Nevada fought back to tie Saturday night’s series finale at San Diego State twice in the final minute, but the Wolf Pack was done in by Trey Pulliam’s buzzer beater in a 69-67 defeat.
Thirteen Nevada football players were named to the All-Mountain West team by Phil Steele’s College Football Magazine this week. Nevada landed four players on the first team in quarterback Carson Strong, wide receiver Romeo Doubs, tight end Cole Turner and kicker Brandon Talton.
The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA), the non-profit governing body of high school athletics in the Silver State, and Snap Mask Sports (SMS) have jointly announced a partnership. Snap Mask Sports is the leader in custom face masks that can be worn safely during practice and competition for all sports. The NIAA joins the state associations of Louisiana, New Mexico, Washington, and Oregon as the latest to partner with Snap Mask Sports.
High school basketball and wrestling teams began the small steps to returning to play this winter this past week, as non-contact conditioning was allowed to take place. Even though that part of the comeback has started, it is not known if there will be a basketball or wrestling season this school year.
There were so many in 2020. Sports in 2020 was an unending state of mourning. It was as if every week, sometimes days, another luminary fell, bringing a cascade of condolence and remembrance. It began New Year’s Day, a harbinger of what the year held, with the deaths of David Stern and Don Larsen. Not long after came a seismic jolt, the helicopter crash of Kobe Bryant in the fog-shrouded California hills that reverberated across sports and across continents.
Welcome to the postseason, Cleveland. Cleveland? The Browns ended their string of non-playoff seasons on Sunday with a tighter-than-expected 24-22 victory over archrival Pittsburgh, which sat many of its starters. Cleveland returned to the NFL in 1999, made the playoffs in 2002, and then, zilch. Until now. “It’s a moment I’ll never forget,” quarterback Baker Mayfield said. “But we’re not satisfied. We expected to be here.” The NFL’s two longest playoff droughts have been snapped with the advancements of Tampa Bay and Cleveland, both 11-5. The Buccaneers, who downed Atlanta 44-27, already were in and secured the fifth seed in the NFC, setting up a visit to the sub-.500 NFC East winner, Washington (7-9). Tampa Bay’s last trip to the postseason was 2007.
From the rested in Kansas City and Pittsburgh to the relieved in Cleveland, Chicago and Los Angeles, the field for the Super Bowl chase is set. There are some powerhouses and some pretenders — and a team with a losing record. The reigning Super Bowl champion Chiefs (14-2) and Green Bay (13-3) earned each conference’s lone bye in the expanded playoffs. And no, adding a third wild-card entrant is not why a 7-9 club will be playing next weekend. Washington “earned” that spot by winning the abysmal NFC East that displayed in the finale of the regular season why NFC Least has been so appropriate a moniker. So while New York Giants fans scream that Eagles coach Doug Pederson didn’t truly play to beat Washington on Sunday night, it should emphasized that the Giants went 6-10, a record more in line with relegation than reward.
When Ohio State upset Alabama in the semifinals of the first College Football Playoff on the way to the Buckeyes’ last national title, it seemed like the start of budding postseason rivalry between the two traditional powers. Instead, Clemson became the Crimson Tide’s nemesis and the biggest challenger to Nick Saban’s Alabama dynasty over the next five years. Six years later, Ohio State and Alabama meet again, the Tide still rolling and the Buckeyes again looking for an upset. After the SEC champion Crimson Tide rolled past Notre Dame 31-14 in a Rose Bowl played deep in the heart of Texas, the No. 3 Buckeyes of the Big Ten beat Clemson 49-28 in the other CFP semifinal at the Sugar Bowl on Friday night behind Justin Fields’ six touchdown passes. How Fields is feeling will be the main story line heading into the title game. He took a hard short to the side in the second quarter against Clemson, but managed to play through the pain.
Jimmy Garoppolo isn’t expected to take another snap this season for the San Francisco 49ers as a pair of high ankle sprains derailed most of his campaign. Despite the lost season, the 49ers remain publicly committed to Garoppolo as their quarterback for 2021, even tough he has remained healthy only once in three seasons as starter.
The winter sports season was scheduled to begin with practices and tryouts allowed to begin on Jan. 2, and contests permitted as early as Jan. 14. Indeed, regular practices and try-outs for the winter season sports of skiing and flag football were permitted to begin this Saturday with competitions to follow as scheduled. These practices and competitions are to be in compliance with the guidance issued for these sports. However, per Emergency Directive 034 issued by Governor Sisolak on Oct. 2, 2020, neither unmodified practice nor competition in the winter season sports of basketball or wrestling are permitted.
Sarah Fuller was a goalie on the Vanderbilt women’s soccer team when a chance at history tapped her on the shoulder. The Commodores football team was down a kicker because of COVID-19 issues, so coach Derek Mason reached out to soccer coach Darren Ambrose to see if Fuller might be a good option. Turns out she was.
Frustration boiled over for star J.J. Watt after the Houston Texans dropped their fourth straight game on Sunday. Samaje Perine ran for two touchdowns, including a 3-yard score late, to give the Cincinnati Bengals their first road win in more than two years with a 37-31 victory over the Texans.
The last time Alabama and Notre Dame played each other, it was a BCS championship blowout won by the Crimson Tide. The last time Clemson and Ohio State faced off — just last year — they played one of the best semifinals in the College Football Playoff’s 6-year history.
Auburn hired Boise State’s Bryan Harsin as its head coach on Tuesday, luring him away from his alma mater and into the powerful Southeastern Conference. The 44-year-old Harsin is 69-19 with three Mountain West titles in seven seasons at Boise State, but winning in the SEC affords greater chances for playoff berths and national titles.
Nevada coach Jay Norvell had plenty of reasons to be emotional as he challenged his team before it took the field in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. And his players responded. Carson Strong threw for 271 yards and five touchdowns, Devonte Lee and Toa Taua each rushed for over 100 yards, and Nevada’s defense recorded eight sacks for the first time in 17 years as the Wolf Pack beat Tulane 38-27 on Tuesday.