Here's a look at what happened in the Lone Star State and with LSU:
Saturday NCAA Football Recap: Houston finally snags a win; Baylor secures first Big 12 Championship spot
Nov 24, 2019, 7:26 pm
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Houston 24, Tulsa 14
Cornerback Damarion Williams gave the Cougars the lead for good with an interception return of 25 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. Scoring was capped by a 94-yard kickoff return from Marquez Stevenson and Houston held off Tusla 24-14 on Saturday night. The Golden Hurricane out-gained Houston 380-231, however Houston committed one turnover compared to Tulsa's four. Houston finishes its season against Navy at home on Saturday.
LSU 56, Arkansas 20
Running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire rushed for a career-high 188 yards and three touchdowns, including a career-long 89-yard touchdown run, and the Tigers mopped Arkansas 56-20 on Saturday night. "I went in and it was like, `Get the yard, get out of bounds, shut it down for the rest of the game," said Edwards-Helaire, who has 15 rushing touchdowns this season. "But that hole parted like the Red Sea." Superstar quarterback Joe Burrow was sensational, passing for 327 yards and three touchdowns. The Heisman front-runner eclipsed 4,000 yards-passing for the season on a 50-yard touchdown toss to Ja'Marr Chase in the third quarter. Burrow also hit Chase with a 37-yarder on the Tiger's first possession of the game. LSU became the first team in SEC history to have a 4,000-yard passer (Burrow), two 1,000-yard receivers (Chase and Jefferson) and a 1,000-yard rusher Edwards-Helaire in the same season. LSU looks to close out its first undefeated regular season since 2011 when it hosts Texas A&M on Saturday.
Georgia 19, Texas A&M 13
The fourth-ranked Bulldogs managed only one touchdown against the overmatched Aggies but kicker Rodrigo Blankenship booted four field goals, leading Georgia to a lackluster 19-13 victory over Texas A&M on Saturday. Georgia only managed 260 total yards of offense but the defense put on a dominating performance until the final minutes of the game when fatigue set in. "No bones about it, we've got to improve," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. "There were things tonight that we missed that were there. That's the frustrating part." Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm finished 11-of-23 for 163 yards. The Aggies will face their fifth Top 10 opponent this season when they travel to Baton Rouge to battle top-ranked LSU.
Kansas State 30, Texas Tech 27
Joshua Youngblood returned the rock 100 yards for a touchdown and Kansas State held off the Red Raiders 30-27 on Saturday. Kansas State's Skylar Thompson threw for 246 yards, two touchdowns and added another score on the ground. Jett Duffey passed for 334 yards and two touchdowns for Texas Tech which fell short of bowl eligibility. "This loss solidifying the fact that we can't make a bowl game is really heart breaking, really devastating," Texas Tech's Adrian Frye said. Texas Tech will finish out its season at Texas on Friday.
Baylor 24, Texas 10
Two years after an 11-loss season in 2017, the Bears won their home finale 24-10 over Texas on Saturday to secure a spot in their first Big 12 championship game. "I'm just really proud of the process of our players," Baylor coach Matt Rhule said. "That's what my whole message to our players is. ... This didn't happen tonight. It happened every morning over the last two years, 6 a.m. wakeup calls, 5 a.m. wakeup calls." Quarterback Charlie Brewer completed 16-of-25 passes for 221 yards and a touchdown for the Bears. He also added a score on the ground and 75 rushing yards on 18 carries. Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger finished 22-of-37 passing for 200 yards and was sacked five times. The Longhorns have lost five games for the eighth time in 10 years. Texas hosts Texas Tech on Friday and Baylor plays its regular-season finale at Kansas of Saturday.
Oklahoma 28, TCU 24
Oklahoma's Jalen Hurts threw touchdowns and ran for another two scores and No. 9 Oklahoma held off TCU 28-24 on Saturday night. Hurts connected on 11-of-21 passes, threw an interception that led to a touchdown and lost a fumble in the red zone. "Regardless of the fumble or the pick six or whatever mess-up I may have had today, we found a way," he said. It was an uncharacteristically mediocre game for the senior quarterback. Hurts rushed for 173 yards on 28 carries and passed for 145 yards. "One of the first games where he just missed a few throws down the field that could have really busted the thing open," Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said. "And they were all just long by just a tad bit. So he was just a little bit off on some of the deep balls." TCU quarterback Max Duggan rushed for 92 yards and a touchdown for the Horned Frogs. Kennedy Brooks added 149 yards for the Sooners and CeeDee Lamb caught his 32nd career touchdown pass to move into second place on Oklahoma's career list. TCU hosts West Virginia next week.
Appalachian State 35, Texas State 13
Tailback Darrynton Evans ran for 154 yards and three second-half touchdowns, leading the No. 24 Appalachian State to a 35-13 victory over Texas State on Saturday. Quarterback Tyler Vitt threw for 154 yards and a touchdown for the Bobcats.
Rice 20, North Texas 14
Charlie Booker and Aston Walter had touchdown runs in the first half, leading Rice to their second victory of the season. The Mean Green failed to capitalize on forced turnovers and The Owls beat North Texas 20-14 on Saturday.
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So where does one turn now in Houston for mediocre, overpriced salsa? I kid, I kid. While wondering if Breggy Baked Beans are on the horizon. Congrats to Alex Bregman and agent Scott Boras for landing an on its face outlandish three-year 120-million dollar contract with the Boston Red Sox. With deferred money part of the deal the contract will be valuated in the neighborhood of “only” three years 90 million. Would Bregman have taken that from the Astros if offered? The Astros’ six-year 156-million dollar proposal was 26 mil per season. Bregman has the right to opt out after each of the first two seasons of his BoSox deal. If his decline (while still a very good player) of the last two seasons continues, or even if he holds steady, there is near zero chance of Bregman opting out unless he hates life in New England. At the end of the three years, will Bregman be able to land a three-year 66 million-dollar deal when he’s about to turn 34 years old? That plus the 90 mil with deferrals accounted for in his new deal would total 156 million. Massachusetts taxes personal income of just over a million dollars and upward at a nine percent rate. Playing half his games in the Bay State, Bregman will pay Massachusetts tax on half his salary.
Reminders...
Bregman obviously had an excellent Astros’ career, among non-pitchers he is top 10 all-time, but the excellence was frontloaded. Over Bregman’s first three big seasons he compiled a .289 batting average and .924 OPS. Elite numbers. Over the five seasons since: .261 and .795. Good, nothing legendary. After his monster MVP runner-up 2019 season (stats aided by the juiced balls of that season) Bregman was on a strong early Hall of Fame track. Now not so much, without some offensive resurgence. Fenway Park should suit Bregman well. He’ll bang singles and doubles off of the Green Monster, though the much higher than Crawford Boxes wall will not goose his home run numbers. In his time with the Astros Bregman mashed at Fenway with a .375 batting average and 1.240 OPS. That’s in a statistically not very significant 98 regular season plate appearances.
It is myth that Bregman in the postseason was some relentless hitting machine. He posted phenomenal numbers over seven Division Series batting .333 with an OPS over 1.000. Over 68 American League Championship Series and World Series games: batting average .196, OPS sub-.700.
For his career, Bregman’s worst month of performance by far has been April (plus any days in March, .737 OPS). In 2024 Bregman was baseball garbage into mid-May. Should a typical slow start happen again, we’ll see what the Fenway faithful patience level is. By far, Bregman’s best batting month has been August (.992 OPS). As it works out, both Astros-Red Sox series are in August this year. First in Boston August 1-3 then in Houston August 11-13.
Who's on third?
Over the last two seasons combined, new Astros’ third baseman Isaac Paredes has been as good offensively as Bregman. That includes Paredes pretty much stinking for two months in Chicago after being dealt from the Rays to the Cubs. Paredes, who turns 26 years old on Tuesday, was an AL All-Star last season. Bregman, who turns 31 March 30, was last an All-Star in 2019. The defensive drop-off from Bregman to Paredes is a fairly steep one.
There is no question that Bregman’s official departure weakens the Astros via a domino effect. Had Bregman wound up staying here, Paredes would have shifted to second base with Jose Altuve primarily in left field. Now, 600-plus plate appearances that Bregman would have taken project to be divided among Mauricio Dubon, Ben Gamel, Zach Dezenzo, and others. That projects as a substantial offensive downgrade. The lineup net result of the Astros’ offseason is negative. Christian Walker and Paredes joining the infield in lieu of Jon Singleton and Bregman is fine. Kyle Tucker out, hodge-podge in in the outfield, oh boy.
Alex Bregman is an unquestioned gamer, leader, and would seem to have the temperament to take well to the more intense baseball environment of Boston relative to that in Houston. Yankee fans should reeeeally love him now!
New beginnings
Considering baseball wasn’t invented until more than a century later, the poet Alexander Pope did not have baseball in mind when in 1732 he wrote “Hope springs eternal (in the human breast).” It works though. Other than the Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies, Major League teams have convened in Florida or Arizona thinking if things break right this could be their year! I’d probably put the Miami Marlins in with the ChiSox and Rockies. Many Astros’ fans are strongly disgruntled over the departures of Bregman and Kyle Tucker. This team still has “gruntlement” potential. The batting order appears Morganna-level (Google as necessary) top heavy, but one through five stacks well versus most other lineups. In the American League only the Mariners, Yankees, and maybe Royals have starting pitching rotations that should rate above the Astros’ rotation. Let the countdown to Opening Day begin!
Spring training is up and running. Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me 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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