Mackay Stadium looked and felt like the set of a cheap horror movie on Saturday. Dark gray, depressing skies overhead. Bone-chilling, damp cold blanketing the festivities. A half-empty stadium desperately in search of some hint of life. The Nevada Wolf Pack football team decked out in all-black uniforms, as if it was headed to a funeral. There was clearly a dreary black and white Night of the Living Dead feel to what took place at the Mackay Mausoleum last weekend. And in the end, surprise surprise, all of the zombies circled the farmhouse and predictably started eating and clawing at their victims. The Wolf Pack’s stunning 33-30 loss to the UNLV Rebels on Saturday afternoon was the equivalent of a football funeral. Turns out the Pack was dressed perfectly in its gloom and doom somber attire. All that was missing in the end was a hearse to drive the lifeless cannon away to its final resting spot.
The Miami Marlins will join Major League Baseball’s trend toward artificial turf by installing the surface at Marlins Park for 2020, and they’ll move in the fences for the second time in four years. CEO Derek Jeter said an artificial surface solves the challenge the Marlins have had growing grass in the retractable-roof stadium since it opened in 2012. They’ll install the same turf used by the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers. Five of the 30 teams in the majors now will have artificial turf. Arizona added it this year, joining Toronto and Tampa Bay. Texas’ new ballpark opens in 2020.
Jazz Johnson scored 20 points, making four 3-pointers, and Nevada demolished Santa Clara's five-game win streak 98-67 Wednesday night.
Six Nevada football players have earned Mountain West honors for the 2019 season, including defensive end Dom Peterson who was named first-team All-Mountain West. Freshman kicker Brandon Talton earned second-team honors, while senior defensive back Daniel Brown, sophomore wide receiver and punt returner Romeo Doubs, senior linebacker Gabriel Sewell and sophomore running back Toa Taua earned All-MW Honorable Mention accolades. Peterson was named first-team All-MW for the first time in his career after proving to be the Wolf Pack’s most dominant defensive lineman this season. The sophomore ranked second in the conference and led Nevada with 13.5 tackles for loss, 13 of them being solo. Peterson also ranks second in the MW with eight sacks, averaging .73 per game which is good for 28th in the nation.
John McKissick, whose 621 victories at South Carolina’s Summerville High made him the nation’s winningest football coach at any level, has died at age 93.
Alabama dropped to No. 9 in The Associated Press college football poll, snapping the Crimson Tide’s record streak of 68 appearances in the top five. The top four teams in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank were unchanged, with LSU at No. 1, followed by Ohio State, Clemson and Georgia. The Buckeyes gained on LSU after their blowout victory at Michigan, receiving 19 first-place votes. The Tigers had 40, down 10 from last week. Clemson received three first-place votes.
Baseball is already struggling to attract new fans — especially younger ones. So, what brilliant idea have the powers-that-be come up with to expand the popularity of the national pastime? Contraction, of course.
With the Thanksgiving weekend over, its time for the Lowry and McDermitt high school sports teams to get busy on the basketball floor and wrestling mat. The McDermitt boys basketball team will be in Reno this weekend for the Winter Invitation JV tournament. The Bulldogs will face a number of 4A JV teams. The McDermitt boys then head to the Comstock Classic in Virginia City from Dec. 12-14 to play Coleville, Calif., Virginia City and Sierra Lutheran. The McDermitt girls don’t start its season until the Comstock Classic and they will play Coleville, Calif. Virginia City, Round Mountain and Sierra Lutheran.
Freshman quarterback Kenyon Oblad hooked up with freshman receiver Steve Jenkins for a 19-yard touchdown in overtime and UNLV slipped past instate rival Nevada 33-30 on Saturday in the Battle for the Fremont Cannon. UNLV (4-8, 2-6 Mountain West Conference) jumped out to a 17-0 lead by the end of the first quarter on Daniel Gutierrez's 40-yard field goal, Charles Williams' 80-yard TD run and Oblad's 32-yard scoring strike to Mekhi Stevenson.
If this edition of 49ers-Ravens — filled with elite players, fourth-down gutsiness and top-notch defense on a rainy afternoon — was indeed a Super Bowl preview, everyone’s in for a treat in February. What Baltimore’s 20-17 victory over visiting San Francisco on Sunday showed was that Lamar Jackson is as good as it gets. In addition to being a, if not the, leading MVP candidate, he’s as fun to watch as anyone in the sport. It also highlighted that teams can still thrive by running, that San Francisco is loaded with playmakers on both side of the ball and that watching John Harbaugh and Kyle Shanahan match wits makes for good theater. And then there’s this: These clubs are both good and evenly matched. It took Justin Tucker’s 49-yard field goal on the final play to determine the outcome.
After a historic weekend that saw top-ranked Oregon and No. 2 Baylor lose on the same day, there are a few teams contending for No. 1 in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll. There’s no question the Ducks and Lady Bears are both really good despite losing Saturday. Oregon was the preseason favorite to win the NCAA championship with most of its squad back from last season’s Final Four run. The hype surrounding the Ducks reached new levels after they stunned the U.S. national team in an exhibition game. They still are title contenders, but they showed some vulnerability this weekend.
The Lowry High School boys basketball team began practice last week and traveled to Reno on Saturday for a scrimmage against Reno High School. The Buckaroos open their season on Dec. 6-7 at the Elko Invitational. Lowry makes its home debut on Dec. 10 versus Fernley.
The Lowry High School football team was rewarded with its second straight trip to the postseason with six players on the respective Northern 3A all-league teams. Anthony Peterson at running back and Preston Snow at linebacker were named to the first team. Peterson ran for 1,226 yards and scored 13 touchdowns this season for the Buckaroos. The junior also caught four touchdown passes this fall. Snow had three sacks and two fumble recoveries on defense this season.
The Lowry High School girls basketball team started its 2019-20 season with preseason practice this week, with the season-opening game set for Dec. 5 at the Spanish Springs Tournament. The Lady Bucks feature six sophomores, three juniors and three seniors this year.
The Lowry High School wrestling team has started its 2019-20 season and will travel to Las Vegas for the Green Valley Duals for its first tournament of the year on Dec. 6-7. The Buckaroos will host the annual Cody Louk Invitational at the Winnemucca Events Center on Dec. 20-21.