Dec. 1
1936 — End Larry Kelley of Yale is named the Heisman Trophy winner.
1951 — Arnold “Showboat” Boykin of Mississippi scores seven touchdowns in a 49-7 rout of Mississippi State.
1956 — The United States beats the Soviet Union 89-55 to win the gold medal in men’s basketball at the Melbourne Olympics. Bob Jeangerard (16), K.C. Jones (15), Jim Walsh (14) and Bill Russell (13) each score double-digits.
1959 — Louisiana State halfback Billy Cannon is named the Heisman Trophy winner.
1961 — Paul Arizin of the Philadelphia Warriors scores 33 points in 138-177 win over the Los Angeles Lakers to become the third NBA player to reach the 15,000-point plateau.
1973 — Jack Nicklaus wins the Disney World Open to become the first professional golfer to surpass $2 million in career earnings.
1980 — South Carolina running back George Rogers is named the Heisman Trophy winner.
1984 — Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie is named the 50th Heisman Trophy winner.
1990 — Ty Detmer of Brigham Young wins the Heisman Trophy. Detmer, who had set or tied 25 NCAA passing and total offense records, becomes the first BYU winner and third consecutive junior winner.
1996 — Wayne Gretzky becomes the first player in NHL history to reach the 3,000 point plateau.
2001 — North Texas (5-6) loses to Troy State 18-16 to become the third team to go to a bowl with a losing record. The Mean Green, bound for the inaugural New Orleans Bowl as the Sun Belt Conference champion, joins SMU (4-6 in 1963) and William & Mary (5-6 in 1970) as the only teams to play in a bowl game with losing records.
2003 — Sylvester Croom becomes the Southeastern Conference’s first black head football coach, accepting an offer to take over troubled Mississippi State.
2004 — McKendree College coach Harry Statham tops Dean Smith with his 880th career victory, an 83-72 win over Maryville. Smith, with 879 wins, still holds the NCAA record for career victories because all of Statham’s wins are at the NAIA level.
2012 — Landon Donovan scores the tiebreaking goal on a penalty kick in the 65th minute, and David Beckham leaves the MLS as a two-time champion with the Los Angeles Galaxy’s 3-1 victory over the Houston Dynamo in the MLS Cup.
2013 — Josh Gordon has 10 catches for 261 yards and two touchdowns in Cleveland’s 32-20 loss to Jacksonville. He becomes the first player in NFL history to record 200 yards receiving in consecutive games.
2015 — The Philadelphia 76ers end the longest losing streak in the history of major professional sports in the United States, topping the Los Angeles Lakers 103-91 to snap a 28-game skid.
2018 — In a dramatic twist on last season’s national championship game, Jalen Hurts comes off the bench to pass for one touchdown and run for another in the fourth quarter, rallying No. 1 Alabama to a 35-28 win over No. 4 Georgia for the Southeastern Conference title.
2018 — Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury fights to a split draw, with Wilder retaining his WBC heavyweight title after knocking down his British challenger twice at Staples Center.
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Dec. 2
1907 — Tommy Burns defends his world heavyweight title by knocking out Gunner Moir in the 10th round at London.
1944 — Ohio State quarterback Leslie Horvath wins the Heisman Trophy.
1947 — Notre Dame quarterback Johnny Lujack wins the Heisman Trophy.
1951 — Future Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Don Hutson has his #14 jersey retired by the Green Bay Packers; first number retired in franchise history.
1952 — Oklahoma halfback Billy Vessels is named the Heisman Trophy winner.
1958 — Army back Pete Dawkins is named the Heisman Trophy winner.
1977 — Veterinarian Mark Gerard is indicted in a horse-switching scandal. Cinzano, a purportedly dead 4-year-old champion colt, won a race on Sept. 23 at Belmont Park, under the name of Lebon, a 57-1 long shot.
1984 — Dan Marino throws his 37th touchdown pass to break NFL single-season touchdown pass record.
1995 — Notre Dame advances to the NCAA women’s soccer championship by becoming the first team to beat 13-time champion North Carolina in the national semifinals. The lone score comes when Tar Heels forward Cindy Parlow accidentally heads a ball into her own net.
2002 — Oakland’s Tim Brown and Jerry Rice take turns rewriting the NFL record book in a 26-20 win over the New York Jets. Brown becomes the third player with 1,000 receptions and the third with 14,000 yards receiving. Rich Gannon ties an NFL record with his ninth 300-yard passing game of the season. On the very next play after Brown’s 1,000th catch, Rice scores on a 26-yard catch, giving Oakland a 13-10 lead. It’s Rice’s record 192nd TD catch and puts him over 1,000 yards receiving for a record 14th season.
2009 — The New Jersey Nets are pounded into NBA infamy, falling 117-101 to the Dallas Mavericks for their 18th straight loss to start the season. The Nets pass the 1988-89 Miami Heat and 1999 Los Angeles Clippers, who both dropped their first 17 games.
2018 — Dallas Dorosy of Florida State scores in the 60th minute to help the Seminoles beat North Carolina 1-0 for the NCAA Women’s College Cup championship. Florida State wins the NCAA women’s soccer title for the second time. North Carolina, a 21-time NCAA champion, is shut out for the second time this season.
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Dec. 3
1943 — Notre Dame quarterback Angelo Bertelli wins the Heisman Trophy.
1946 — Army halfback Glenn Davis is named the Heisman Trophy winner.
1950 — Tom Fears of the Los Angeles Rams has 18 receptions against Green Bay.
1950 — Cloyce Box of the Detroit Lions has 302 yards receiving and scores four touchdowns against the Baltimore Colts.
1956 — Wilt Chamberlain scores 52 points in his collegiate debut with Kansas.
1957 — Texas A&M halfback John David Crow is named the Heisman Trophy winner.
1972 — Bobby Howfield of the New York Jets kicks six field goals against New Orleans.
1973 — Dick Anderson of the Miami Dolphins intercepts four passes, returning two for touchdowns, against Pittsburgh.
1979 — Southern California halfback Charles White is named the Heisman Trophy winner.
1982 — Tommy Hearns wins the WBC welterweight title with a 15-round decision over Wilfred Benitez in New Orleans.
1994 — Sixth-ranked Florida beats undefeated and third-ranked Alabama 24-23 in the first SEC Championship game played in Atlanta.
1999 — Marshall beats Western Michigan 34-30 on the last play of the MAC Championship game. Down 30-27 with four seconds left in the game, Chad Pennington throws his 100th career touchdown pass to Eric Pinkerton as time expires to give the Thundedring Herd their third consecutive MAC title.
2000 — The 200-yard rushing games by Mike Anderson, Corey Dillon, Warrick Dunn and Curtis Martin mark the first time in NFL history that four runners have 200 yards on the same day. Its never happened three times in a single day. Anderson rushes for an NFL rookie record 251 yards and four touchdowns in Denver’s 38-23 victory over New Orleans.
2004 — Bode Miller wins his fourth race of the season in the downhill at Beaver Creek, Colo., and Daron Rahlves is second to give the United States its first 1-2 finish on the World Cup circuit. The last time U.S. men went 1-2 in any elite international race was 1984, when Phil Mahre won the Olympic slalom in Sarajevo and twin brother Steve took the silver medal.
2005 — Southern California wins its 34th consecutive game and 16th straight against a ranked opponent, beating No. 11 UCLA 66-19. The 16 victories against Associated Press ranked teams is one better than Oklahoma, which won 15 from 1973-76.
2014 — The Philadelphia 76ers avoid tying the record for the worst start to a season in NBA history, ending their 0-17 skid with an 85-77 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
2015 — Aaron Rodgers throws a 61-yard touchdown pass to Richard Rodgers with no time left to give the Green Bay Packers a 27-23 comeback victory over the Detroit Lions. Detroit went ahead 17-0 after its first three drives and capped the opening possession of the third quarter with a field goal to go ahead 20-0.
2017 — Tom Brady continues his career-long dominance of the Buffalo Bills completing 21 of 30 for 258 yards and an interception in New England’s 23-3 victory. He improves to 27-3 against Buffalo and breaks Brett Favre’s record for wins by a quarterback against any one opponent.
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Dec. 4
1945 — “Mr. Inside” Doc Blanchard of Army becomes the first junior to win the Heisman Trophy. Blanchard also becomes the only athlete to win both the Heisman and Sullivan Award.
1951 — Princeton triple-threat tailback Richard Kazmaier wins the Heisman Trophy. Kazmaier led the nation in total offense and the Tigers to an undefeated season.
1956 — Notre Dame quarterback Paul Hornung edges Tennessee’s Johnny Majors to win the Heisman Trophy.
1961 — Floyd Patterson defends his world heavyweight title by knocking out Tom McNeeley in the fourth round in Toronto.
1961 — Syracuse running back Ernie Davis becomes the first black to be taken No. 1 in the NFL draft after being selected by the Washington Redskins.
1977 — Tony Dorsett becomes the third rookie to rush for more than 200 yards in a game with 206 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-14 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
1982 — Georgia’s Hershel Walker wins the Heisman Trophy. The junior running back beats out Stanford quarterback John Elway and Southern Methodist running back Eric Dickerson.
1988 — Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders wins the Heisman Trophy then proves he’s worthy of the award with spectacular performance in a 45-42 win over Texas Tech in Tokyo. Sanders rushes 44 times for 332 yards and four touchdowns, setting the NCAA single-season rushing record with 2,628 yards in 11 games.
2004 — Louisville becomes the first football team in NCAA history to score at least 55 points in five straight games, beating Tulane 55-7.
2005 — Croatia wins its first Davis Cup title when Mario Ancic beats Michal Mertinak of Slovakia 7-6 (1), 6-3, 6-4 in the decisive fifth match.
2009 — The New Jersey Nets win for the first time this season, ending the worst start in NBA history at 18 losses by beating the Charlotte Bobcats 97-91.
2010 — Cam Newton passes for a career-best 335 yards and four touchdowns, and runs for a couple of TDs to lead No. 2 Auburn past 18th-ranked South Carolina 56-17 for the Southeastern Conference title.
2013 — The NFL fines Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin $100,000 for interfering with a play against the Baltimore Ravens on Thanksgiving. In the third quarter of the Ravens’ 22-20 win, Jacoby Jones swerves to avoid colliding with Tomlin and is tackled after a 73-yard return that might have gone for a touchdown if not for the obstruction.
2016 — Tom Brady becomes the NFL’s career leader in victories by a quarterback, earning his 201st by throwing for 269 yards and a touchdown to lead New England past Los Angeles 26-10.
2016 — Detroit becomes the first team in 60 Saints home games to stop Drew Brees from throwing a touchdown pass, as the Lions pull away from New Orleans, 28-13. It’s also the Lions’ first victory in a road game following Thanksgiving since 1974, snapping a streak of 22 losses in such games.
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