NCAA REWIND
Saturday NCAA football recap: Big wins for Texas, Tech, Baylor, LSU in Week 6
Oct 6, 2019, 1:06 pm
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Texas gets revenge on the road, Tech bounces back after humiliation, and Joe Burrow sets LSU passing record. Here's a look at what happened in the Lone Star State and with LSU:
Texas 42, West Virginia 31
Last year West Virginia players left several Texas players upset after flashing the "horns down" sign during West Virginia's 42-41 win at Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin. Although Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger insists he had put aside the defiant celebration of Mountaineers on his home field last year, he got his payback, leading the No. 11 Longhorns to a 42-31 victory over West Virginia on Saturday. Ehlinger finished 18-of-33 for 211 yards passing and two touchdowns. Freshman running back Roschon Johnson finished with career highs on 121 yards on 21 carries for the Longhorns. The Texas defense came up clutch for a team whose offense got off to a rough start. West Virginia quarterback Austin Kendall was intercepted four times, twice by cornerback D'Shawn Jamison. It's possible that Texas will reappear in the top 10 with the road win but I expect they will at least hold their 11th position on the poll. The Longhorns face off with the Sooners next Saturday in Dallas.
LSU 42, Utah State 6
Joe. Burrow. This kid is undeniably talented but what really strikes me is the LSU quarterback's relentless quest for greatness. After completing 27 of 38 passes for 344 yards, becoming the first LSU quarterback to stack 300 yards passing in four consecutive games, Burrow seemed unimpressed with his latest performance. "Last year, we would have been very happy," Burrow said. "But this is a new team and a new offense. Things have changed around here when you are not happy with this performance." Burrow was intercepted once on a deflected pass against Utah State before being replaced by Myles Brennan early in the fourth quarter due to a lopsided score. Burrow also rushed for 42 yards and another score. Despite only finishing one fourth quarter this season, Burrow has a 78.3 percent pass completion rate for 1,864 yards and 22 touchdowns. LSU receiver Ja'Marr Chase caught his sixth touchdown pass of the season helping the fourth-ranked Tigers rout Utah State 42-6 on Saturday to remain undefeated. LSU's injury-riddled defense also showed no signs of slowing down, intercepting Aggie quarterback Jordan Love three times, including a mystifying pick by freshman cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. which set the Tigers up for a 99-yard scoring drive. LSU's point total was a season low which coach Ed Orgeron says was intentional to allow its defense to rest before getting into the meat of their season next week. "It wasn't as fun, but it worked," Orgeron said. "This game was methodical. We were chewing up clock." Three of the Tiger's next four games are against teams that spent the past week ranked in the top 10: No. 10 Florida, No. 7 Auburn and No. 1 Alabama. Expect the Tigers to hold their position in the AP Top 25 poll after easily handling Utah State. LSU is home against Florida next Saturday.
Texas Tech 45, Oklahoma State 35
In his first start of the season, quarterback Jett Duffey completed 26 of 44 passes for 424 yards and four touchdowns, ran for a score and avoided turnovers (which plagued him in the past), leading the Red Raiders to a much needed 45-35 upset over No. 21 Oklahoma State on Saturday. Coming off a humiliating 55-16 loss at Oklahoma two weeks ago, the Red Raiders built a 20-0 lead early in the second quarter and never stopped fighting. "This was a tough week. It was an emotional week," Texas Tech coach Matt Wells said. "Nobody was very happy about the way we played last week. I thought they responded. Tremendous amount of guts." The Red Raider defense forced three interceptions and two fumbles by redshirt freshman quarterback Spencer Sanders. Safety Douglas Coleman III snatched two interceptions for the Red Raiders, bringing him to five in five games this season. "We had to show the world, like, we can play defense at Texas Tech," Coleman said. "I think it was a big statement we had to prove." Texas Tech heads to Baylor next week for its first trip to Waco in 12 years.
Iowa State 49, TCU 24
Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns and ran 102 yards for two more scores, overwhelming the Horned Frogs defense and leading the Cyclones to a 49-24 victory for their first Big 12 win of the season. "I think Brock is really special. I don't know if I have any different feeling for the words I can use for to describe Brock," Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said. "He's a guy who gives us an ability (as) a dual threat football player." Freshman quarterback Max Duggan finished 17 for 25 passing for 219 yards and two touchdowns for the Horned Frogs. TCU is off next week and plays at Kansas State on Oct. 19.
Baylor 31, Kansas State 12
Bad Baylor surprised me again, beating Kansas State 31-12 on Saturday. The victory extends the Bears undefeated record to 5-0 and marks Baylor's first conference road win since beating Kansas in 2017. "I'm really proud of our guys because this is a tough place to play with a great crowd," Baylor coach Matt Rhule said. "I thought our guys battled early, found a way to get a halftime lead and then grounded it out in the second half." Baylor quarterback Charlie Brewer led his team with 230 yards passing and one touchdown, but left the game early in the fourth quarter with an injury and did not return. Running back John Lovett rushed for two touchdowns for the Bears, one of which came on a 46-yard run late in the fourth quarter to seal the Wildcat's fate. Baylor returns home to face Texas Tech next Saturday.
UAB 35, Rice 20
Quarterback Tyler Johnston III threw for 282 yards and three touchdowns and running back Lucious Stanley ran for two scores, leading UAB to a 35-20 win over Rice on Saturday. The Owls have lost 17 of their last 18 games dating back to last season. Rice is off next week and plays at UTSA on Oct. 19.
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The Astros were a season low 12 games under .500 (12-24) on May 8th but were able to turn things around and entered the All-Star break with a respectable 50-46 record.
The turnaround can be attributed to better performances on the field by a multitude of players, but there are still things that could be improved to ensure a successful second half of the season.
As it currently stands, Houston is only one game behind the Seattle Mariners in the American League West division race, and the Astros should have key players returning from injury to further bolster their playoff ambitions.
The return of the King
Kyle Tucker has been on the injured list with a shin contusion for six weeks now, and looks to return in the near future.
The Astros have done surprisingly well without their three-time All-Star outfielder thanks to contributions from guys like Joey Loperfido, Jake Meyers and Marcio Dubon in the outfield. Plus, Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman, Yanier Diaz and Jeremy Pena carrying the offense while King Tuck is away.
Before getting hurt, the 27-year-old was hitting .266/.395/.584 through 60 games. Houston already has one of the best offenses in baseball, and adding Tucker back would give the Astros another high-quality bat to further bolster their lineup.
The latest update is Tucker has been playing catch and could start a rehab assignment soon if all goes well.
Fix the rotation
Starting pitching has been a major issue this season due to a multitude of injuries.
Cristian Javier, Jose Urquidy and J.P. France have all been lost for the year with various surgeries and guys like Justin Verlander and Luis Garcia are trying to work their way back from their injured list stints.
Garcia was recently pulled from his rehab assignment and won’t pitch again until he is ready. Meanwhile, Verlander could be closer to his return and is throwing bullpen sessions as of July 14. Getting both of these pitchers back at some point this season will be a huge boost to this roster.
The current Astros’ rotation consists of Framber Valdez, Ronel Blanco, Hunter Brown, Spencer Arrighetti and Jake Bloss. Although not a bad rotation by any means, the starting pitching depth is getting pretty thin and Houston can ill afford another injury to their staff.
Astros general manager Dana Brown has been vocal about his desire to add starting pitching, and could have some options heading into the trade deadline. Players like Jack Flaherty, Garrett Crochet or Yusei Kikuchi, just to name a few, could be low risk high reward pitchers the Astros could acquire to add depth to their rotation.
Another option would be to call up A.J. Blubaugh from Sugar Land. The 24-year-old has a 6-2 record with a 3.46 ERA in 71.1 innings pitched this season for the Space Cowboys and could be a necessary depth piece to add to the rotation.
Play Astros baseball
The Astros have been playing better baseball as of late and have won 18 of their last 23 games. With players like Kyle Tucker and Justin Verlander potentially returning soon, there is reason to believe Houston can make the playoffs for the 8th consecutive season.
The 'Stros will try to take sole possession of first place in their division from the Mariners when the two teams meet for three games at T-Mobile Park starting on Friday night.