve never done it before, Strong said. Or you ask a guy to do something, and its not like, Why do we have to do that, Coach? Weve never done it before. You dont hear that now. If you walk over (to the football facility), theyll be watching video, or theyll be outside on the field throwing, just doing things theyve never done before.On Friday, Strong sat down for a Big 12 Digital Network interview. In the middle of it, defensive end Breckyn Hager burst into the room. Strong, with bemusement, halted the interview.I beat Shane! Hager said. Im the first one to beat Shane!You beat him? How bad?21-18.I will be down there, Strong said, unable to control his laughter. Why are you sweating?Cause Ive been trying. This means a lot to me! Hager said.Exit Hager. That was breaking news, Strong said, still laughing.For Texas to contend for its first Big 12 championship in seven years, the Longhorns will need the fortune of good health. They will need freshmen and sophomores to beat juniors and seniors.Strong is too smart to promise anything. He trusts improvement. Improve, and success will follow. Already he has seen attitudes improve. The Longhorns held their first scrimmage on Saturday. It was also their first day of two-a-days. When they returned to the field Saturday night, they retained the enthusiasm they brought to the scrimmage.Sometimes you feel like theres been a change, Strong said. You feel it, and you see it. Thats what you see now with the team. You see it.You see the Longhorns chemistry formed in the heat and grind of sweaty August competition. And thats just in the air-conditioned comfort of the players lounge, the room a few steps down the hall from the head coachs office.Max Olson contributed to this story. ' ' '