Week seven in the AAC was pretty ho hum. No major upsets or unusual scoring totals. With only five games on the slate, there wasn't much room for a huge variance in the games played. Let's take a look at things from this past week:
Coogs drop to 2-4
A road loss to a ranked conference opponent isn't anything to be embarassed about. But when you're treating the quarterback position like Oprah does audience gifts, you almost deserve whatever you get. The Coogs were trailing 21-17 heading into the 4th quarter despite three turnovers up to that point. They went on to crap the bed and lost 38-23. Hey Coach Holgorsen: I still have some eligibility left. Can I play a few snaps at quarterback next week?
Other key results
Temple 30, Memphis 28: This was a mild upset. I'm talking off-brand store made salsa mild. Memphis was ranked #25 going on the road against a tough conference opponent. Credit Temple's defense who caused four turnovers.
Navy 45, Tulsa 17: The Midshipmen keep on rolling behind Malcolm Perry and the triple option attack. By rolling, I mean steam-rolling to the tune of 388 yards rushing as a team.
Tulane 49, UConn 7: The Green Wave are a fairly impressive team. They made sure to take care of business against the Huskies. If they keep winning, they're going bowling for sure.
Stars of the week
Malcolm Perry, QB, Navy: 20 carries for 218 yards and three touchdowns is an impressive line for a running back. Perry puts up those numbers as an option quarterback. I'm sure someone at the next level can find a place for him.
Jordan Cronkrite, RB, USF: Cronkrite had 26 carries for 158 yards and two touchdowns in a come from behind 27-23 win over BYU, including the game sealing score.
Rashad Medaris, WR, Cincinnati: When you torch a team for 121 yards and a touchdown on only three catches, you'll earn a spot here. Especially when you more than double your season total in yards and double your touchdown output as well.
Games to watch this week
Temple @ SMU
Tulane @ Memphis
ECU @ UCF
Players to watch this week
Shane Buechele, SMU: He's averaging 277 yards passing and two touchdowns a game. Temple will bring it, but the Mustangs are favored.
Tulane's Rushing Attack: If they're going to stay with a one in the loss column, the Green Wave will have to put up their average of about 290 yards or more.
Dillon Gabriel, UCF: If the Golden Knights are to get back to their winning ways, Gabriel will have to be the one to lead them there.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.