A LOOK BACK AT SATURDAY"S NCAA GAMES
Saturday NCAA Football Recap: Texas schools barely clinch victories in Week 5
Kalah Winters
Sep 30, 2018, 1:56 pm
Kyler Murray did not start, but played terrific in a win over Baylor. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
The word of the week is ‘sloppy’ but a win is a win, I guess. Here’s what happened:
LSU 45, Mississippi 16
After narrowly escaping defeat at the hands of an undermatched opponent last week, LSU coach Ed Orgeron compared his team to an overconfident fighter who drops their hands and subsequently gets “hit in the face”. This week, however, the Tigers came ready to play and they were out for redemption. LSU quarterback Joe Burrow wreaked havoc on Mississippi as he led his team to a 45-16 victory over the Rebels on Saturday night. The junior quarterback threw for 292 yards, three touchdowns, and rushed for 96 yards and another score, beating Ole’ Miss on the ground and in the air. "LSU used to be a running offense," said receiver Justin Jefferson, who had five catches for 99 yards and two touchdowns. "Spreading the ball around like we do now is a very good feeling for this offense, especially the receivers." Freshman receiver Ja’Marr Chase leaped and caught a 21-yard sideline pass from Burrow for the Tiger’s first score of the game. "I'm excited about the play of Joe Burrow," said LSU coach Ed Orgeron. "Joe can make the throws. I know he can make the decisions and I know he can scramble.” Despite LSU dominating most of the game, two LSU turnovers kept the Rebels in the game until late in the third quarter.
Oklahoma 66, Baylor 33
Despite not starting for the Sooners, per team policy for being late to practice Friday, junior quarterback Kyler Murray ran for a score and threw for career-highs of 432 yards and six touchdowns. Murray is now tied with Baker Mayfield’s school record by accounting for seven touchdowns in a game, and his 348 efficiency rating was a school record. "He handled the situation before the game well," Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said. "Didn't freak out like I'm sure the rest of America did. It was what it was." Well you can say that again, coach. Junior receiver Marquise Brown caught five passes for 132 yards and two scores, sophomore receiver CeeDee Lamb grabbed three receptions for 101 yards and one touchdown, and freshman running back Kennedy Brooks ran for 107 yards and two scores. Turns out Murray’s own teammates are just as stunned as we are by his playmaking abilities. "I haven't seen anybody else do it better," Lamb said. "He surprises me every week, just like he surprises y'all. I promise.” Sophomore quarterback Charlie Brewer was 38 for 60 with 400 yards and two touchdowns for the Bears, but was sacked six times. The Sooners will face off with the Longhorns in Dallas on Saturday. This will be the first time since 2015 that the Sooners enter the rivalry game undefeated.
West Virginia 42, Texas Tech 34
Red Raider true freshman quarterback Alan Bowman did not return after getting pinned on hits from Ezekiel Rose and Keith Washington as he threw a pass. Senior West Virginia quarterback, Will Grier was 27-of-41 for 370 yards and three touchdowns. Washington stopped a potential rally by Tech with a 51-yard interception return for a score and No. 12 West Virginia remains undefeated with a 42-34 victory over No. 25 Texas Tech.
Texas 19, Kansas State 14
The No. 18 Longhorns were off to a great start on Saturday night. Sophomore quarterback Sam Ehlinger was 29-of-36 with 207 yards and one touchdown, and defensive back D’Shawn Jamison returned a punt 90 yards for another score, putting the Longhorns up 19-0 by halftime. And that was all she wrote (for the offense anyway). The Longhorns were forced to rely heavily on their defense for the remainder of the game. Unfortunately for Texas, the Wildcats came out a different team in the second half. Sophomore quarterback Skylar Thompson threw for 96 yards in relief of ineffective Alex Delton and he led the Wildcats to two touchdowns in the second half. However, after two incompletions with 7:12 to go in the game, the Wildcats’ offense never got another opportunity with the ball. Texas managed to hold down Kansas State for a 19-14 victory. "We won ugly, but the key is we won," Longhorn coach Tom Herman said. "They all look pretty on Sunday morning."
Texas A&M 24, Arkansas 17
What started as a great game, ended as a sloppy mess, according to Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher. "We played in spurts," said Fisher. "We came out and started well, had some great things off the beginning, lost control of the game." A&M had a 17-0 lead in the second quarter when sophomore quarterback Kellen Mond threw his second interception of the game. Freshman running back Jashaun Corbin had the first 100-yard kickoff return to start a game for the Aggies since 1994. Junior running back Trayveon Williams ran for 152 yards and two touchdowns but it took a late interception by senior defensive back Donovan Wilson to seal the 24-17 win for the Aggies on Saturday. "Probably played our worst football game of the year by far and need to get things fixed," Fisher said. "Had decent intensity. But our intelligence level, how to play and how to expect to win and play from ahead and do things that champions do and good football teams do, we've got to grow in it."
Wake Forest 56, Rice 24
After giving up 41 points in a loss to Boston College, and another 56 in defeat to Notre Dame, the Demon Deacons desperately needed this win and it showed as they sailed to a (mostly) error-free victory over Rice on Saturday. "To me, it looked like they were having fun," Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson said. "They were playing with emotion. They were flying around. The blitzes looked faster. There was just an energy level out there, and I think they got some confidence from the first few drives." Wake forest was up to a 42-3 lead over the Owls by halftime. Sophomore receiver Greg Dortch finished with 11 receptions for 163 yards and four touchdowns, leading Wake Forest to a 56-24 victory over Rice.
UTSA 30, UTEP 21
Junior quarterback Cordale Grundy was 20-for-35 with 187 yards, two touchdown passes, and one rushing score for the Roadrunners as they held off UTEP for a 30-21 victory in a Conference USA opener on Saturday. UTEP’s school losing streak now stands at 17 straight.
TCU 17, Iowa State 14
"Coach P says whether you win by 50 or win by 1, a win is a win," TCU senior defensive end Ben Banogu said. "I'm glad we got a `W' on the board." This seems to be the trend for Texas schools this week. Banogu returned a fumble 47 yards for a score before missing a critical sack on Iowa State’s game-tying drive. Jonathan Song sealed the 17-14 victory over Iowa State for the Horned Frogs with a 28-yard field goal with 37 seconds remaining.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.