Saturday NCAA Football Recap
Texas schools keep up the momentum in Week 2
Kalah Winters
Sep 9, 2018, 3:30 pm
A major shocker from the Aggies and more of the same dominance from Texas schools in Week 2:
Arizona approached this game hoping to avoid an 0-2 start to the season but they certainly did not play that way throughout the first half. Hell, even the third quarter was almost a bust for Arizona until the Cougars felt their confidence flair and took out D’Eriq King and Ed Oliver. To say the Wildcats took advantage of Applewhite’s overzealous misstep is an understatement. After being shutout in quarters one and two, the Wildcats started to show signs of a comeback, scoring on a field goal, following-up with 1-yard touchdown run by Darrius Smith, but they never recovered from the game-long uphill battle. Arizona coach Kevin Sumlin has been the talk of the town, for reasons unbeknownst to me, considering their Heisman candidate quarterback has repeatedly giving declining performances since Sumlin’s regime took over. The Cougars whipped the Wildcats on both sides of the field throughout the entire game, but the Houston offense was truly something special. King threw for 246 yards, a career-high 4 touchdowns, and rushed a total of 31 yards for two more scores. The Cougars are battling it out to prove they are definitely the team to watch this season.
It was a slippery Friday night game in Texas that went on far longer than anyone wanted. No. 16 TCU was slated to win but it took the Horned Frogs an entire quarter to get on the board. After the Horned Frogs decided to join the party, they gave SMU the beating we all expected, shutting out SMU for the full second half of the game. KaVontae Turpin ignited his slow-moving teammates with a 78-yard punt return and a 42-yard score for a wet, not so wild, victory over SMU that did not end until early Saturday morning.
There is no reason for Clemson to not have dropped the hammer down on the Aggies but somehow, some way, A&M managed to stay within arm’s reach of the Tigers throughout Saturday’s game. In fact, the Aggies shut the Tigers out entirely in the fourth quarter. TAMU quarterback Kellen Mond dazzled in the second half, completing three touchdown passes, including at 14-yard pass to sophomore receiver Kendrick Rogers. Clemson will likely take a rating dive as a result of this battle with an unranked opponent. Clemson looks ahead to Georgia Southern next Saturday and opens ACC play the following week at Georgia Tech.
On the surface, is looks like LSU took Southeastern Louisiana to slaughter but, it is safe to say the Tigers struggled a bit for this 31-0 win over an undermatched opponent.
This seems like a time in which we should be celebrating Texas, but let us not get too excited. Texas struggled and lost to a team with no coach last week… However, the Longhorns had one helluva game-winning score when sophomore quarterback, Sam Ellinger, engineered a fourth quarter drive to secure the win against spunky Tulsa for this home victory.
Red Raider true freshman Alan Bowman threw for 282 yards and two scores, leading his team to a blowout 77-0 victory over Lamar. Keep in mind, this is after 14 penalties for 139 yards against Tech. Usually penalties cost you a game… unless you are Tech playing Lamar.
Baylor is really trying to improve from last year with these two victories so early in the season. Sophomore quarterback Charlie Brewer threw for 328 yards and three touchdowns, leading his team to victory over UTSA.
Sophomore quarterback Cole McDonald put on quite the show as he led Hawaii to their 43-29 victory over Rice. Despite Rice putting up quite the effort against the Houston Cougars last week, they couldn’t pull it off against Hawaii in Week 2.
The Houston Astros host the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night looking to keep momentum rolling and hand the Jays their fifth straight loss. First pitch is set for 7:40 p.m. EDT at Daikin Park.
Both teams enter the matchup with nearly identical records—Houston at 12-11, Toronto at 12-12—but they’re trending in opposite directions. The Astros have won six of their last ten and boast an 8-6 record at home, while the Blue Jays have dropped four straight and are just 4-7 on the road.
Ryan Gusto gets the start for Houston, entering with a 2-1 record, a 3.18 ERA, and 17 strikeouts across three appearances. He’ll go up against Bowden Francis, who brings a 3.13 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP into the game, along with 20 strikeouts in his four starts.
Jeremy Peña continues to spark the Astros lineup with three homers and three doubles, while catcher Yainer Diaz has added timely hits despite a recent slump. For Toronto, George Springer leads the team with a .333 average, and Bo Bichette has been steady at the plate, going 14-for-45 over his last 10 games.
The Blue Jays have found success when they out-hit opponents, going 10-3 in those games—but Houston’s pitching staff has held opponents to just a 2.86 ERA over the past 10 outings.
The betting line has Toronto as slight road favorites at -120, with Houston at +100 and the over/under set at 8 runs.
Here's a look at tonight's lineup. Cam Smith gets the night off in right field, with Zach Dezenzo filling in. It appears Dezenzo's thumb is fine after banging it up sliding into second base a couple of night's ago.
Image via: MLB.com/Screenshot.
Jake Myers is also getting the night off as Chas McCormick gets the start in center. And Mauricio Dubon is getting the nod, starting over Brendan Rodgers at second base.