Saturday NCAA Football Recap

Longhorns barely get a clutch win, A&M fights on and Houston loses again

Kalah Winters
Nov 11, 2018, 1:37 pm
Kellen Mond and the Aggies got a needed win. Cooper Neill/Getty Images

What a wild week in the Lone Star State. Here’s how it all went down:

Temple 59, Houston 49

Ryquell Armstead ran for 210 yards on 30 carries and scored six touchdowns, propelling the Temple to a dominant 59-49 victory over the Houston Cougars on Saturday night. Houston quarterback D’Eriq King was 28 of 46 passing for 322 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. Star defensive tackle Ed Oliver missed his third game for the Cougars due to a lingering knee injury.

Texas 41, Texas Tech 34

Star quarterback Sam Ehlinger completed 30-of-34 passes for 312 yards and four touchdowns, including the game-winning 29-yard touchdown pass to junior receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey with 21 seconds left, leading the fifteenth-ranked Longhorns to a wild 41-34 victory over Texas Tech on Saturday night. "Nobody on the team wants anybody other than No. 11 behind center in situations like that,” Texas coach Tom Herman said. “They believe in him. He was calm, cool and collected. He was aggressive, but not reckless." Since throwing two picks in the season opener against Maryland, Ehlinger has now thrown a Big 12 record 280 consecutive passes without a pick, breaking the standard previously set by former West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith. With two games left to determine who plays for the Big 12 championship, the Longhorns face No. 23 Iowa State, the team they are tied with for third place, next week.

Texas A&M 38, Mississippi 24

Sophomore quarterback Kellen Mond had a decent first half against Mississippi on Saturday night, but after turning the ball over on A&M’s first two drives of the second half, Coach Jimbo Fisher considered making a quarterback change. "When you're the quarterback you're going to have those moments of should I take him out? Should I not take him out? (But I) have faith in him," Fisher said. "He deserved the chance to go back in because I knew the look in his eye and the competitor he was." Mond finished with 19-of-28 passing for 236 yards and three touchdowns, leading the Aggies to a 38-24 victory over Mississippi. Quarterback Jordan Ta’amu finished 22-for-35 passing with 373 yards and one touchdown for the Rebels. This loss marks the third straight conference defeat for the Ole’ Miss. The Rebels have two games remaining and are going to have to figure out a way to win a conference game if they hope to become bowl eligible.

Iowa State 28, Baylor 14

Quarterback Brock Purdy threw for 230 yards, one touchdown and ran for another score as No. 23 Iowa State beat Baylor 28-14 on Saturday for a fifth-straight Big 12 win in the same season for the first time. "There's still a lot of work to be done. We're still a young football team," Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said. "I think what's exciting is that I sit here right now knowing that our best is still out there." Iowa’s star running back David Montgomery had 53 yards on 11 carries but was ejected early in the third quarter, along with Baylor linebacker Greg Robert, after the two began fighting each other. "David is a leader, so the last thing that I would say that David Montgomery had anything to do with was starting any controversy," Campbell said. "It certainly looked like it was a secondary action." A win for Baylor in either of its final two games would send the Bears to a bowl game. Iowa State faces No. 15 Texas in Austin next week.

West Virginia 47, TCU 10

After a scoreless first quarter, No. 7 West Virginia scored three touchdowns in a 3:25 span late in the second, catapulting the Mountaineers to a 47-10 victory over the Horned Frogs on Saturday. Quarterback Will Grier was 25 of 39 passing for 343 yards and touchdown passes of 32, 8 and 4 yards. "Morale's good. Confidence is good. Work ethic is good. It's why we're winning," West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said. "You're only as good as your next one, so these guys have to continue doing that." TCU was held to a season-low 222 yards on offense and is in jeopardy of missing a bowl if they do not find a way to win each of their final two games.

LSU 24, Arkansas 17

One week after being shut out in a 29-0 loss to Alabama, the ninth-ranked Tigers bounced back in Week 11 and rolled to a 24-17 victory over Arkansas on Saturday night. Leading the charge against the Razorbacks was LSU quarterback Joe Burrow. Burrow was 15-of-21 passing with 195 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore receiver Justin Jefferson put on a stellar performance for the Tigers with 117 yards and one score on six receptions. This loss marks the eighth loss of the last nine games for the Razorbacks under first-year coach Chad Morris.

Appalachian State 38, Texas State 7

Sophomore quarterback Zac Thomas completed 25-of-36 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns for the Mountaineers as they cruised to a 38-7 victory over Texas State on Saturday.

Louisiana Tech 28, Rice 13

J’Mar Smith finished 21-for-34 passing with 314 yards and one touchdown for the Bulldogs as Louisiana Tech handed Rice its 10th straight loss on Saturday night. This was also the 13th straight conference loss for the Owls.

 

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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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