A LOOK AT THE AAC
The UH/AAC report: Memphis, Cincy get big wins; UH gets rolled by Oklahoma
Sep 4, 2019, 8:00 am
Photo via: UH Football/Facebook
The AAC season is under way with two teams - Cincinnati and Memphis - scoring big wins over power 5 schools. UCF continues to roll and Houston took a tough loss in its opener against OU. A look at the AAC in Week 1:
Cougars fall
New coach Dana Holgorsen inherited a flawed roster at UH, and it showed in the 49-31 loss to Oklahoma. The Cougar defense was rough, forcing only one punt late in the game when OU had backups in. Otherwise, two fumbles and two missed field goals were all that kept the Sooners off the board. D'Eriq King struggled in the new offense and did not hit 200 yards passing, but did rush for over 100 yards. The Cougars get a breather with Prairie View this week before another high profile opponent - Washington State - visits.
Other key results
Memphis 15, Ole Miss 10: The Tigers won in a very different way - with stout defense - knocking off an SEC bottom feeder.
Cincinnati 24, UCLA 14: Cincy's stingy defense made life terrible for UCLA, and took a huge win. Cincy gets another tough opponent with Ohio State up next.
Tulane 42, FIU 14: Willie Fritz and the Green Wave are on the upswing, and a big win over a tough FIU squad was a nice way to start the season.
UCF 62, Florida A&M 0: The Golden Knights train keeps on rolling along with another easy win over an outmatched opponent.
Three stars of the week
1) Patrick Taylor, RB, Memphis: The Tigers lost two NFL running backs in the off-season, but Taylor picked up where they left off, rushing for 128 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries in the win over Memphis.
2) Anthony Russo, QB, Temple: Russo hit on 31 of 42 passes for 409 yards and 4 TDs for the Owls in a 56-12 romp. Granted, it was Bucknell, but still a big effort.
3) Shane Buechele, QB, SMU: The Texas transfer was 30-of-49 for 360 yards as the Mustangs knocked off Arkansas State 37-30.
5 games to watch this week
1) Cincinnati at No. 5 Ohio State
2) North Texas at SMU
3) Prairie View at Houston
4) Tulane at Auburn
5) South Florida at Georgia Tech
3 players to watch
1) D'Eriq King, Houston: The mercurial quarterback did not have a good passing day at OU. He should rectify that this week against Prairie View.
2) Desmond Ridder, QB, Cincinnati: After a solid debut against Ole Miss, Ridder will need a big effort to keep Cincy in shouting distance of Ohio State.
3) Reggie Roberson, Jr., WR, SMU: Roberson had a monster week with 11 catch for 180 yards against Arkansas State. He will need to be just as good as the Ponies face a tough North Texas team this week.
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
Jake Meyers scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch, Isaac Paredes drove in an insurance run and the Houston Astros defeated the Cleveland Guardians 5-3 in 10 innings on Saturday.
Yainer Diaz had a two-run homer in the sixth as the Astros won for the fifth time in six games.
Cleveland's José Ramírez had two hits, including a two-run homer in the seventh inning, and extended his on-base streak to a career-best 33 games.
Steven Kwan added three hits, but the Guardians lost their third straight.
Meyers was the automatic runner in the 10th. He advanced to third on Jeremy Peña's grounder to first and scored when a slider by Hunter Gaddis (0-1) on an 0-2 count was low and outside.
Paredes then drove in Jacob Melton with a base hit to right field.
Cleveland had runners on first and second with two out in the 10th but Bennett Sousa struck out Jhonkensy Noel to end the game for his first save of the season.
Josh Hader (2-0) got the win.
Houston starter Hunter Brown, who was trying to become the first pitcher in the majors to reach nine wins this season, went 5 1/3 innings and allowed one run with nine strikeouts.
Key moment
Kwan led off the seventh inning with a walk before Ramírez tied it at 3-3 when he lined Shawn Dubin's changeup into the right field stands for his team-leading 12th homer of the season.
Key stat
Peña extended his hitting streak to 13 games with an RBI infield single in the fifth inning. His career long is 14 games, which he had earlier this season.
Up next
Cleveland right-hander Tanner Bibee (4-6, 3.89 ERA) is 2-0 in day games this season. Left-hander Brandon Walter (0-0, 0.00), added to the taxi squad on Saturday, goes for Houston.