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Published

3 years ago

on

Sep 9, 2022

  • Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — John Hunter Nemechek chased down Carson Hocevar over the final laps at Kansas Speedway on Friday night, passing him as the white flag flew and Hocevar ran out of fuel in his last-gasp chance at advancing in the NASCAR Truck Series playoffs.

Hocevar coasted across in second place but needed the win to advance. Nemechek’s late pass allowed Christian Eckes to sneak into the final playoff spot, while three-time series champion Matt Crafton also was eliminated.

Ryan Preece finished third while playoff contenders Zane Smith and Grant Enfinger rounded out the top five.

Hocevar’s team gambled with strategy by going to the pits early in the final stage, putting him in front with about 30 laps left but on tires that were much older than just about everyone else. And when Nemechek got fresh tires, the No. 4 quickly began tracking Hocevar down, biting away about a second per lap during a long green-flag run to the finish.

Chandler Smith and Enfinger had already clinched their places in the next round of the playoffs with wins earlier in the round, leaving six spots up in the air as the series made its second trip of the year to Kansas.

Nemechek, who was sixth in the spring race, was nearly unbeatable from the moment he unloaded, setting the pace during practice and earning the pole. He then cruised through the opening 30-lap stage to earn enough points to clinch his spot in the next round, then held off Ty Majeski again to win Stage 2 under caution.

Zane Smith also clinched his playoff spot after the first stage while Majeski wrapped up his after the second.

Everybody on pit road was left doing some tricky math when the race resumed with 65 laps to go: Ben Rhodes could clinch a spot by finishing 10th or better, Stewart Friesen could do the same with a top-20, and Eckes, Hocevar and Crafton found themselves in what amounted to a three-way fight for the final berth in the round of eight.

Eckes wound up getting the final playoff spot by three points over Hocevar and 10 ahead of Crafton.

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Sources: ASU’s top WR Tyson expected back

Published

3 hours ago

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November 22, 2025

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Sources: ASU's top WR Tyson expected back
Nov 22, 2025, 02:48 PM ET

Jordyn Tyson, Arizona State‘s leading receiver, is expected to return from a hamstring injury and play Saturday when the Sun Devils visit the Colorado Buffaloes, sources tell ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Tyson is expected to participate in pregame warmups, and barring any setbacks, he’ll be cleared to play against his former team.

Tyson suffered the injury Oct. 18 in Arizona State’s upset win over then-undefeated Texas Tech. He finished that game with 10 catches for 105 yards and a touchdown but has not played since.

Despite missing the past three games, Tyson leads the Sun Devils in catches (57) and yards receiving (628), and he is the team leader with eight touchdowns.

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UAB: Player arrested after stabbing 2 teammates

Published

3 hours ago

on

November 22, 2025

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UAB: Player arrested after stabbing 2 teammates

  • Jake TrotterNov 22, 2025, 02:36 PM ET

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      Jake Trotter is a senior writer at ESPN. Trotter covers college football. He also writes about other college sports, including men’s and women’s basketball. Trotter resides in the Cleveland area with his wife and three kids and is a fan of his hometown Oklahoma City Thunder. He covered the Cleveland Browns and NFL for ESPN for five years, moving back to college football in 2024. Previously, Trotter worked for the Middletown (Ohio) Journal, Austin American-Statesman and Oklahoman newspapers before joining ESPN in 2011. He’s a 2004 graduate of Washington and Lee University. You can reach out to Trotter at jake.trotter@espn.com and follow him on X at @Jake_Trotter.

A UAB football player stabbed two of his teammates Saturday morning at the football facility ahead of the Blazers’ home game against USF, a university spokesperson told ESPN.

The suspect has been arrested, and both injured players are in stable condition after being taken to UAB hospital. The school has not released the names of any of the players involved.

UAB’s game against USF began as scheduled at 3 p.m. ET.

A UAB official said an investigation is ongoing.

“UAB’s top priority remains the safety and well-being of all of our students,” the school said in a statement.

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Sources: Ohio St. to be without WRs Tate, Smith

Published

8 hours ago

on

November 22, 2025

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Sources: Ohio St. to be without WRs Tate, Smith

  • ESPN News Services

Nov 22, 2025, 09:32 AM ET

Ohio State wide receivers Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith are not expected to play against Rutgers on Saturday due to lower-body injuries, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Tate will miss his third straight game. Smith played in last week’s win over UCLA but missed the second half after being seen limping before halftime. Both are considered day-to-day, sources said, ahead of a potential return next week against rival Michigan.

On Tuesday, coach Ryan Day would not rule out either wide receiver but also did not want to go into specifics on their availability.

“Our policy is we don’t discuss specifics on injuries, and once you start going down a little bit here, a little bit there, you can create a problem,” Day said. “So for a number of reasons, we don’t discuss those things.”

Smith leads the Big Ten and ranks third in the nation with 10 touchdown catches while ranking third in the conference in receiving yards per game (90.2) and second in catches per game (6.9). Tate is fifth in the Big Ten with 88.9 receiving yards per game.

Brandon Inniss started in place of Tate against UCLA and led No. 1 Ohio State with six catches for 30 yards during a 48-10 win.

The 5-5 Scarlet Knights are looking to beat Ohio State for the first time in their 11th try since joining the Big Ten in 2014.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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