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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The phrase most associated with the late former Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders’ owner Al Davis was “Just win baby.” One has to think Al would strongly approve of the Houston Astros. Going to the fifth inning Sunday against the Mariners the Astros were facing a 3-0 deficit and staring at the prospect of being swept out of Seattle and having their American League West division lead slashed to just two games. Now after roaring from behind with 11 unanswered runs to take the series finale in the Emerald City, and then sweeping three games from the Diamondbacks in Phoenix, the Astros stand six games up with 60 games to go. So, if the Astros play just .500 ball the rest of the way (which would have them finish with 90 victories), the Mariners have to play .600 ball to catch them. If somehow the Astros are to maintain their season long win pace to the finish line they’d close with 95 wins, and the race is already over unless someone thinks the M’s are poised to uncork a finishing kick of 41-19 or better. It’s quite a pleasing perch from which the Astros survey the standings. Coupled with the freefalling Detroit Tigers having dropped nine of their last ten games, the Astros amazingly start this homestand sporting the best record in the entire American League. On the homestand they follow four games against the team with the second-worst record in the American League (Athletics) with three versus the team with the second-worst record in the National League (Nationals). I know, I know. There is fear of the Astros playing down to the competition, but that is not the way to look at it. A bad Major League team can beat a good team in a series at any time. If it happens it happens, but it wouldn’t mean it happened only because the Astros didn’t take their opponent seriously. This isn’t the NBA.
Trade deadline looming
Of course, It hasn’t been all good news with Isaac Paredes badly injuring a hamstring Sunday. Paredes could be back in three weeks (doubtful), he could miss the rest of the season. GET WELL SOON JEREMY PENA! Lance McCullers’s latest Injured List stint could be considered addition by subtraction for the Astros’ starting rotation. Whether impacted by his blister issue, Lance was lousy in four of his last five starts. So, one week from the trade deadline, if general manager Dana Brown has the ammo to get one deal done, where does he make the upgrade? The left-handed hitter everyone knows the Astros can use regardless of Yordan Alvarez’s status is a natural priority. With the Astros’ weak farm system it would seem difficult for Brown to put forth the winning offer for the top bats that could be in play. That probably rings even truer now, since if he wasn’t already untouchable, Brice Matthews may have cemented untouchable status by darn near winning the first two games of the Diamondbacks series by himself. Matthews is going to struggle mightily to hit for a good average if he can’t make notable improvement in the contact department, but the power is obvious, as is the athleticism in the field. The 23-year-old Matthews and 22-year-old Cam Smith (though presently mired in a three for 36 slump) are the clear (and right now only) two young shining beacons for the lineup’s future.
You can't have enough pitching
While Brandon Walter has been a revelation, a starting pitcher would make sense unless the decision is to hope Spencer Arrighetti and/or Cristian Javier can contribute meaningfully upon return to the big leagues, likely sometime next month. Going after a reliever or two may make more sense in terms of availability and transaction cost. Overall the Astros’ bullpen has been excellent, but Bryan Abreu is the only trustworthy right-handed option for Joe Espada. Back to Walter. Barely two months ago no way Walter himself would have believed he’d be where he is now. Nine starts since being summoned basically out of desperation, Walter has a 3.35 earned run average, and a stunning 13 to one strikeout-to-walk ratio with his 52 strikeouts against a measly four walks allowed in 53 2/3 innings. Walter has pitched fabulously in seven of his nine starts. He only has two wins, but that’s because in five of the six Walter starts the Astros didn’t win the game they failed to score more than two runs. Walter turns 29 years old in September. His only prior big league experience was 23 innings in relief with a 6.26 ERA for the Red Sox two years ago. The Bosox released him last August, the Astros signed him basically as minor league depth. Look at him (and the Astros) now.
For Astro-centric conversation, 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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