COLLEGE FOOTBALL REWIND
Saturday NCAA recap: Crazy week sees big wins for TCU, Houston
KALAH WINTERS
Nov 5, 2017, 11:18 am
TCU and head coach Gary Patterson bounced back with a win over Texas. Tom Pennington/Getty Images
The weekly recap of college football sees Baylor gets its first victory of the season and the Houston Cougars win big. Take a look at the highs and lows for Texas colleges:
Houston 52, East Carolina 27
Sophomore quarterback D’Eriq King threw for three touchdowns in his first start of the season against the East Carolina Pirates Saturday morning. The Cougars pushed ahead early in the first quarter, scoring two touchdowns in the first eight minutes of the game. Houston senior Steven Dunbar compiled six receptions for a career-high 171 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown catch. King also threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to Linell Bonner and a 5-yarder to Courtney Lark. The bowl-eligible Cougars converted three forced turnovers into scores in the 52-27 win over East Carolina.
TCU 24, Texas 7
The two best defenses in the Big 12 conference battled it out in Fort Worth on Saturday. Coming off their first loss of the season against Iowa State last week, the Horned Frogs knew this game was a big deal and they did not disappoint, beating Texas 24-7. The Longhorns are still struggling offensively and gained a mere 263 total yards, nine of which were rushing in this humbling defeat against TCU.
Auburn 42, Texas A&M 27
After a scoreless first quarter for the Tigers, Auburn kicked it into gear in this road win over the Aggies. Kerryon Johnson had 145 rushing yards, including a dazzling one-handed catch in the fourth quarter. Jarrett Stidham threw for three touchdowns and 268 yards.
Alabama 24, LSU 10
The undefeated Crimson Tide hammered out a victory over the LSU Tigers. Despite their many defensive stops, LSU struggled offensively and it cost them this game.
Central Florida 31, Southern Methodist 24
Undefeated UCF put up unusually low numbers in this road win over SMU. Typically high-performing UCF quarterback Mckenzie Milton threw two interceptions, one of which was returned for an SMU touchdown.
Baylor 38, Kansas 9
Baylor has finally won a game. Freshman Charlie Brewer made his first start of the season and led his team to victory over Kansas. Brewer threw for 315 yards and three touchdowns, while the Bear’s defense held Kansas to a mere 289 yards in this 38-9 blowout over Kansas.
UAB 52, Rice 21
In their first season back after ending their football program two years ago, bowl eligible UAB rolled over Rice for a dominating victory at home.
New Mexico State 45, Texas State 35
Per usual, the Bobcats saw their seventh loss of the season. Tyler Rodgers threw for 474 yards and led the New Mexico State Aggies to a win over Texas State.
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The Houston Texans have a big challenge in store as they look to start the season with a win against the Colts this Sunday. When these two teams met in Week 2 last year, the Colts dominated the Texans, despite losing their QB Anthony Richardson to a concussion after the first quarter.
Keeping Richardson contained on Sunday will go a long way in increasing the Texans' chances of coming home with a win. The Texans defense will have their hands full containing the Colts backs and tight ends in the passing game.
Scoring touchdowns with their wide receivers could prove difficult, as the Texans allowed the second-fewest TDs (10) to the receiver position in 2023.
Limiting running back Jonathan Taylor will also be a top priority. While the Texans had an elite defense against the run last season, they struggled with Taylor in Week 18 as he almost rushed for 200 yards.
Houston's D allowed only four carries to running backs in 2023 that went for 20 or more yards. Two of which were to Taylor in the final game of the regular season.
Finally, DeMeco Ryans and company have to find a way to get pressure on the QB. They only had one QB hit and zero sacks on Richardson and Garner Minshew the first time they faced off last year.
On offense, the Texans have two big x-factors to watch for on Sunday. The offensive line that suited up to play the Colts in Week 2 last season is completely different from this year.
The o-line was ravaged with injuries to start the 2023 campaign, so we expect a big jump in productivity in the trenches this year.
Another big addition in 2024 is the presence of running back Joe Mixon. The running game only produced 2 yards per rush in Week 2 against Indy last year, so there's clearly room for improvement.
Be sure to watch the video above for our in-depth preview of Texans-Colts!
And catch Texans on Tap (a Texans podcast) live on our SportsMapTexans YouTube channel following every game this season!