Tuesday Afternoon Sports – Husker Football Practice Comments, Nebraska Football Gets Running Back Commitment, World Series Game Three Preview, Monday Sports Recap

HUSKER FOOTBALL PRACTICE COMMENTS – MICKEY JOSEPH:

JOSEPH – NEBRASKA IS GETTING BACK TO WORK:

Interim Head Coach Mickey Joseph opened up his Tuesday press conference saying his team really felt the impact of the loss to Illinois last Saturday…

Nebraska is currently listed as eleven point underdogs at home to Minnesota.

JOSEPH – CASEY DAY-TO-DAY MOVING FORWARD:

Interim Head Coach for Nebraska Football Mickey Joseph gave an update on quarterback Casey Thompson’s injury after the Texas transfer missed 2 ½ quarters of action against Illinois…

Joseph later stated he has been rotating Chubba Purdy and Logan Smothers at quarterback this week in practice and will continue to work both backups throughout his preparation.

JOSEPH – CHUBBA NEEDS TIME; MUST SETTLE INTO QUARTERBACK:

Mickey Joseph, interim Head Coach for Nebraska Football, spoke to the media on Tuesday and was asked about what backup quarterback Chubba Purdy can do to improve his stock…

Purdy played the entire second half against Illinois, completing 3 of 8 passes for 15 yards. 

JOSEPH – OFFENSE WILL CONTINUE SIMILAR PREP FOR EITHER QUARTERBACK:

Interim Head Coach for Nebraska Football Mickey Joseph stated that a two quarterback system could be in place for the Huskers as they take on Minnesota on Saturday. Joseph was asked if that affects the rest of the offense…

Nebraska has played all three quarterbacks in different instances throughout the season. 

JOSEPH – DIFFERENCES IN BACKUP QUARTERBACKS:

Mickey Joseph, interim Head coach for Nebraska, described some of the differences in his backup quarterback options heading into the matchup with Minnesota on Saturday…

Purdy arrived this off-season from Florida State via the transfer portal, while Smothers has been a part of the Huskers since his recruitment out of the state of Alabama. 

JOSEPH – MINNESOTA RUNNING BACK WILL BE A TOUGH OUT:

Interim Head Coach for Nebraska Football Mickey Joseph spoke on the Huskers opponent for Saturday and how Minnesota’s running back Mo Ibrahim brings some similarities to Illinois…

The Huskers defense aims to stop the Golden Gopher running attack on Saturday with kickoff set for 11 AM.

HUSKERS RECEIVE COMMITMENT FROM LOUISIANA BACK:

New Orleans running back Arnold Barnes announced his commitment to Nebraska on Tuesday afternoon, choosing to play for the Huskers over Iowa among others.

The 5-foot-9, 224-pound Barnes took his official to Lincoln the first weekend of October and became commit No. 15 for head coach Mickey Joseph and his staff in the 2023 cycle.

The Top247 ranks Barnes as the No. 77 running back in the class. He was at one point a verbal to Tulane.

WORLD SERIES GAME 3 MOVED TO TONIGHT DUE TO PHILADELPHIA RAIN:

The Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies will have to wait one more day to resume the 2022 World Series.

Game 3 of the Fall Classic was postponed due to rain, MLB announced Monday evening just about an hour before first pitch. It will instead be played tonight, and the rest of the series will be pushed back one day. There will still be an off-day for travel between Thursday’s Game 5 and, if necessary, Friday’s Game 6. The series is currently tied at one game a piece.

Monday’s postponement is the first in the Fall Classic since Game 6 of the 2011 World Series. 

When the World Series finally resumes Tuesday, Phillies left-hander Ranger Suárez (10-7, 3.65 ERA) and Lance McCullers Jr. (4-2, 2.27 ERA) are scheduled to be the starting pitchers.

UNK WRESTLING PICKED #1 TO START 2022-23 SEASON:

The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) has announced its Wrestling Preseason Coaches Poll for the 2022-2023 season. Nebraska Kearney tabbed the top spot with 15 points and three first-place votes. 

Nebraska Kearney, the defending NCAA Division II National Champions, was selected to finish first in the MIAA for the second consecutive season. Central Oklahoma, the defending national runners-up, came in second with 14 points and two first-place selections. UCO won the 2022 MIAA title by going 4-0 in league duals including a 18-17 decision over UNK

Head coach Dalton Jensen must replace five starters, including one national champion and two national runners up, off last year’s squad but still has five returning national qualifiers and four returning All-Americans. The returning All-Americans are Omaha junior Billy Higgins (184 lbs.), Kansas redshirt senior Austin Eldredge (174 lbs.), Kearney redshirt senior Lee Herrington (285 lbs.), Kearney redshirt junior Nick James (141 lbs.) and South Carolina redshirt senior Hayden Prince (197 lbs.).

UNK is at home Saturday (Nov. 5) at 11 a.m. for its annual Blue/White intrasquad dual. The event is free and open to the public and will be held in the Health & Sports Center. 

FORMER HUSKER ASSISTANT NEW INTERIM COACH AT NORTH ALABAMA:

University of North Alabama Director of Athletics Dr. Josh Looney has announced a change in the leadership of the Lions’ football program. 

Ryan Held, UNA’s associate head coach and offensive coordinator, will serve as interim head coach for the final three games of the 2022 season.

Held, a coaching veteran with 12 years of head coaching experience on the collegiate level, joined the UNA coaching staff in December of 2021, after serving as running backs coach at the University of Nebraska. He has been a collegiate coach since 1997, following his playing career at Nebraska where he helped the Cornhuskers win two national titles.

AUBURN OPENS HEAD COACHING POSITION, REMOVES HARSIN:

Auburn fired coach Bryan Harsin on Monday after less than two seasons, ending a rocky tenure in which the proud program struggled to compete in the SEC.

Harsin went 9-12 overall and 3-5 this year. Auburn has lost four straight games while struggling against Power Five opponents, including a 41-27 loss to Arkansas on Oct. 29 that proved the final straw. Auburn will owe Harsin 70% of his remaining contract — more than $15 million — and half of that must be paid within 30 days.

The school named running backs coach Carnell “Cadillac” Williams as interim coach. The Tigers play at Mississippi State on Saturday.

BEARS AGREE TO MOVE LINEBACKER SMITH TO BALTIMORE:

The Chicago Bears agreed to trade linebacker Roquan Smith to the Baltimore Ravens on Monday.

Smith, the NFL leader in tackles so far this season, joins a Baltimore team that has won two in a row and sits atop the AFC North.

It’s the Bears’ second major trade involving a defensive player in less than a week. They dealt three-time Pro Bowl defensive end Robert Quinn to Philadelphia for a 2023 fourth-round pick on Wednesday.

The 25-year-old Smith has 83 tackles and 2 1/2 sacks this season. A first-round pick by Chicago in 2018, he has 16 1/2 sacks in his career.

NFL SCORES/SCHEDULES:

MONDAY:

Cleveland Browns 32-13 Cincinnati Bengals

Local Results & Schedules:

THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:

TUESDAY:

• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Sports Nightly (6 PM – 8 PM)

WEDNESDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • Volleyball: STATE TOURNAMENT, Lincoln @ Bob Devaney Center
    • #6 Kearney Catholic v. #3 Grand Island Central Catholic – 3 PM
• UNK:
  • N/a
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Sports Nightly (6 PM – 7:30 PM)
  • Nebraska Volleyball v. Indiana (7:30 PM – 10:45 PM)

THURSDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • Unified Bowling: @ Grand Island
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • Volleyball: v. Pittsburg State @ Health & Sports Center – 6 PM
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Sports Nightly (6 PM – 8 PM)

FRIDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • Volleyball: STATE TOURNAMENT, Lincoln @ Bob Devaney Center
    • TBA
• UNK:
  • Women’s Swimming: @ UNK Invite @ Kearney High School – 5 PM
  • Volleyball: v. Missouri Southern @ Health & Sports Center – 6 PM
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Sports Nightly (6 PM – 8 PM)

SATURDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • Volleyball: STATE TOURNAMENT, Lincoln @ Bob Devaney Center
    • TBA
• UNK:
  • Women’s Swimming: @ UNK Invite @ Kearney High School – 9 AM
  • M/W Cross Country: @ Joplin, MO – 10 AM
  • Wrestling: v. Intrasquad Dual – 11 AM
  • Women’s Basketball: v. Southern Nazarene @ Kansas City, MO – 11:30 AM
  • Football: v. Central Oklahoma @ Ron & Carol Cope Stadium – 12 PM
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Nebraska Football v. Minnesota (7 AM – 6 PM; KGFW)
  • Nebraska Football v. Illinois (10:15 AM – 4:15 PM; KQKY)

SUNDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • Women’s Basketball: v. West Texas A&M @ Kansas City, MO – 11:30 AM
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Nebraska Volleyball @ Northwestern (12 PM – 3:45 PM)