THE SEC REPORT
The SEC Report: A&M goes to Baton Rouge and The Iron Bowl is back
Nov 26, 2019, 6:27 am
Born with a comic book in one hand and a remote control in the other, Cory DLG is the talent of Conroe's very own Nerd Thug Radio and Sports. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!
LAST WEEKEND
LSU hurt Arkansas real bad last weekend winning 56-20 and getting some monster offensive production out of some key guys. A&M fell a little short of their goal of ruining Georgia's season but they played a close game and didn't let Swift get crazy on them as other teams had. Alabama crushed poor Western Carolina and now sits patiently in fifth place nationally, if they take care of business this week and then Georgia plays LSU and loses in a conference championship, it's likely Alabama jumps right back into the playoff picture. How cruel would that be to the rest of College Football?
THE STARS OF LAST WEEKEND
Joe Burrow, Quarterback of LSU. So who exactly is supposed to be his competition for The Heisman at this point? He padded the resume in a blow out throwing for three more touchdowns and putting a mere 327 yards up while completing a mere 82% of his passes.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Runningback of LSU. He must have had a forcefield on or something he was wearing the cleanest jersey I've ever seen a runningback have after a game although I suppose it helped that he only had six carries, but scored three touchdowns and ran for 188 yards. You almost wonder if Arkansas just wanted off the field on some drives.
Mac Jones, Quarterback of Alabama. it isn't so much for the fact that he beat up a cupcake of an opponent, but it's the efficiency and confidence with which he did it. 10-12 for 275 yards and 3 touchdowns. Mac's played a little bit already this year but it was important for the nation and for him to see him come out and perform well this week. Help reassure a certain selection committee they won't make a mistake by putting Alabama back in the dance.
WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK
A little Thanksgiving SEC football is always nice, so Thursday night feel free to turn on Ole Miss at Mississippi State. This coming weekend while you're buried in leftovers there are some great games to check out including both South Carolina and Texas A&M taking another shot at upsetting two great seasons as Clemson comes to South Carolina, who earlier upset Georgia (who obviously has recovered) and A&M goes to Baton Rouge and plays LSU, where a loss could derail everything The Tigers have built this year. Alabama goes to Auburn and a win could be rank-busting. If Alabama wins and Clemson loses then Alabama is in the top four without an SEC championship game potentially. If LSU loses and Alabama wins then suddenly, LSU still goes to the SEC championship game and plays Georgia but Alabama may somehow be ranked into all of this at that point, they can't sit still if they beat #15 Auburn and either #1 LSU, #3 Clemson or #4 Georgia loses. The polls would be forced to slide Alabama up somewhere.
THREE PLAYERS TO WATCH
Kyle Trask, Quarterback of Florida. This is the game he needs to shine in. Playing their in-state rival Florida State at home, a win hopefully puts them into the Top Ten for the season, which would be a great finish for a team that lost a starting quarterback very early and therefore played a lot of ugly football early in the season.
Mac Jones, Quarterback of Alabama. We've talked about it all over this piece today but this is a big game, he's the back up and The Crimson Tide has no margin for error. They need this win like a fish needs water, there's just no getting around the fact that at this instant they are on the outside looking in on the four team playoff potentially.
Bryan Edwards, Wide Receiver of South Carolina. For the Gamecocks to have a chance they need explosive plays and they need to be able to threaten the secondary and have a guy they can go to on long third downs, so a wide out who can get it done. This is the big game for Edwards.
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Texans HC DeMeco Ryans reveals what he values most at scouting combine
Feb 28, 2025, 3:51 pm
Now that spring training is officially underway, we're able to make some observations about how the Astros 2025 roster is taking shape.
Houston's starting rotation is basically set, but we got to see Hayden Wesneski make his first start in an Astro uniform. Wesneski pitched two innings against the Mets on Tuesday, allowing one run with three strikeouts.
He's working on a curveball that's a new pitch for his repertoire, and he saw some success with it. Hopefully, adding this pitch will help keep batters off balance (especially left-handed hitters) and help elevate his game. Which is nothing new for the Astros, who have a history of helping pitchers get to the next level.
Forrest Whitley also looked good, pitching a clean inning and finishing off his final hitter with a 97 mph fastball. Whitley finally realizing his potential in the big leagues could be a huge deal for the Astros, as they're looking to lighten the workload for Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader this season.
Hader in particular could benefit from this adjustment, as he was much worse when pitching in non-save situations last season. An easy fix with Hader could be trying to limit his workload to mostly save situations. That way, you get the most out of him and achieve the goal of him pitching less innings this year.
The Houston Chronicle's Matt Kawahara wrote about Hader's struggles pitching when games were tied or Houston was trailing.
“Hader converted 34 of 38 save chances but faced more batters in non-save situations (142) than in save situations (136), a sharp pivot from his previous few seasons. Opponents slugged .271 against him in save situations and .411 in non-save situations, while his ERA was more than two runs higher (4.98) in the latter.”
And while it's easy to say “suck it up, you're getting paid a fortune to pitch,” if he's not having success in those situations, and you're looking to back off his workload, this seems like an obvious way to pivot. He's under contract for another four seasons, so the Astros are right to want to be careful with him.
Astros plate discipline
Manager Joe Espada has made it very clear that he would like his offense to see more pitches this season. And we're seeing a stark difference in the approaches from the newly acquired players (Isaac Paredes, Christian Walker) and Houston's returning hitters.
Keep in mind, Paredes was first in pitches per plate appearance last season, and Walker was 10th.
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Paredes and Walker both worked a full count in their first at-bats on Tuesday, while Mauricio Dubon, Yainer Diaz, and Chas McCormick swung at every pitch in their first at-bats.
Hopefully the new blood in the clubhouse will rub off on the rest of the Astros lineup, which is full of free swingers, especially with Alex Bregman now playing for Boston.
Which is why we're so excited about Cam Smith's early results. While we're super pumped about his two home runs on Tuesday, we're equally impressed that he walked in his first two at-bats this spring. If anyone would naturally be jumping out of their shoes to make a strong first impression, you would think it's the guy that was traded for Kyle Tucker. But Smith was patient, and he was rewarded for it.
What is Dana Brown saying privately?
Just last offseason, Brown was talking about extending Tucker and Bregman while also signing Hader to a shocking 5-year, $95 million deal. Plus, the team signed Jose Altuve to a whopping $150 million extension. Fast-forward one year and Tucker has been traded, Bregman left in free agency, and Ryan Pressly was dealt in a salary dump. Safe to say, his vision for the ball club has changed drastically in one season. Welcome to baseball economics under Jim Crane!
We're just scratching the surface on everything covered in the video above. Be sure to hit play to watch the full conversation!
The countdown to Opening Day is on. Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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