Houston secures a win without D'Eriq King and A&M narrowly staves off Kansas. Here's a look at what happened in the Lone Star State:

Saturday NCAA Football Recap: Tech gets hammered, Houston fights on, A&M escapes defeat

Kalah Winters
Sep 29, 2019, 3:32 pm
Cooper Neill/Getty Images

 Houston 46, North Texas 25

After Houston quarterback D'Eriq King and receiver Keith Corbin announced they would redshirt the remainder of the 2019 season, running back Patrick Carr stepped up, running for 139 yards and three touchdowns, leading the Cougars to a 46-25 victory over North Texas on Saturday night. In the second half, receiver Marquez Stevenson scored on a dazzling 82-yard kickoff return, the first Cougar to score on a kickoff since 2016. Although it looks like Houston's offense was the hero on Saturday night, safety Grant Stuard was disrupting the backfield on defense like he paid rent there with 11 tackles for the Cougars. Clayton Tune was rocky but he certainly made a statement, completing 16-of-20 passes with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Courtney Lark in the first quarter. Houston is off next week and hosts Cincinnati on Oct. 12.

Oklahoma 55, Texas Tech 16

Superstar quarterback Jalen Hurts looked comfortable and focused on Saturday as he led the Sooners to a demoralizing 55-16 victory over Texas Tech. Hurts threw for 415 yards, three touchdowns and ran for another score in his first 400-yard passing game since transferring from Alabama. "He's seeing the field really well," Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said. "He's understanding how we want to attack people. He was a little more confident today, a little bit more steady." Hurt's 485 yards of total offense ranks eighth in Oklahoma history. Oklahoma receiver CeeDee Lamb dominated the backfield and finished with career highs of 185 yards and three touchdowns on Saturday. As if breaking individual records wasn't enough, Lamb was elevated to seventh in Oklahoma history in yards receiving. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for Hurts, who threw his first interception of the season on a deflected pass in the third quarter. "We could have sat there and dwelled on it, pouted, whatever, but that's not the culture we have as a team," Hurts said. "We learn from it and move forward and keep the main thing the main thing." Oklahoma receiver Charleston Rambo, who entered the day leading the team in receptions, yards and touchdowns, had 122 yards receiving on just two catches in the first quarter. The Sooners entered the game leading the nation in offense and gained 642 yards. They have finished with at least 600 yards in each game this season. Oklahoma jumped to 4th in the poll after handling business against Texas Tech. The Sooners play at Kansas on Saturday.

Texas A&M 31, Arkansas 27

There's something freaky about these Texas A&M vs. Arkansas games: Even when the Aggies are favored by more than three touchdowns, the games always come down to the wire. Aggie quarterback Kellen Mond threw for 251 yards and three touchdowns, leading Texas A&M to a 31-27 victory over Arkansas on Saturday. Receiver Quartney Davis finished with two touchdowns and 62 yards receiving on 7 receptions for the Aggies. "I wouldn't say it's embarrassing. I've been playing this game for the past three years and it seems like every year it comes down to the wire," Davis said. "It's a pretty interesting game." The Aggies missed an opportunity to take the lead after lineman Justin Madubuike intercepted a pass by Nick Starkel at the goal line with 5:30 left in the first half. Instead, Dejon Harris picked up a fumble and returned it six yards for a touchdown on the next play, putting Arkansas within 14-10 with five minutes to play in the first half. "I had never had an interception in my life," Madubuike said. "I just looked up to see where the ball was and it just appeared right to my left peripheral. I turned and it was right there, and grabbed it and tried to run, and he tried to tackle me." The Aggies did just enough to hang onto the 23rd spot in the poll and will face second-ranked Alabama at home on Oct. 12.

TCU 51, Kansas 14

True freshman quarterback Max Duggan was nearly flawless in his second consecutive start, leading TCU to a 51-14 victory over Kansas on Saturday to open Big 12 play. Duggan led touchdown drives on each of his first-half possessions and finished 8-of-11 passing for 100 yards and two touchdowns. The Horned Frogs defense held Kansas to only 55 yards going into the fourth quarter and handed the Jayhawks their 46th consecutive Big 12 road loss. Duggan was replaced by graduate transfer Alex Delton halfway through the second quarter with TCU in a comfortable 28-0 lead. TCU plays its first Big 12 road game at Iowa State on Saturday.

 Baylor 23, Iowa State 21

As much as I like to harp on the importance of defense, field goals can really make or break a team that has blown a 20-point lead. Baylor coach Matt Rhule passed on a field goal attempt after redshirt freshman John Mayers badly missed a kick in the first half. Then the kid got another chance from the same distance of the early miss and he slipped in the 38-yarder with 21 seconds left for the first field goal of his career, elevating the Bears to a narrow 23-21 victory over Iowa State on Saturday. "Best one of my life so far, I think," Mayers said. "It was good to have to get another chance because a lot of times you don't as a kicker. The offense did a heck of a job to get the ball down there, and I was glad to get an opportunity." Baylor quarterback Charlie Brewer finished 26-of-45 with 307 yards passing and three touchdowns. The Bears are at Kansas State next Saturday.

Texas State 24, Nicholls  3

Bobcats quarterback Gresch Jensen threw two touchdowns in the second half and ran for another score, leading Texas State to a 24-3 victory over Nicholls on Saturday night. The Bobcats face UL Monroe at home on Oct. 10.

Louisiana Tech 23, Rice 20

Louisiana Tech quarterback J'Mar Smith ran for a touchdown in overtime and lifted the Bulldogs to a narrow victory over Rice in Houston on Saturday night. The Owls are on the road against UAB on Saturday.

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Astros improve to 6-4

Astros overpower Diamondbacks in blowout win to start series

Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

After grinding through back-to-back extra-inning games in the series with the Los Angeles Angels where they would ultimately come away with the victory, the Astros had a day off on Monday before getting back into action on Tuesday. They were in Arizona for the first of three games against the Diamondbacks. Here is a rundown of the series opener:

Final Score: Astros 8, Diamondbacks 2.

Record: 6-4, first in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Cristian Javier (1-0, 1.42 ERA).

Losing pitcher: Madison Bumgarner (0-2, 7.04 ERA).

Houston takes an early lead against Bumgarner and then piles on

Houston wasted no time going after Madison Bumgarner, with George Springer going after the first pitch of the game for a groundout, then Jose Altuve launching a solo home run on the next pitch to get an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first. They added to that lead in the second inning, with Carlos Correa leading it off with a solo home run of his own, making it 2-0. After two hit batters and a single, the Astros had the bases loaded for George Springer with one out, and he would deliver a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 3-0.

They would put runners on base in the next two innings, but would not score again until the fifth when a Bumgarner fielding error on a potential double-play would bring in a run and extend the inning. Houston would go on to load the bases, setting up Kyle Tucker for an RBI-single to make it 5-1 and end Bumgarner's night. Against Arizona's new reliever, Martin Maldonado worked a bases-loaded walk to make it 6-1, then Springer followed with a two-RBI double, blowing the game open at 8-1.

Javier gets first-career win in another impressive start

With a lead in hand when he went to the mound, Cristian Javier had another strong performance in his second-ever start. He allowed just one baserunner over the first three innings, a single in the second. After those three efficient innings, he would face some adversity in the bottom of the fourth. After allowing a double and one-out walk, he would give up his first run of the night on an RBI-single to make it a 3-1 game. Luckily, a great double play behind him would get him out of the jam and the inning.

Javier was able to settle back in after that rougher inning, getting quick, scoreless innings in the fifth and sixth, earning him the win. His final line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 0 HR.

Yet another rookie pitching debut as Houston's bullpen finishes the win

Bryan Abreu was first out of Houston's bullpen, taking over for Javier in the bottom of the seventh. He would not have an inning to remember, allowing a leadoff double followed later by two walks to load the bases. He then walked in a run, making it 8-2, and prompting another call to the bullpen. Enoli Paredes would enter and get the final out of the seventh inning.

Paredes ran into trouble of his own in the bottom of the eighth, loading the bases after a walk and two singles, but with some help from Houston's defense would keep it a six-run lead heading to the ninth. In yet another Astros debut for a pitcher in 2020, Humberto Castellanos entered in the bottom of the ninth, and he recorded the final three outs to close out the victory for Houston.

Up Next: This series continues on Wednesday with the middle game of this three-game set at 8:10 PM Central. Lance McCullers Jr. (1-0, 5.40 ERA) will return to the mound in another start for the Astros, while Robbie Ray (0-2, 8.64 ERA) will look to turn things around in his early season with the Diamondbacks.

astros recap mlb astros vs diamondbacks madison bumgarner cristian javier jose altuve carlos correa george springer astros

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