Saturday NCAA Football Recap
Longhorns barely get a clutch win, A&M fights on and Houston loses again
Nov 11, 2018, 12:37 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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C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson found themselves in the same spot when they met in Week 2 last season.
Both quarterbacks were top-five draft picks, lost their season openers and seemed to be facing a steep learning curve.
Richardson won Round 1 in Houston, although he didn't finish the game.
Stroud took Round 2 in Indianapolis with the injured Richardson watching from the sideline as Texans clinched the AFC South title and Stroud locked up his runaway selection as NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
On Sunday, each QB begins his second pro season — with a lot still to prove.
“I’m excited. First official game back with my guys and my teammates,” said Richardson, who had season-ending shoulder surgery last October. "I want to win. So, whatever I’ve got to do to do that, I’m going to do it.”
Winning a season opener certainly would be a welcome change for a franchise that last started 1-0 in 2013. The 10-game winless streak is easily the NFL's longest active streak.
But that's just a start for Richardson.
He needs to improve his accuracy after completing a pedestrian 59.5% of his throws in 2023 and must demonstrate he can finish games. He missed 13 last season and only finished one of his four starts because of an assortment of injuries, including the concussion that knocked him out of that Week 2 matchup at Houston after he ran for two scores.
Stroud, meanwhile, is coming off one of the most successful rookie seasons in NFL history.
He became just the third player in a half-century to lead the league in yards passing per game (273.9) and touchdown-to-interception ratio (4.6 to 1), won a playoff game and made hist first Pro Bowl appearance.
How can he improve on a season like that? By showing last season was a building block — not a fluke. He has a stronger supporting cast, too, with Joe Mixon, a four-time 1,000-yard rusher, and Stefon Diggs, who has four straight 100-catch seasons, now in the mix.
The long journey begins Sunday in Indianapolis.
“I want to just start fast,” Stroud said. “It doesn't have to do with a certain game, just in general this season. Last year, we started off really slow and just kind of had to build our way back. It's not an easy thing to do, so I would say this year we want to start fast.”
Nico vs. Colts
Houston receiver Nico Collins had two of his biggest games last season against Indy — catching seven passes for 146 yards and one TD in the Week 2 matchup only to outperform those numbers with a 195-yard day that included a 75-yard TD catch in Week 18.
He could play an even bigger role this time with Indy's young secondary trying to match up not only with Collins but also Diggs, Mixon and tight end Dalton Schultz.
“Nico is a playmaker,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “Every time I see him, he’s a true playmaker. So, you just have to get Nico the ball in any way, shape or fashion. Just find a way to get him the ball just to see how explosive and how dynamic he is.”
Taylor made
Injuries and a contract dispute prevented Jonathan Taylor from replicating the form he used to win the 2021 NFL rushing title. Starting against the Texans could be just what he needs.
In six games against Houston, Taylor has rushed for seven TDs and 135.2 yards per game — his highest average against any team he's faced multiple times. And in that rematch with Houston in Week 18, he finished with 30 carries for 188 yards, the NFL's highest single-game total all season.
Confident Anderson
Houston defensive end Will Anderson, last season’s AP Defensive Rookie of the Year, will play Sunday after recovering from an ankle injury that limited his training camp snaps.
The No. 3 overall pick in 2023 had 45 tackles, 10 for loss, and 7 1/2 sacks as a rookie. He expects to be even better this season.
“I’m way more comfortable,” he said. “Just going into Year 2 knowing the scheme better, knowing what to expect a little bit more and knowing what’s going to happen gives you more confidence.”
Pass rush
The Colts lost their 2023 sacks leader, Samson Ebukam, with a torn Achilles tendon during training. But they may have the perfect replacement.
Laiatu Latu was the first defensive player taken in April's draft, at No. 15 overall, and he's shown coaches that the moves he used to record 23 1/2 sacks over his last two college seasons can work in the NFL.
“We know that there’s going to be a learning curve there," defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said. "We know there are going to be plays that we’re going to come in and say there were some good plays, and there were plays he wishes he had back — we understand that. But just his overall mentality and skill set, we’re very excited to see.”