Here's a look at what happened in the Lone Star State:
Saturday NCAA Football Recap: Baylor remains undefeated; Houston still doesn’t know which way is up
Nov 3, 2019, 12:32 pm
Photo by Getty Images
UCF 44, Houston 29
My annoyance with Dana Holgorsen know no bounds. The Cougars have only won three games this season and it's starting to feel like Holgorsen is attempting to introduce tanking to college football. But the gag is, the only thing a 3-5 record gets you in college football is bad recruits. I digress. Houston actually started off pretty well in their 29-44 loss to UCF on Saturday. The Cougars jumped out to an early 10-0 lead on Mulbah Car's 37-yard touchdown run and a 45-yard field goal by Dalton Witherspoon. UCF pulled away with three third-quarter touchdowns and Houston never recovered. Houston quarterback Clayton Tune finished 18-for-30 for 179 yards, one touchdown and one interception. UCF quarterback Dillion Gabriel hit 21-of-30 passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. Houston is off next week to hopefully do some soul-searching before hosting Memphis at home on Nov. 16.
Oklahoma State 34, TCU 27
Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard racked up 223 yards and two long touchdowns, leading the Cowboys to a 34-27 victory over a TCU team with one of the best defensive coached in college football. According to a TCU spokesperson, Hubbard became the first player to rush for at least 200 yards against TCU in Gary Patterson's 19-year run as head coach. "When Chuba gets through there, nobody can catch him," Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said. "That makes him different than other players." OKST quarterback Spencer Sanders threw for 158 yards and two touchdown passes to Dillon Stoner who finished with three receptions and 93 yards for the Cowboys, who became bowl eligible for the 14th straight year. The Horned Frogs entered the day allowing just 103.7 yards rushing per game but surrendered 307 on Saturday. TCU hosts an undefeated Baylor on Saturday.
Texas A&M 45, UTSA 14
The Aggies fell behind early on Saturday against UTSA and needed a spark to bounce back and secure the victory. Isiah Spiller was the match that lit the flame for Texas A&M. The freshman running back set season highs with 217 yards rushing and three touchdowns, leading the Aggies to a demoralizing 45-14 victory over UTSA. "He was the catalyst today," Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher said of Spiller. "He's growing each and every day." The Aggie's win over UTSA is their third straight victory and makes them bow-eligible for the 11th-straight season. Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond threw for 211 yards, one touchdown and a one-yard touchdown in the ground to lift the Aggies to 42-7 in the fourth quarter. UTSA quarterback Lowell Narcisse threw for 90 yards passing and racked up 54 yards and a touchdown on the ground before suffering a right thumb injury early in the third quarter. The Aggies are off next week and host South Carolina on Nov. 16.
Baylor 17, West Virginia 14
Bad Baylor has come a long way from their one-win 2017 season. The 12th-ranked Bears put on a defensive showdown on Thursday night to hold off West Virginia and improve to 8-0. Baylor quarterback Charlie Brewer threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns, and the defense blocked a late field goal, securing Baylor's 17-14 victory over West Virginia. This marks the first time Baylor has won a game when scoring less than 20 points since 2006. "A tremendous, tremendous defensive game," coach Matt Rhule said after the 17-14 victory over West Virginia on Thursday night. "We are still learning that it's OK just to play defense and not worry." Bad Baylor is the only undefeated Big 12 team and one of eight among FBS teams. Baylor's defense may have won the game but its offensive line was all but useless, allowing Brewer to be stuffed by West Virginia eight times. The game-winning play came when Baylor nose tackle Bravvion Roy blocked Casey Legg's 48-yard field goal with 3.5 minutes left. "A lot of guys hurt in that locker room. I hurt for them," first-year Mountaineers coach Neal Brown said. "I hurt because they invested. They came up short. I don't' know if we necessarily got beat, but we came up short." Baylor travels to TCU to face the Horned Frogs next week.
Louisiana 31, Texas State 3
Running back Elijah Mitchell rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries for the Rajin' Cajuns and Louisiana-Lafayette clobbered Texas State 31-3 on Saturday. Bobcat quarterback Tyler Vitt finished 24-of-34 for 206 yards-passing and two interceptions for Texas State.
Marshall 20, Rice 7
Isaiah Green threw for 269 yards and a touchdown and Marshall rolled to 20-7 victory over winless Rice on Saturday.
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Luis Robert Jr. homered twice and had a season-high four hits along with four RBIs in the Chicago White Sox's 5-4 victory over the Houston Astros on Friday night.
The majors-worst White Sox (30-93) won for the second time in four games, snapping the AL West-leading Astros' season-best winning streak at eight games.
Pinch-hitter Jon Singleton hit a solo home run for Houston off Chad Kuhl with two outs in the ninth to cut it to 5-4. But Kuhl struck out Jose Altuve to end it and get his first save.
Robert hit a two-run homer in the third and added a solo shot in the fifth as the White Sox built a 4-1 lead. It’s the seventh career two-homer game for Robert and his first since March 30 against Detroit.
A two-run home run by Jake Meyers got Houston to 4-3 in the sixth, but Robert added some insurance with an RBI single with two outs in the eighth.
His first hit of the night came on a single in the first, but he was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.
The Astros struck out a season-high 16 times as they lost for the first time since Aug. 5.
White Sox starter Garrett Crochet allowed four hits and a run with nine strikeouts in four innings. Chad Kuhl
Houston starter Spencer Arrighetti (5-11) yielded seven hits and four runs in 5 2/3 innings.
Andrew Vaughn singled to start the second before Korey Lee doubled with one out in the inning. Michael Vargas walked to load the bases and the White Sox made it 1-0 when Vaughn scored when Dominic Fletcher grounded into a force out.
A single to left field by Nicky Lopez opened the third before Robert sent a fastball from Arrighetti off the wall in left field to make it 3-0.
Altuve hit a ground-rule double with two outs in the bottom of the inning that knocked out a digit on the manual out of town scoreboard on the wall below the seats in left field. The Astros cut it to 3-1 when he scored on a single by Yordan Alvarez.
Robert connected off Arrighetti again with two outs in the fifth on a solo shot to the first row of the seats in left field to make it 4-1.
The Astros had two on and one out in the fifth, but Alvarez grounded into a double play to end the inning.
The White Sox were up by 3 when Victor Caratini singled with two outs in the sixth. Meyers followed with his shot to left field off Touki Toussaint to cut the lead to 4-3.
Zach Dezenzo walked before Mauricio Dubón doubled to left field to chase Toussaint. He was replaced by Justin Anderson (1-0) and he escaped the jam when Chas McCormick grounded out on his first pitch to end the inning.
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: RHP Matt Foster was reinstated from the 60-day injured list Friday. … RHP Dominic Leone (Tommy John surgery) was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Astros: Ace Justin Verlander (neck stiffness) allowed four hits and two runs in four innings for Double-A Corpus Christi in his second rehabilitation start Thursday night. Manager Joe Espada said he would throw a bullpen Sunday before they decide what’s next for the right-hander. … 3B Alex Bregman was out of Friday’s lineup because of swelling in the back of his right elbow. Bregman said that the problem began when he slept on it wrong a few days ago. Bregman said he could miss the weekend series and return Monday for the start of a series against the Boston Red Sox.
UP NEXT
Houston RHP Hunter Brown (10-7, 3.96 ERA) was set to face RHP Chris Flexen (2-11, 5.34) on Saturday night.