Here's a look at what happened in the Lone Star State and with LSU:
Saturday NCAA Football Recap: LSU is crowned king of the SEC, advances to college football playoffs
Dec 8, 2019, 1:29 pm
Here's a look at what happened in the Lone Star State and with LSU:
Joe "Superman" Burrow padded his Heisman resume even further with an extremely impressive performance leading No. 1 LSU to a spot in the College Football Playoff after routing No. 4 Georgia 37-10 in the Southeastern Conference championship game on Saturday. Burrow threw for 349 yards, four touchdowns and added another 41 yards rushing on 11 carries. The Superman highlight of the game came late in the third quarter when Burrow scrambled to get away from Travon Walker, leaving the lineman on the turf, then drilled a 71-yard pass to Justin Jefferson while sprinting away from another Georgia defender. "It was all improvised," Burrow said. "Justin ran a 6-yard hitch route and saw me scrambling and took off deep. We got a great feel for each other. I knew exactly where he was going to be when I got out of there." Georgia entered the game ranked second in points allowed and until Saturday held nearly every opponent under 20. "That is a really good football team," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. "We were going to have to make explosive plays. We were unable to do that." LSU is going for its first national title since the 2007 season and will head to Atlanta or Phoenix for a semifinal game on Dec. 28 against OU.
The sixth-ranked Sooners are Big 12 Champions for the fifth consecutive year after another close win over No. 8 Baylor. "I hope they see the Big 12 champions. They've got a job to do, I get that," Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said after the Sooners' 30-23 overtime win on Saturday. It was the second time in four games that the Sooners have bested the Bears and third-year Baylor coach Matt Rhule says Oklahoma should be in the playoffs no matter other game results. Only three times since the founding of Baylor's football program in 1899 have the Bears won 11 games in a single season. This historic year for the Bears comes two years after Rhule's first season as head coach in which Bad Baylor lost 11 games in the wake of a sexual assault scandal that led to the firing of two-time Big 12 champion coach Art Briles. Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts was 17-of-24 passing for 278 yards and a touchdown and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb had 173 yards on eight receptions. The Bears will face Georgia in the Sugar Bowl which will likely be hosted in New Orleans. OU will face LSU in the playoffs.
Jalen Green made two free throws with 3.5 seconds left and the Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors 91-90 on Wednesday night to advance to the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas.
Houston snapped a 15-game skid against the Warriors, winning for the first time in the series since Feb. 20, 2020. The Rockets will face Oklahoma City, which beat Dallas in the other West quarterfinal game on Tuesday night, in the semifinals on Saturday.
Alperen Sengun led the Rockets with 26 points and 11 rebounds and Jabari Smith Jr. added 15 points.
Houston led by 14 before falling behind late to set up the thrilling finish.
Houston trailed by six with about 1 1/2 minutes left before Fred VanVleet made a 3-pointer and Sengun added a layup with 27 seconds to go to cut the lead to one.
Stephen Curry missed a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left and Gary Payton II grabbed the rebound, but Green intercepted his pass and was fouled by Jonathan Kuminga to set up the winning free throws.
The Warriors had a chance to win it at the buzzer but Smith blocked Brandin Podziemski’s 3-point attempt.
Warriors: Golden State beat the Rockets twice this season without Curry before losing Wednesday in a game where he had 19 points.
Rockets: This young team showed poise in finishing this one after squandering a double-digit lead.
Green’s hustle on getting the ball late to draw the foul to set up the winning free throws.
Houston won despite making just 6 of 27 3-pointers.
While Houston heads to Las Vegas this weekend, the Warriors will return to regular-season play Sunday at Dallas.