THE SEC REPORT

The SEC Report:  A&M wins close, Alabama loses Tua and Florida pulls out a win

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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

Wow, last weekend was crazy right? Texas A&M was only up three coming into the fourth, Missouri and Vandy were tied into the fourth, and South Carolina led against Florida at the top of the fourth; it was a tense weekend. A&M pulled it out obviously to get their season over .500, Vanderbilt went on to win, as did Florida in a really good fourth quarter. Georgia finally got all that bad football out of their system and after being shut out in the first half, scored 21 points in the second half against Kentucky. Here's the real news though, Tua Tagovailoa had a high ankle sprain on the opposite ankle as last year and is now going to miss time to let the ankle heal from surgery. Last year he missed zero games but there was 20 plus days off between his injury in the SEC championship and the first round of the playoffs, it's difficult to gauge how many games he'll miss this time in the middle of a season that now faces actual adversity for Saban's seemingly automatically in the playoffs, usually undefeated, Alabama.

THREE STARS OF LAST WEEKEND

Joe Burrow, Quarterback of LSU, I'm sure by now you know but he was a massive underdog to win the Heisman before the start of the season and is now currently the front runner. That's because he had another great game - 327 yards and another four touchdowns through the air. He's been incredible this season.

Ke'Shawn Vaughn, running back of Vanderbilt, had two of Vandy's three touchdowns, one rushing along with 96 yards and one receiving with 80 yards on 4 catches. Vaughn is the engine that drove Vanderbilt to victory this week.

Kyle Trask, Quarterback of Florida who was efficient with only 200 yards but 4 touchdowns to pull out the come behind win over South Carolina who was stalking another upset.

THIS WEEKEND

My how things have changed in just one week. Last week Missouri was protecting first place in their division and Florida and Georgia were both reeling, now unranked Missouri is going to Kentucky to try and save their season while both the Gators and Bulldogs are ahead of them and off. All the eyes of the SEC and College Football will be on Arkansas at Alabama, to see how Saban's team handles this very real crisis of Quarterback. Also No. 9 Auburn travels to No. 2 LSU, if LSU wins big again and Alabama wins close against an inferior team, does LSU leapfrog them?

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Joe Burrow, quarterback of LSU, for the reasons above. If they have a big game and Burrows continues his Heisman worthy campaign then maybe Alabama falls to No. 2 in both the national rankings and in their own conference.

Mac Jones, quarterback of Alabma, this almost feels unfair but it's such an important game for this kid. Alabama needs him to step up and play, as he is likely to be the guy starting against LSU on Nov. 9, a scant 19 days away.

Bo Nix, Quarterback of Auburn, this is the big showdown this weekend and he needs to recapture some of that early season magic. Auburn is back in the Top Ten and nothing is out of reach now with Tua's injury and LSU on the schedule for Auburn this week and then Alabama playing LSU next week. Winning here and LSU then beating a weakened Alabama makes Auburn and in turn Nix, look amazing.

Feel free to check out my brand new comic book Another Day at the Office or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help people struggling with cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.

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How Astros suddenly poised to make noise as bats, arms surge

Will Isaac Paredes stay hot against the Cardinals? Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.

The Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals meet Monday night at Busch Stadium, both aiming to get above .500 in the early weeks of the season.

Houston (7-8) sends left-hander Framber Valdez (1-1, 2.50 ERA) to the mound in search of a strong start to begin a three-game road series. The Astros, 3-3 away from home this season, have leaned on their pitching—ranking eighth in the American League with a 3.70 team ERA.

St. Louis (7-8) counters with right-hander Sonny Gray (2-0, 4.50 ERA), who has a WHIP of 0.88 despite some early bumps in run prevention. The Cardinals have been solid at home (6-3) and are among the NL’s best-hitting teams, posting a collective .280 average.

Jose Altuve (.302, 3 HR) and Isaac Paredes (13-for-42, 3 HR in last 10) lead the way for Houston’s offense, while Brendan Donovan (.350, 10 RBI) and Pedro Pages (10-for-34, 7 RBI in last 10) have been producing for the Cardinals.

Both teams enter the matchup with identical 7-8 records but differing trends: Houston has outscored opponents by eight runs over their last 10 games (5-5), while the Cardinals have gone 4-6 during that stretch, giving up 5.19 runs per game.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. ET.

Here's a sneak peek at tonight's lineup:

Image via: MLB.com/Screenshot.

Mauricio Dubon gets the nod at second base again, and Chas McCormick will make the start over Jake Meyers in center field. Jose Altuve will get some time off his feet hitting in the DH spot, with Yordan Alvarez playing in left field.


*ChatGPT assisted.

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