Here's a look at what happened in the Lone Star State and with LSU
Saturday NCAA Football Recap: Tough losses plague Texas teams in Week 12; LSU remains undefeated
Nov 17, 2019, 12:09 pm
Here's a look at what happened in the Lone Star State and with LSU
Houston quarterback Clayton Tune burst up the middle for a 68-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter. That was the most memorable offensive play of the game for the Cougars. Memphis quarterback Brady White threw for 341 yards and five touchdowns and ran for another score and No. 18 Memphis overcame a 10-point first-quarter deficit to beat the pants off Houston 45-27 on Saturday. Tune was 14-of-22 for 157 yards with one touchdown for the Cougars. "I think we ran out of gas with four minutes to go in the second quarter," Houston coach Dana Holgorsen said. Houston started off strong but was held to just 113 yards of total offense in the final three quarters. The Cougars got into the red zone and settled for field goals twice. Memphis finished with nine tackles for loss and three sacks. Houston is at Tulsa on Saturday.
Joe "Superman" Burrow was unbelievably good against Ole Miss on Saturday night. The Heisman front-runner completed 32 of 42 passes, threw for a career-best 489 yards and five touchdowns, and the top-ranked Tigers rolled past Mississippi 58-37. LSU built an early lead, scoring on four of its first five possessions to jump out to a 28-0 lead over the Rebels. "It wasn't pretty, but we did it after a big win last week," LSU coach Ed Orgeron said. "We came in here to win a football game and we won by 21 points. We're 10-0 and I'm very proud of that." At one point, Burrow completed 17 consecutive passes to set a school record, passing Rohan Davey's 2001 single-season school record for yards passing. Sophomore receiver Ja'Marr Chase snagged touchdown passes of 34, 51, and 61 yards for 227 total yards for LSU. "We dug ourselves too deep a hole," Ole Miss coach Matt Luke said. "We had a chance to get it to a one possession game, but we never could get there." Ole Miss freshman quarterback John Rhys Plumlee finished with 212 yards rushing, a school quarterback record, three touchdowns and was 9 of 16 passing for 123 yards. LSU hosts Arkansas on Saturday.
Connor Assalley drilled a 36-yarder as time expired and Iowa State beat No. 22 Texas 23-21 on Saturday. Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy had 354 yards passing and two touchdowns, and he led the Cyclones 63 yards in three minutes to set up the field goal of Assalley's life. "They continue to fight when I think everyone has written us off at times," Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said. "Our kids just keep playing." Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger had 273 yards and three touchdowns for the Longhorns. Ehlinger gave Texas a 21-20 lead with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Malcolm Epps with 5:37 to go. But the Cyclones stuffed the Longhorns on their next possession. "Obviously a really, really poor performance by our offense the first two quarters," Texas coach Tom Herman said. "Not being able to run the ball the way we thought we would be able to was the biggest difference." Texas plays at Baylor on Saturday.
Boomer Sooner. Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts threw four touchdown passes and Gabe Brkic booted a 31-yard field goal with 1:45 left to cap the Sooner's wild 34-31 comeback victory over Baylor on Saturday. Although the Sooners were without star receiver Cee Dee Lamb, Hurts was 30-of-42 passing for 297 yards, all of his touchdowns coming after Baylor took a 28-3 lead early in the second quarter. The loss snaps Baylor's 11-game win streak leaving No. 1 LSU, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Clemson as the only undefeated FBS teams. Baylor hosts No. 19 Texas on Saturday.
After squandering multiple 17-point leads in the first half, Jonathan Song won TCU the battle for bowl eligibility on a 20-yarder with 5:38 left to play. TCU quarterback Max Duggan accounted for 323 yards and all three touchdowns, helping the Horned Frogs to a 33-31 win over Big 12 rival Texas Tech. TCU's Vernon Scott forced a fumble by McLane Mannix on Tech's final possession. The Frogs' went into play ranked first in the Big 12 in holding opponents below their total offense average. Texas Tech, which went into the game averaging 478.6 yards, was held to 402. TCU visits Oklahoma on Saturday and Tech hosts Kansas State.
Troy quarterback Kaleb Barker threw for 363 yards and a school-record six touchdown passes to roll over Texas State 63-27 on Saturday. Texas State quarterback Tyler Vitt was 29-of-44 passing for 263 yards and two touchdowns, but was intercepted four times.
Rice quarterback Tom Stewart threw three touchdowns and Rice beat Middle Tennessee for its first win of the season. Stewart finished 12-of-23 passing for 222 yards.
Alex Bregman couldn’t hold back the smile when he was asked who might have had the biggest impact on his decision to sign with the Boston Red Sox.
“My favorite player Dustin Pedroia,” Bregman said of the club's former second baseman and two-time World Series champion.
“He reached out a few times this offseason and talked about how special it was to be a part of the Boston Red Sox,” Bregman said Sunday. “It was really cool to be able to talk to him as well as so many other former players here in Boston and current players on the team as well.”
A day after Bregman's $120 million, three-year contract was announced, he sat at a 25-minute news conference between his agent, Scott Boras, and Boston Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow. Manager Alex Cora, who gave Bregman a hug after he handed the infielder his No. 2 jersey, also was at the table along with team president Sam Kennedy.
Breslow and Cora wouldn't say whether Bregman would move to play second base, Pedroia's position, or remain at third — a position manned by Rafael Devers since July 2017.
A few players, Jarren Duran and Rob Refsnyder among them, and coaches stood behind the seated reporters to listen.
Bregman gets a $5 million signing bonus, a $35 million salary this season and $40 million in each of the following two years, with some of the money deferred, and he can opt out after the 2025 and 2026 seasons to become a free agent again.
Asked why he agreed to the shorter contract with opt outs, he leaned forward to the microphone in front of him and replied: “I just think I believe in my abilities.”
Originally selected by Boston in the 29th round of the 2012 amateur draft, Bregman attended LSU before the Houston Astros picked him second overall in 2015. His family history with the Red Sox goes back further.
“My dad grew up sitting on Ted Williams’ lap,” he said.
MLB.com said Stan Bregman, the player's grandfather, was a lawyer who represented the Washington Senators and negotiated Williams' deal to become manager.
Boston has missed the playoffs in five of the last six seasons and had avoided signing the highest-profile free agents. Boras said a conversation with Red Sox controlling owner John Henry showed ownership’s desire to get back to winning.
“I think it was after Soto signed,’’ Boras said, citing the record contract he negotiated for Juan Soto with the Mets. “We had a discussion. I could tell knowing John back with the Marlins and such, he had a real onus about ‘we need to do things differently than what we’ve done before.’
“This is a point and time where I believe Red Sox ownership was hungry for championship play and exhausted with what had happened the last five, six years.”
Called the “perfect fit” by Breslow, the 30-year-old Bregman joined the Red Sox after winning two World Series titles and reaching the playoffs in eight consecutive seasons with Houston.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to be in the playoffs the first eight years of my career, and I plan on continuing to do that here,” he said in his opening remarks. “I’m a winning player and this is a winning organization.”
Coming off an 81-81 season, the Red Sox acquired left-hander Garrett Crochet from the White Sox and signed fellow pitchers Walker Buehler, Patrick Sandoval, Aroldis Chapman and Justin Wilson during the offseason.
After the pitching moves, they found a right-handed bat, too.
“As the offseason progressed it just became clearer and clearer that Alex was the perfect fit for what we were trying to accomplish,” Breslow said.
Bregman ranks first among players with at least 75 career plate appearances in Fenway Park with an OPS of 1.240.
“He fits like a glove for our organization,” Kennedy said.