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The college football report: Week 6

The college football report: Week 6
Hey, Ed. Del needs you to lose again this week. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Has Texas finally found an identity on offense?

Questions about the Longhorn’s return to the elite of college football seem to be never ending and really miss the point. The only time Texas was great in my lifetime they had a clear identity. It was a somewhat fortunate and not likely to be sustainable identity, but it worked. Build your program around two legends at QB and watch the program flourish. That is somewhat tongue in cheek as Texas had great players everywhere when Mack Brown had it going. It really is remarkable though that Vince Young and Colt McCoy both were the starting quarterbacks at Texas in such a short amount of time. Texas has been looking for their next quarterback heir ever since. The inability to find the next great one got Mack Brown fired and is partly why Charlie Strong got fired too. Beating Oklahoma doesn’t mean Sam Ehlinger is the next in line. His play in a single game against a bad defense shouldn’t be the focus.  How Texas won that game should be.

Texas was the bully in that game. They beat up Oklahoma for three-plus quarters on both sides of the ball. The Longhorn defense under Todd Orlando has that reputation. The Longhorns offense does not. That beat up another blue blood program when they dominated USC earlier in the year as well. It isn’t just the Texas offensive line that are bullies on offense. They have big strong wide receivers that outmuscled and ran through smaller Sooner defensive backs on the perimeter all game long. If Texas is actually “back” it will be about establishing a consistent identity on both sides of the ball that permeates throughout the program. This past Saturday against the Sooners was a great start.

Hate Watch Record 3-3: Miami beats FSU 28-27

The game was ugly for almost three quarters if you were a Miami fan. Losing to your hated rivals is one thing. Losing to them at home when you’re a two touchdown favorite could ruin a season. Florida State’s season-long issues along the offensive line bore themselves out in the second half as the Seminoles were shut out and amassed a total of 45 yards of total offense in after halftime. Two turnovers by Florida State inside their own 30-yard line gave the crowd in Miami and the team life. After being down 27-7 late in the third Miami stormed back to win 28-27. The victory is Miami’s second straight in the series after losing seven in a row to their in-state rivals.

Hate Watch Game of the Week: Georgia vs LSU

I can’t even pretend like this is based on anything other than a LSU loss helps my team’s chances. If Miami’s slim hopes of making the college football playoff are to get better, LSU losing more than one game this season has to happen. The Tigers lost to Florida on the road last week but their resounding win over Miami in Week 1 would make them an obvious choice if it came down to picking between the Tigers and the Canes for a playoff spot. LSU also has a schedule the rest of the way where winning out would assuredly put them in the playoffs. Rooting for Georgia is simply pragmatic.

 

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The Astros beat the Rangers, 5-4. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.

Zack Short hit a walk-off RBI single in the 11th inning after Christian Walker tied it with a sacrifice fly and the Houston Astros beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 on Saturday night.

Short hit a 1-1 pitch to right field off Hoby Milner after Robert Garcia (1-5) walked two to load the bases.

Texas took a 4-3 lead when Adolis García hit the first pitch from Bennett Sousa (3-0) for a single — scoring automatic runner Marcus Semien.

Kyle Higashioka hit a solo home run off Josh Hader with two outs in the ninth to tie it 3-3. It was the first blown save for Hader after 25 straight to begin the season.

Jose Altuve hit his 17th homer — a two-out solo shot in the first off Jacob deGrom to tie it 1-1 after the Rangers scored an unearned run on Framber Valdez’s wild pitch.

Yainer Diaz homered for the 14th time for a 2-1 lead in the fourth. Mauricio Dubón hit his sixth homer off Jacob Webb for a 3-1 lead in the seventh.

Semien hit his 11th homer to cut it to 3-2 in the eighth.

Valdez allowed an unearned run on four hits with 10 strikeouts and no walks in six innings. The Astros have won his last 12 starts with him getting the win in nine of them.

DeGrom allowed two runs on four hits and a walk in six innings with eight strikeouts.

The Rangers struck out 19 times — two short of the club record for an extra-inning game.

Key moment

Short entered as a pinch runner in the ninth and was just 4 for 17 before his game winner.

Key stat

Houston hasn’t lost a season series with division rival Texas since 2016.

Up next

Rangers RHP Nathan Eovaldi (6-3, 1.62 ERA) starts Sunday’s rubber game opposite Astros RHP Hunter Brown (9-3, 2.21).

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