THE SEC REPORT
LSU gets a big win, A&M comes up short, Georgia proved themselves, Tennessee lost again
Sep 10, 2019, 5:09 am
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Joe Burrow
Born with a comic book in one hand and a remote control in the other, Cory DLG is the talent of Conroe's very own Nerd Thug Radio and Sports. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!
Georgia proved themselves, Tennessee failed again and Clemson submitted Texas A&M.
LAST WEEK
The second week of college football is in the books and there was even more good, bad and surprising. The good was LSU going into Austin and knocking off the Longhorns in a battle of highly ranked teams. More good was Georgia's second quarter, 35 points and a game-destroying 15 minutes of football proved #3 Georgia is as good as advertised. The bad was yet again Tennessee, ending their season basically by losing to BYU in second overtime, while expectations weren't high there is now no need for them at all and essentially they are playing out this season now for an invite to a low level bowl game. The ugly was the Clemson game, where the game wasn't as close as the end score showed. The fourth quarter started 24-3 and it never really felt close from there. The Aggies could not muster enough offense against the defending champs.
THREE STARS OF LAST WEEKEND
Joe Burrow, quarterback, LSU: Threw for 471 yards and 4 touchdowns on 31 completions against a top ten opponent in their house. It was an amazing game.
Scottie Phillips, running back, Ole Miss: Had two touchdowns and almost 150 yards on 26 carries. He averaged over 5 yards a carry in the game against Arkansas.
Ty Chandler, running back of Tennessee: They may have lost but this guy also averaged over 5 yards a carry and put 154 yards up on the board, the big problem which is really the Vols problem is he didn't score.
GAMES TO WATCH THIS WEEK
This weekend, there are a lot of interesting, potentially close games on the schedule. Kansas State will be at Mississippi State in a good competitive early game and in the afternoon Colorado State will be at Arkansas. In the evening Florida will be at Kentucky and that should be a great game to enjoy as well, with a whole Saturday of close competition lined up.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Kellen Mond, quarterback, Texas A&M: This is a big week for him in a game they should expect to win pretty big and pretty fast but only if he bounces back.
D'Andre Smith, running back, Georgia: This week he had a quiet 60 plus yards on 6 carries, but I expect he'll see more playing time in a game that will be over early and need rushers to put it to bed.
Joe Burrow, quarterback, LSU: One thing every coach tries to prepare you for is coming back to an "easy" game after winning a close big game. This would be the "let down" game if you're underprepared, so it's up to Joe Burrow to go out there and keep up the pressure and the attacking that's worked for two weeks.
Feel free to check out my brand new comic book Another Day at the Office or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help people struggling with cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.
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Texans HC DeMeco Ryans reveals what he values most at scouting combine
Feb 28, 2025, 3:51 pm
Now that spring training is officially underway, we're able to make some observations about how the Astros 2025 roster is taking shape.
Houston's starting rotation is basically set, but we got to see Hayden Wesneski make his first start in an Astro uniform. Wesneski pitched two innings against the Mets on Tuesday, allowing one run with three strikeouts.
He's working on a curveball that's a new pitch for his repertoire, and he saw some success with it. Hopefully, adding this pitch will help keep batters off balance (especially left-handed hitters) and help elevate his game. Which is nothing new for the Astros, who have a history of helping pitchers get to the next level.
Forrest Whitley also looked good, pitching a clean inning and finishing off his final hitter with a 97 mph fastball. Whitley finally realizing his potential in the big leagues could be a huge deal for the Astros, as they're looking to lighten the workload for Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader this season.
Hader in particular could benefit from this adjustment, as he was much worse when pitching in non-save situations last season. An easy fix with Hader could be trying to limit his workload to mostly save situations. That way, you get the most out of him and achieve the goal of him pitching less innings this year.
The Houston Chronicle's Matt Kawahara wrote about Hader's struggles pitching when games were tied or Houston was trailing.
“Hader converted 34 of 38 save chances but faced more batters in non-save situations (142) than in save situations (136), a sharp pivot from his previous few seasons. Opponents slugged .271 against him in save situations and .411 in non-save situations, while his ERA was more than two runs higher (4.98) in the latter.”
And while it's easy to say “suck it up, you're getting paid a fortune to pitch,” if he's not having success in those situations, and you're looking to back off his workload, this seems like an obvious way to pivot. He's under contract for another four seasons, so the Astros are right to want to be careful with him.
Astros plate discipline
Manager Joe Espada has made it very clear that he would like his offense to see more pitches this season. And we're seeing a stark difference in the approaches from the newly acquired players (Isaac Paredes, Christian Walker) and Houston's returning hitters.
Keep in mind, Paredes was first in pitches per plate appearance last season, and Walker was 10th.
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Paredes and Walker both worked a full count in their first at-bats on Tuesday, while Mauricio Dubon, Yainer Diaz, and Chas McCormick swung at every pitch in their first at-bats.
Hopefully the new blood in the clubhouse will rub off on the rest of the Astros lineup, which is full of free swingers, especially with Alex Bregman now playing for Boston.
Which is why we're so excited about Cam Smith's early results. While we're super pumped about his two home runs on Tuesday, we're equally impressed that he walked in his first two at-bats this spring. If anyone would naturally be jumping out of their shoes to make a strong first impression, you would think it's the guy that was traded for Kyle Tucker. But Smith was patient, and he was rewarded for it.
What is Dana Brown saying privately?
Just last offseason, Brown was talking about extending Tucker and Bregman while also signing Hader to a shocking 5-year, $95 million deal. Plus, the team signed Jose Altuve to a whopping $150 million extension. Fast-forward one year and Tucker has been traded, Bregman left in free agency, and Ryan Pressly was dealt in a salary dump. Safe to say, his vision for the ball club has changed drastically in one season. Welcome to baseball economics under Jim Crane!
We're just scratching the surface on everything covered in the video above. Be sure to hit play to watch the full conversation!
The countdown to Opening Day is on. Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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