Nevada
Nevada makes strong adjustments to push past Troy on the road 28-26
It felt like Deja Vu in the final seconds of Nevada’s 28-26 win over Troy. The Trojans marched downfield to score a TD with 21 seconds left, bringing the game to a 28-26 score. Troy lined up for the 2-point conversion, but pressure led QB Goose Crowder to escape to pocket and end in an incompletion.
Unlike Week 0, Nevada was able to prevent the complete late-quarter comeback. It was an uphill battle from the beginning for Nevada, but the Pack started a 28-3 run which led head coach Jeff Choate to his first victory with Nevada.
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
3:59- Damien Taylor 25-yard TD run (Scott Taylor Renfroe PAT)
Nevada 0 – Troy 7
2nd Quarter
3:08- Gerald Green 16-yard TD run (Scott Taylor Renfroe PAT)
Nevada 0 – Troy 14
0:25- Jace Henry 17-yard TD pass from Brendon Lewis (Matthew Killam PAT no good)
Nevada 7 – Troy 14
3rd Quarter
13:55- Patrick Garwo III 1-yard TD run (Jaden Smith 2 pt conversion good)
Nevada 14 – Troy 14
7:24- Scott Taylor Renfroe 30-yard FG
Nevada 14 – Troy 17
3:20- Patrick Garwo III 22-yard TD run (Matthew Killam PAT)
Nevada 21 – Troy 17
4th Quarter
12:56- Marcus Bellon 7-yard TD run (Matthew Killam PAT)
Nevada 28 – Troy 17
6:12- Scott Taylor Renfroe 19-yard FG
Nevada 28 – Troy 20
0:21- Devonte Ross 16-yard TD pass from Goose Crowder (Crowder 2pt conversion attempt no good)
Nevada 28 – Troy 26
Final: Nevada 28, Troy 26
Offense
It was another 20+ point performance by Nevada, but it took a while for the offense to wake up. Nevada’s first three drives of the game resulted in no points. On its fourth drive, kicker Matthew Killam lined up for a 48-yard field goal. Killam missed the attempt, keeping scoreless through the second quarter.
The Wolf Pack cracked the scoreboard with 3:08 left in the first half. Brendon Lewis threw a 17-yard pass to tight end Jace Henry to cut the lead to 14-6. Killam once again missed a kick, this time it being the PAT.
Despite the missed extra point, that touchdown began a 28-3 run for Nevada’s offense. Adjustments were made at the half, and the offense came out swinging.
Nevada received the ball in the second half, and it only took three plays for Nevada to find the endzone in its opening drive of the second half. It began with running back Savion Red breaking through for a 69-yard rush, taking Nevada inside the red zone at the 6-yard line.
Nevada’s rushing attack couldn’t get it going against SMU, but Red had no issue running around Troy. He finished with 135 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 11 rush attempts.
Nevada ran two more times, leading to running back Patrick Garwo III collecting a 1-yard TD run to tie it at 14.
The Pack’s next two drives resulted in touchdowns, once on the ground and second from the air. Garwo III picked up his second rushing touchdown, followed by a 7-yard TD pass to Nevada receiver Marcus Bellon.
Lewis had himself another solid game, throwing 17-20 with 158 passing yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 34 yards on eight attempts. Lewis has now surpassed his TD total from last year, only two games into the 2024 season.
It took a while, but there was more explosiveness from Nevada’s offense. The Pack collected 17 first downs and converted seven of 12 third-down attempts. The rushing game is Nevada’s MVP, as the team collected 214 total rushing yards compared to Troy’s 193.
Nevada was once again perfect from the red zone, going 4-4.
Defense
Nevada’s defense was the highlight in the loss to SMU. This time, it took some adjustments for Nevada’s defense to shut it down. It held Troy’s first offensive possession to a three-and-out.
Troy put up two touchdowns before the first half expired. It was an early back-and-forth into the third quarter until Nevada’s offense was able to pull away. Nevada took a 28-17 lead to the 13-minute mark of the fourth quarter.
A Troy field goal made it an eight-point game with six minutes left. Crowder and the Trojans offense got the ball back with 2:17 left to go, leading to a huge march downfield to score a late TD with 21 seconds left.
Similar to Week 0, Nevada’s defense slipped up within the final minutes. Crowder and Troy’s offense lined up for the potential tying 2-point conversion, but this time, Nevada’s defense was able to close it off.
Crowder snapped the ball for the 2-point attempt, but edge rusher Kristopher Ross quickly pressured the Trojan’s QB, leading to the ball being stripped. Troy recovered the ball, but an incompletion led to the tight 28-26 lead being held.
Crowder went 20-30 with 201 passing yards and a TD pass. Troy running back Damien Taylor led Troy’s rushing attack, rushing for 103 yards on 11 attempts and a touchdown run.
Nevada linebacker Drue Watts led the team with 12 tackles, and Ross/Henry Ikahihifo combined for a sack in the game.
What’s Next
Nevada will take its 1-1 record back home to face another Sun Belt team in Georgia Southern. The Eagles fought hard against Boise State in their Week 1 matchup, losing 56-45 to the Broncos.
It’ll be another tough matchup for Nevada, especially after seeing Georgia Southern put up 45. This Wolf Pack team under Choate has shown plenty of fight in its first two games, so it should lead to an exciting and hopefully winning game against Georgia Southern.
Reno plan targets vacant downtown stores
Reno launches pilot program to lease vacant downtown storefronts and sublet to small businesses. Program is expected to launch in fall 2026.
There’s a debate over on Reddit right now about how dogs should be kept on leashes around town, on trails, or anywhere in public that’s not a dog park.
I should clarify: When I say “debate,” I mean that several users have created posts about how dogs should be kept on leashes, and almost every response is 100% in agreement.
Go ahead and look at the posts; nobody’s putting together a spirited defense of letting their pets run around licking strangers and pooping on nature. With that kind of general consensus, I’d want to say that leashing our dogs is one of Reno-Sparks’ “unwritten rules.”
Except for two things: One, this rule is very much written (see Chapter 95.220 of the Washoe County Code: “Owners must have animals leashed no more than 6 feet in length and under immediate control at all times.”)
And also: The phrase “unwritten rules” implies that everyone goes along with it without even thinking. But we’ve all interacted with dog owners on local trails, letting their giant furballs knock over toddlers or chase goslings through the wetlands.
“Aw, he’s just a big puppy!” they’ll say, followed up with a halfhearted, “Down, Barnaby.”
Clearly, leashing dogs is not an unwritten rule because it’s constantly being broken. A true unwritten rule for hiking trails would be something that rarely ever gets broken, like “wear pants at all times.” Really, the leash thing is more like a wish list for society, alongside such things as:
- Don’t mow before 8 a.m.
- Signal your turns and lane changes.
- Merge when you see a lane closure ahead, not at the last minute. (Yes, make all your arguments about how last-minute merging saves space. It all amounts to “I’m going to cut ahead of everyone else and pretend that it’s for the greater good.”)
- If you’re driving a large vehicle, park at the far end of the lot.
- Several more things about driving, actually.
But let’s move on. I’ve been wracking my brain to think of actual “unwritten rules” for Northern Nevada that outsiders might not grasp right away, and I didn’t come up with many. But here goes:
It’s not rude to keep your favorite spots a secret, even from friends and family: Got a favorite local park or Lake Tahoe beach? You’re not even required to tell your own mother about it, because word will get out and everything will be ruined. We value our personal space, and the community is too small to keep anything under wraps.
Side note: You can’t do this with businesses, because you need your burrito spot to stay crowded and busy. If nobody goes to your secret hot springs, it’s not going to suddenly go out of business and turn into a vape shop.
On Tahoe beaches, you can claim one beach towel’s worth of space per person, and that’s it: If word gets out about your favorite beach, you’ll have to start your day battling for a parking spot (bonus unwritten rule: You can’t reserve a parking spot by standing in it.)
The slightly less annoying ― but still difficult ― territory battle will be on the beach itself. Everyone but you will have a pop-up tent, several coolers and some sort of sound system. But societal convention dictates that any group can only claim the square footage of one beach towel per person, and leave ample space to walk between their beach site and the next one over.
Twenty minutes is a long drive in Reno-Sparks, but four hours is completely reasonable if you’re heading out of town: Recent transplants from more urban places like the Bay Area or Las Vegas will drive for 45 minutes to get to the one Target they like best. Around here, that sounds like hell.
On the other hand, driving for several hours to go see ichthyosaur skeletons or attend a Basque festival or go to a Giants game is completely reasonable. I can’t explain why this is. It might have something to do with hatred of stoplights.
Settle in a bit before complaining about outsiders: Yes, we know you just got here, and you want to prove your worthiness by complaining about Californians or Southern Nevadans, because that’s our local sport.
On average, we’re not nearly as closed off as people say; only about one-quarter of Nevadans were actually born here, so most of us know what it’s like to be the new kid. But at least wait until you’ve unloaded the last box from your U-Haul before you start griping about how new arrivals are pricing everyone out.
You, on the other hand ― you, the person reading this article right now! ― know a lot more unwritten rules for Northern Nevada. Either that, or you have ideas on what should be unwritten rules. Send them my way at bmcginness@rgj.com, and we’ll debate all of them next week.
Guys, we’re bringing back Shopko
What lost places in Reno-Sparks should we bring back? That’s the question I posed last week; here’s what you said:
Let’s start with department store ShopKo, which had the highly underrated slogan, “Say hello to a good buy.” We had three ― on South Virginia, Mae Anne and Oddie Boulevard. Lauri Ferguson wrote in to compliment the selection, and noted “their products lasted too.” Sadly, the entire chain disappeared nearly a decade ago, so bringing them back might be the heaviest lift ever.
“Bring back Famous Murphy’s,” wrote E. Pollard. “Can’t believe it ever closed and was then bulldozed and has been an empty dirt lot for more than 25 years.”
For the record, it’s actually been 18 years since it closed and 11 years since it was bulldozed, but the point stands.
“The purpose of the demolition is to make way for a new development being planned at this site,” developers told the RGJ in 2015. Anyway, it’s still an empty lot.
And finally, I had lamented over the lost Century Theaters dome on South Virginia, but Kurt Kinder mentioned one even more venerable, but equally lost: the Granada Theater, which originally opened in 1916, burned down in 1953 and reopened in 1954. It was torn down in 1997 and is now the site of the Palladio.
Brett McGinness is the engagement editor for the Reno Gazette Journal. He’s also the writer of The Reno Memo — a free newsletter about news in the Biggest Little City.
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LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Nevada veterans who say they were exposed to radiation and toxic chemicals at the Nevada Test and Training Range are one step closer to getting recognized and help.
Senator Jacky Rosen and Congresswoman Susie Lee are introducing an updated “Forgotten Veterans Act,” now renamed the Sergeant Dave Crete Forgotten Veterans Act, to force the Defense Department to document contamination on the range and identify every service member who served there.
Veterans say years of classified work have kept them from proving their exposure and getting VA benefits, even as they deal with cancer and other serious illnesses.
Under the bill, the Pentagon would have to formally list the range as contaminated, unmask where veterans served the VA, and clear up a path for them and their families to qualify for care and compensation.
Copyright 2026 KVVU. All rights reserved.
The City of Reno and the Reno Police Department are mourning the loss of Detective Thomas Lopey, who served the department for nearly 13 years and was known for his dedication, leadership, and mentorship.
Lopey also served four years in the U.S. Army as an infantry mortarman, deploying in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and later continued his service in the National Guard as a combat engineer.
He began his law enforcement career with the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office before joining RPD, where he worked in patrol, the Regional Gang Unit, SWAT, and later became a detective. He also served as president of the Reno Police Protective Association for three years.
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City and police leaders praised Lopey as a committed public servant whose work strengthened both the department and the community. He is survived by his wife and daughter.
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