Wins and losses
A recap of Saturday's college football action: UH, Texas, Tech emerge with big wins
Oct 8, 2017, 1:13 pm
Tom Herman and the Longhorns got by Kansas State in double OT. Tim Warner/Getty Images
Here is a look back at schools of interest in the Houston area and how they fared in college football:
Houston 35, SMU 22
The Cougars pulled off a big win over a nice SMU team. Duke Catalon had a big day, rushing for 177 yards, and the Houston defense kept the Ponies under wraps. Houston forced two interceptions and collected two sacks. SMU'S Courtland Sullivan and Trey Quinn had big days against the UH secondary (11 catches for 160 yards for Sullivan, 17 for 156 for Quinn) but it was not enough. Kyle Postma was good enough and the Cougars moved on with a nice win.
Texas 40, Kansas State 34, OT
The Longhorns went to OT for the second time this year, and this time they came out on top, beating Kansas State 40-34. Sam Ehlinger had a big day, throwing for 380 yards and rushing for 107 yards. Chris Warren 2-yard run in the second overtime was the game-winner. The Longhorns are 3-2, 2-0 in the Big 12.
Alabama 27, Texas A&M 19
The Aggies actually hung in there with the best team in the country, but Kellen Mond simply did not have enough to beat the Tide. He was 19 of 27 for 237 yards with a touchdown and an interception but was ineffective in the running game. The Aggie defense did an oustanding job containing Jalen Hurts, but Alabama ran for 232 yards and escaped College Station with a win.
TCU 31, West Virginia 24
The Horned Frogs contine to impress, knocking off West Virginia. Kenny Hill scored in three different ways, and the Frogs escaped with a 5-0 mark, leading the Big 12. With OU's losss, the Frogs have to be considered the favorites in the conference.
Texas Tech 65, Kansas 19
The Red Raiders took care of their "free win" week, mashing Kansas. Things get much tougher next week when they play at West Virginia.
Army 49, Rice 12
Rice's season continues to spiral out of control, as they turned the ball over six times in a loss to Army. The Owls fell to 1-5.
Southern Miss 31, UTSA 29
The Road Runners' promising season was derailed in a 31-29 loss to Southern Miss. UTSA failed on a two-point conversion with 48 seconds left. UTSA is now 3-1.
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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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