Saturday NCAA Football Recap
Close games and tough losses for Texas college teams in Week 10
Nov 4, 2018, 4:08 pm
Dana Holgorsen made a big decision to beat Texas. Tom Pennington/Getty Images
After a rough Week 9 for college football in the Lone Star State, Week 10 is filled with much of the same: disappointment and need for improvement. Here’s how it all went down:
SMU 45, Houston 31
Houston played its first game as a ranked team under second-year coach Major Applewhite and lost in spectacular fashion. Not having Ed Oliver on the field obviously hurt, but to say the Cougar defense was nonexistent against the Mustangs on Saturday night is an understatement. "Well, No. 1 give credit to SMU," Applewhite said. "You never want to shortchange somebody's effort and how they prepared, and they're playing great football. ... In the first half, we didn't play well, we weren't moving the ball well enough consistently on offense." Yeah, the Cougar offense was slow-moving but there was virtually no pressure on SMU quarterback Ben Hicks. But to make matters worse, the Cougars were held to 362 total yards, 205 below their national-leading 571 average yards-per-game. Hicks was 28-for-43 passing with 318 yards and 4 touchdowns for SMU.
Auburn 28, Texas A&M 24
With 1:41 left Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham tossed up an 11-yard jump ball to freshman receiver Seth Williams and the Tigers rallied to beat the No. 25 Aggies 28-24 on Saturday. "Zero chance I wasn't coming down with it," Williams said. "It's going to come down with me if it's up in the air." Auburn was slow to start and trailed 24-14 behind A&M before staging the rally. Sophomore Noah Igbinoghene breathed new life into Auburn with his first career interception on what coach Gus Malzahn called “probably the play of the game.” Stidham finished 18-for-29 passing for 239 yards and two touchdowns. "We knew if we left any life in them, they were going to fight, scratch and claw," Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher said. "That's what they always do, and we did that. We played excellent football for three quarters." A&M quarterback Kellen Mond was 16-for-32 passing with 220 yards and one touchdown, one interception and was sacked five times. Junior running back Trayveon Williams ran for 107 yards and two touchdowns for the Aggies.
Alabama 29, LSU 0
None of us actually expected LSU to beat ‘Bama but to go scoreless for all four quarters was pretty shocking. The Crimson Tide offense was able to bulldoze through the toughest defense they’ve faced thus far and the Alabama defense was as solid as it’s ever been. "Alabama overpowered us," LSU coach Ed Orgeron said. "When you max-protect and you're doing everything you can with protection and they're beating you, you've got to look at personnel. You've got to get better. I don't think it was scheme at all. ... There was nothing we could do about it." Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa turned heads with his untethered agility while wearing a brace on his right knee. Tagovailoa finished 25-of-42 passing with 295 yards, two passing touchdowns and ran for a 44-yard score in what was supposed to be the Crimson Tide’s toughest test of the season. LSU quarterback Joe Burrow completed 18-of-35 passes for 184 yards.
Oklahoma 52, Texas Tech 46
The Red Raiders were up 31-28 over the No. 7 Sooners at the half but after suffering a recurrence of a partially collapsed lung, Tech quarterback Alan Bowman did not get to finish the battle and was taken to a nearby hospital. Bowman’s absence changed the flow of a game in which the Sooners were arguably being outplayed. Tech punted three straight times with no first down after Jett Duffey replaced the Big 12 passing leader, but later found a rhythm and pulled the Red Raiders within two on a fourth-down scoring pass to senior receiver Zach Austin. But Oklahoma’s Robert Barnes intercepted the two-point conversion pass and ran the ball 98 yards for two points. "I should have found a way to get him more comfortable at the start of the second half than I did," Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury said. "Once he got in a rhythm and he was competing and doing his deal, he played really well." Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray kept the game moving after two interceptions put the Sooners in a two-touchdown hole. Murray finished 20-of-35 passing with 360 yards and three touchdowns in the Sooners’ comeback victory over Tech. Sophomore running back Trey Sermon set career highs with 206 yards rushing and three touchdowns, leading Oklahoma’s charge towards the College Football Playoff.
West Virginia 42, Texas 41
Despite being penalized 14 times, eight of which were dished out in the first quarter, No. 12 West Virginia held it together for a win at No. 15 Texas on a two-point conversion with 16 seconds remaining. "It was an easy decision," Mountianeers coach Dana Holgorsen said. "If you put the fate of the game in (Grier's) hands, I feel pretty good about it.... We've had this 2-point conversion in our back pocket all year." After a perfect 33-yard touchdown pass to receiver Gary Jennings, the Mountaineers were ready to go for two. "I had four different options on that play," Grier said. "I went with the fourth one, which was me running ... I stayed on my feet, which was good. Whatever it takes to win." Of the Mountaineers 14 penalties, the biggest two came after receiver David Sills V scored on a 60-yard touchdown pass. Sills was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for flashing a “horns down” hand sign after the TD. Then left tackle Yodny Cajuste was ejected after an unsportsmanlike conduct call for throwing a punch on the extra point.
Baylor 35, Oklahoma State 31
Well what do we have here? Bad Baylor might not be so bad after all. After sitting out the first three quarters of the game due to starting the week in concussion protocol, Baylor quarterback Charlie Brewer entered the game and rallied the Bears to a 35-31 victory over Oklahoma State on Saturday. Jalan McClendon started for the Bears at quarterback in the absence of Mond. McClendon was 10-for-17 passing with 102 yards and one rushing touchdown. The winning drive came on a 6-yard touchdown fade pass to receiver Denzel Mims with seven seconds left. "Two plays before that I overheard them talking on the sideline about throwing it to me," Mims said. "So I knew coming into that last play I was going to get the ball. So I was like, I've got to go make that play. ... When I did it, it was just an exciting moment." This win puts the Bears one win away from bowl-eligibility.
TCU 14, Kansas State 13
In his second start for the Horned Frogs, quarterback Mike Collins, the sophomore transfer from Penn State, threw a 67-yard touchdown pass to sophomore receiver Jalen Reagor to secure the 14-13 win over Kansas State on Saturday. "There were some gusts, but nothing I could control, except get the ball downfield and giving our guys a chance," said Collins, who was 17 of 33 for 218 yards. The Big 12’s second-leading rusher, Alex Barnes finished with 102 rushing yards for the Wildcats. Excessive wind gusts played a major role the Wildcat’s loss. A botched field goal attempt, a missed PAT, and a muffed punt costed Kansas State the game and put the wildcats in the position of having to win each of its three remaining games to become bowl-eligible.
Texas State 40, Georgia 31
Quarterback Willie Jones III was 21-of-26 passing for 325 yards and two touchdowns, leading Texas State to a dominating victory over Georgia State on Saturday.
UTEP 34, Rice 26
Quardraiz Wadley rushed for 91 yards on 20 carries and scored two touchdowns and UTEP ended their 20-game losing streak with a 34-26 victory over Rice on Saturday.
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Everyone raved about the leadership of second-year quarterback C.J. Stroud this week as the Houston Texans prepared for their wild-card playoff game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Everyone, that is, except the man himself.
“I don’t think I’m a great (leader),” Stroud said sheepishly. “I don’t know. That’s probably a bad thing to say about yourself, but I don’t think I’m all that when it comes to leading. I just try to be myself.”
But the 23-year-old Stroud simply being himself is exactly what makes him the undisputed leader of this team.
“C.J. is authentic, he’s real,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “It’s not only here, it’s in the locker room around the guys and that’s what leadership is to me. As you evolve as a leader, you just be authentic to yourself. You don’t have to make up anything or make up a speech or make up something to say to guys. C.J. is being C.J.”
Sixth-year offensive lineman Tytus Howard said he knew early on that Stroud would be special.
“He has that aura about him that when he speaks, everybody listens,” he said.
Stroud has helped the Texans win the AFC South and reach the playoffs for a second straight season after they had combined for just 11 wins in the three years before he was drafted second overall.
He was named AP Offensive Rookie of the Year last season, when Houston beat the Browns in the first round before falling to the Ravens in the divisional round.
His stats haven’t been as good as they were in his fabulous rookie season when he threw just five interceptions. But he has put together another strong season in Year 2 despite missing top receiver Nico Collins for five games early and losing Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell to season-ending injuries in the second half of the season. He also started every game despite being sacked a whopping 52 times.
“He’s taken some crazy shots,” Howard said. “But even if he’s getting sacked and stuff like that, he just never lets that get to him. He just continues to fight through it, and it basically uplifts the entire offense.”
He also finds ways to encourage the team off the field and works to build chemistry through team get-togethers. He often invites the guys over to his house for dinner or to watch games. Recently, he rented out a movie theater for a private screening of “Gladiator II.”
“He’s like, ‘I want the guys to come in and bond together because this thing builds off the field and on the field,’” Howard said. “So, we need to be closer.”
Another thing that makes Stroud an effective leader is that his teammates know that he truly cares about them as people and not just players. That was evident in the loss to the Chiefs when Dell was seriously injured. Stroud openly wept as Dell was tended to on the field and remained distraught after he was carted off.
“It was good for people to see me in that light and knowing that there is still a human factor to me,” he said. "And I think that was good for people to see that we’re just normal people at the end of the day.”
Stroud said some of the leaders who molded him were his father, his coaches in high school and college, and more recently Ryans.
His coach said Stroud has been able to lead the team effectively early in his career because he knows there are others he can lean on if he needs help.
“Understanding that it’s not all on him as a leader, it’s all of our guys just buying in, doing what they have to do,” Ryans said. “But also, C.J. understanding a lot of guys are looking up to him on the team and he takes that role seriously. But it’s not a heavy weight for him because we have other leaders, as well, around him.”
Stroud considers himself stubborn and though some consider that a bad quality, he thinks it’s helped him be a better leader. He's had the trait as long as he can remember.
“That kind of carried into the sport,” he said. “Even as a kid, my mom used to always say how stubborn I was and just having a standard is how I hear it. It’s stubborn (but) I just have a standard on how I like things to be done and how I hold myself is a standard.”
And, to be clear, he doesn’t consider himself a bad leader, but he did enjoy hearing that others on the team consider him a great one.
“I just don’t look at myself in that light of just I’m all-world at that,” he said. “But I try my best to lead by example and it’s cool because I don’t ask guys and to hear what they have to say about that is kind of cool.”
Though he doesn’t consider himself a great leader, Stroud does have strong feelings about what constitutes one. And he’s hoping that he’ll be able to do that for his team Saturday to help the Texans to a victory, which would make him the sixth quarterback in NFL history to start and win a playoff game in both of his first two seasons.
“That would be making everybody around you better,” he said of great leaders. “Kind of like a point guard on the offense, the quarterback on the football team, the pitcher on a baseball team — just making everybody around you better.”