The Cougars struck early, finishing their first drive with kicker Dalton Witherspoon drilling a 46-yarder, his longest field goal of the night. Houston then scored on four consecutive drives putting the Cougars up 31-3 with 10:25 left in the first half. That explosive Houston offense was nowhere to be found in the second half in which they only scored once. The missed tackles that haunted the Cougars in their season-opener against the fifth-ranked Sooners went uncorrected in Saturday's game against the overmatched Panthers. The Cougars are going to have to dig deep on both sides of the ball if they want to stand a chance against No. 20 Washington State next week.
No. 1 Clemson looked comfortable as they won their record-tying 17th straight game with a 24-10 victory over the Aggies on Saturday. The Tigers wanted to leave no doubts that they were a better team than the Aggies after Texas A&M'S nail-biting 28-26 loss to Clemson in 2018. "We wanted to leave no doubt this year," Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence said. "I think we did that." Aggie quarterback Kellen Mond, who threw for 430 yards against Clemson in their meeting last season, left much to be desired after being restricted to only 236 yards passing with an interception and a fumble on Saturday. Toward the end of the first half, Clemson receiver Tee Higgins reached behind him to grab a pass from Lawrence at the A&M 2. Two plays later, Lawrence scored on a 1-yard run sending the Tigers up 17-3 at the half. The Aggies never recovered. Aggie coach Jimbo Fisher will have plenty to harp on in practice this week as his team struggled on both sides of the ball. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney was especially proud of how his secondary responded to keep the Aggies out of the end zone. There was "a lot of talk about our secondary in last year's game versus A&M and these guys responded," Swinney said. Clemson is expected to hold firm to its No. 1 position and the Aggies will likely take a huge dive down the rankings. Texas A&M hosts Lamar next week and Clemson returns to ACC play at Syracuse.
LSU quarterback Joe Burrow was on fire, delivering all the big throws for the Tigers in their near-perfect 45-38 win over the Longhorns Saturday night. Burrow threw for 471 yards and four touchdowns. "Man, he was so fired up," LSU coach Ed Orgeron said. "The kid is a baller. He lives for that moment and I'll tell you what, those were some tough plays." Burrow was laser-focused after the half when he was 15-of-18 passing for 251 yards and two touchdowns. LSU receiver Justin Jefferson had nine receptions for 163 yards and three scores. Jefferson's final touchdown reception came when Burrow dropped back to avoid a blitz and fired the pass. The completion was good enough for a first down but Jefferson broke a tackle and sped down the sideline for a touchdown. LSU's new wide-open offense was razor sharp but the defense missed tackles and gave up huge plays and scoring drives. With kickoff temperatures hovering around 100 degrees, it's no wonder LSU players had trouble with cramps all night. Texas fans booed when they thought LSU players were stalling. When asked if LSU's cramping halted his team's momentum, Herman said "Yes." Longhorn quarterback Sam Ehlinger, who matched Burrow nearly blow for blow, finished with 401 passing yards and four touchdowns. Texas is at Rice next week and LSU hosts Northwestern State.
Texas Tech quarterback Alan Bowman threw three touchdown passes and the Red Raiders coasted to a 38-3 victory over UTEP on Saturday night. The Red Raider defense allowed just 131 yards total offense in Texas Tech's eight-straight win against UTEP. "Obviously we never want to punt but to walk off the field and know, probably like they are not going to score, they are definitely not going to score," Bowman said. "For them to have our back like that on offense just makes it more of, `OK, we can try to make this throw because we know they are going to the field and they are going to make a stop in the next possession.' So it definitely opens up a lot more for us and gives us a little bit more confidence.
Senior receiver Denzel Mims stole the show with three touchdowns and 147 yards on 12 receptions for Baylor in their 63-14 win over UTSA on Saturday. Baylor third-year starting quarterback Charlie Brewer completed 12-of-16 passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns while only playing the first half. Kickoff temperature was 99 degrees but the turf was much warmer. "Felt like it was 150 degrees," said Brewer, who was sent to the locker room early by coach Matt Rhule after feeling a burning sensation in his feet. "I'm good," said Brewer, who had X-rays to make sure there were no issues. "Feet were hot. I tried to go back in, and he wouldn't let me." The Bears followed up their 39-point season-opening victory by scoring their most points since 2015. Baylor is off next week and UTSA is home next Saturday against Army.
Wake Forest quarterback Jamie Newman threw for 312 yards passing and three touchdowns leading the Demon Deacons to a 41-21 victory over Rice on Friday night. Senior receiver Scotty Washington finished with 158 receiving yards on 7 receptions and three touchdowns for Wake Forest in their relentless takedown of the Owls. Rice quarterback Tom Stewart was 19-of-30 for only 185 yards and a touchdown after replacing starter Wiley Green, who was carted off the field in the first quarter. Rice faces No. 9 Texas in Houston next week and Wake Forest hosts North Carolina.
Cooper Rothe kicked three field goals and Tyler Hall snagged a pick-six to lead Wyoming to a 23-14 victory over Texas State on Saturday. The Bobcats controlled the first half but Hall intercepted a pass from Gresch Jensen and dashed 72 yards for the score, giving Wyoming a 20-14 lead in the fourth quarter. Rothe kicked a 19-yard field goal, sealing the win for Wyoming on the final quarter.
Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander will make his season debut Friday night at the Washington Nationals.
Houston manager Joe Espada made the announcement Wednesday.
“Getting him back is huge because it brings a level of confidence to our team, a boost of confidence that we’re going to get someone who’s been an MVP, a Cy Young (winner) on the mound,” Espada said. “It's (good) for the morale and to get stuff started and moving in the right direction.”
The three-time Cy Young Award winner opened the season on the injured list with inflammation in his right shoulder. He made two rehabilitation starts, the first for Triple-A Sugar Land on April 7 before Saturday’s start for Double-A Corpus Christi.
Espada wouldn't say how many pitches the 41-year-old would be limited to but said they'll keep an eye on his workload.
“We've got to be careful how hard we push him early,” Espada said. “I know he’s going to want to go and stay out there and give us an opportunity to win, but we've got to be cautious of how hard we push him early in the season.”
Verlander wasn’t thrilled with the results in his rehabilitation starts, but he said Monday that those games were valuable in getting him prepared to come off the IL.
He allowed seven hits and six runs — five earned — in four innings against Frisco on Saturday. He struck out three, walked one and threw 51 of 77 pitches for strikes.
Verlander allowed six earned runs and struck out six while pitching into the fourth inning for Sugar Land on April 7.
The Astros have gotten off to a tough start with Verlander and fellow starters Framber Valdez and José Urquidy on the injured list. They enter Wednesday's games last in the AL West with a 6-13 record.
Espada hopes Verlander can be the boost the team needs to get on track.
“It’s good to get him back in the rotation,” Espada said. “With what he means to this club just to get him back on track, getting some innings from him (to) build our rotation with the pieces that we need to move forward is exciting.”
