Saturday NCAA Football Recap

Expected victories and losses throughout the Lone Star State in Week 8 of college football

Kalah Winters
Oct 21, 2018, 2:45 pm
Major Applewhite and the Cougars are on a roll. Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images

Let’s admit it - this week panned out exactly as we expected. Here’s what happened:

Houston 49, Navy 36

Star quarterback D’Eriq King and the dazzling Cougar offense rallied in the second half to overcome a 24-21 deficit to defeat the Midshipmen 49-36 on Saturday afternoon. "It's great to be a Cougar and see home-grown talent like D'Eriq continue to make play after play," Houston coach Major Applewhite said. "We just need to get more guys like him." King was 25-or-38 passing with 413 yards, three touchdowns and one rushing score. Receiver Marquez Stevenson caught eight passes for 141 yards and rushed for a score for the now bowl-eligible Cougars. Senior corner back Nick Watkins scored on a perfectly timed 50-yard interception in the fourth quarter, securing the win for Houston. "I'm proud of the way they responded," Applewhite said, "because we didn't always play well in the first half."

Oklahoma 52, TCU 27

The ninth-ranked Sooners dominated from start to finish and bounced back from thier only loss, rolling over TCU in for a 52-27 victory on Saturday. "It was just perfect how the game unfolded, we came out and played like we were capable of, carrying over some momentum we had," Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said. The Horned Frogs were held to a mere 275 total yards and two offensive touchdowns. Freshman running back Kennedy Brooks ran for 168 yards and two scores on 18 carries and sophomore Trey Sermon ran for 110 yards and two scores on 17 carries. This win marks the Sooners’ 18th consecutive road victory. Oklahoma has not lost consecutive games in the regular season since 1999 and could be on the path to the College Football Playoff. TCU has a road game against Kansas next Saturday and OU is home for the first time in short of a month to play Kansas State.  

Texas Tech 48, Kansas 16

Alan Bowman stuns in every game he plays and Saturday’s 48-16 victory over Kansas was no exception. Playing for the first time since suffering a partially collapsed lung three weeks ago, the freshman quarterback completed 36-of-46 passes with 408 yards and three touchdowns for the Red Raiders. "It's been a while. We just wanted to make sure practice went well. Didn't want any setbacks," coach Kliff Kingsbury said. "We felt confident ... a few days after he got out of the hospital that he'd be ready for this date. We just wanted to make sure he held up, felt good. His breathing was fine." Texas Tech receiver Antoine Wesley had nine receptions for 155 yards and one score.

LSU 19, Mississippi State 3

What should have been a exciting victory was spoiled for Tigers fans after LSU linebacker Devin White was ejected for targeting in the fourth quarter, making him ineligible in the first half of the Tigers’ upcoming game against undefeated, top-ranked Alabama. White seemed to lower his head as he slammed into Mississippi quarterback Nick Fitzgerald, seconds after he released a pass that was intercepted by defensive back Kristian Fulton. Not only was LSU penalized for targeting, two flags were drawn for unsportsmanlike conduct for excessive celebration, resulting in 45 yards in penalties on one play. "I've got to look at it. The call is the call. They reviewed it," LSU coach Ed Orgeron said. "That's the rule. The rule is you can't lead with your head." Quarterback Joe Burrow was 16-of-28 with 129 passing yards for the Tigers.

Florida International 36, Rice 17

Junior quarterback James Morgan, completed 20-of-29 passes for 229 and two touchdowns, leading the Panthers to a dominating victory over the Owls on Saturday night.

 

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Houston loses first game to Oakland

A's end losing streak against Astros with late homers

Lance McCullers Jr. went five innings of one-run ball Friday night. Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

After maintaining their stronghold against the A's in Thursday's home opener, the Astros had the chance to lock up the three-game series victory against Oakland with a win on Friday night. On the mound, Lance McCullers Jr. hoped to improve upon his first start against this same team, a five-inning one-run outing.

Instead, he would have the same outcome, once again lasting five innings while allowing one run, before a big tie-breaking home run late in the game would push Oakland out of their losing skid against the Astros.

Final Score: A's 6, Astros 2

Astros' Record: 6-2, tied for first in AL West

Winning Pitcher: Yusmeiro Petit (2-0)

Losing Pitcher: Bryan Abreu (1-1)

McCullers Jr. makes it through five

McCullers Jr. looked sharp through the first three innings, allowing just two baserunners, one on a second-inning single, then a walk in the third. Oakland did better against him the second time through their order in the fourth, with Jed Lowrie leading the inning off with a solo home run to put Oakland in front 1-0.

They went on to load the bases with one out on an error and two walks, but McCullers would strand them all. He returned for the fifth, a much cleaner inning where a caught stealing by Martin Maldonado would help him face just three batters. His final line: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 88 P.

Oakland gets homer-happy to even the series

McCullers Jr. would leave the game without being eligible for the winning or losing decision, as an RBI-groundout by Kyle Tucker in the fourth would have it tied 1-1. Bryan Abreu was the first out of Houston's bullpen, and he would attempt to eat up multiple innings. He had perfect innings in the sixth and seventh, retiring six A's in order to maintain the stalemate.

Abreu remained in the game in the top of the eighth, allowing a single before getting a strikeout, ending his run as Dusty Baker would bring in left-handed Blake Taylor. Taylor would give up a single against his first batter, then a loud go-ahead three-run home run to Matt Olson to push the A's back in front 4-1. They'd add two more insurance runs off of Joe Smith in the top of the ninth, getting a two-run home run by Mark Canha to extend the lead to 6-1.

Oakland's bullpen would hold on to the newly created lead, allowing just one run on a sac fly by Jose Altuve in the bottom of the ninth, finally ending their losing streak against Houston and setting up the rubber game on Saturday to be for the series victory.

Up Next: This series's finale will be a Saturday afternoon start, with first pitch scheduled for 3:05 PM. For the Astros, Jose Urquidy (0-0, 4.15 ERA) will look to get a win on the board, while Oakland will hand the ball to Frankie Montas (0-1, 23.63 ERA).

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