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 is now 6-6

Bielak with an impressive start, Astros rally late but come up short as Diamondbacks take series

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

After a rough, disheartening loss the night before to even the series at one game apiece, the Astros tried to shake it off and regroup for a win on Thursday to get the series win against the Diamondbacks in Arizona. Here is a quick recap of the finale:

Final Score: Diamondbacks 5, Astros 4.

Record: 6-6, second in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Junior Guerra (1-0, 0.00 ERA).

Losing pitcher: Ryan Pressly (0-1, 40.50 ERA).

Bielak tosses an impressive start as Houston puts him in winning position

After both teams finished the first three innings scoreless, the Astros were able to get a little bit of good luck on their side, unlike the night prior. Jose Altuve started the inning with a much-needed single, stole second, then moved to third on a groundout for the second out. That set up Yuli Gurriel, who hit a ball down the third-base line that would strike the bag and bounce away from Arizona, allowing Altuve to score and put Houston up 1-0.

Though he likely would have preferred more run support, Brandon Bielak made do with that one run in his first career MLB start. He was able to complete five innings of work, holding Arizona scoreless over that span despite allowing a runner in each inning. He left in line for the win, with a final line of 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 0 HR.

Altuve extends the lead, then Diamondbacks go ahead

Jose Altuve helped double the lead in the top of the sixth, connecting for a one-out solo home run to make it 2-0. With Bielak's night over at five innings, Cy Sneed took over in the bottom of the sixth and allowed back-to-back one-out doubles to cut Houston's lead in half. He allowed a single to put runners on the corners before Dusty Baker would move on to another reliever to try and preserve the lead. Blake Taylor would enter but allowed the tying RBI-single to take Bielak out of winning position. Taylor would go on to allow a go-ahead run before getting out of the jam.

In the bottom of the seventh, Taylor was still on the mound but would only get two outs before another call to the pen. Andre Scrubb would enter and get the final out of the inning. In the top of the eighth, Jose Altuve would improve to 3-for-4 on the night with a two-out double, setting up Alex Bregman for a go-ahead two-run home run to make it 4-3, Houston.

Ryan Pressly allows the walk-off

Scrubb went back to the mound in the bottom of the eighth and was able to record a 1-2-3 inning to move the game to the ninth. After a scoreless top of the ninth, Ryan Pressly would attempt to get the save in the bottom of the inning. Instead, he would allow the walk-off, loading the bases with no outs on a walk and two singles before a two-RBI single to give Arizona the win and the series victory.

Up Next: The Astros will travel to Oakland to kick off a three-game weekend series with the A's on Friday at 8:10 PM Central. The A's will send Chris Bassitt (1-0, 0.93 ERA) to the mound while Houston will turn to Zack Greinke (0-0, 5.00 ERA) to help cut down Oakland's division lead.

mlb astros recap astros vs diamondbacks brandon bielak michael brantley jose altuve alex bregman andre scrubb ryan pressly astros

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