A Look At The AAC
The UH/AAC Report: UH gets back on track and SMU continues to roll
Oct 2, 2019, 6:56 am
Getty Images
Patrick Carr
The Coogs got back in the win column this week. SMU rolls another outmatched opponent. UCF bounced back as well. Let's take a look at the week that was in the AAC:
UH gets a Tune-up in return to win column
The Coogs got a much needed win over UNT Saturday by a score of 46-25. Over the course of the last 20-30 years, UH has primarily been a passing team. They outrushed the Mean Green 235-96. Clayton Tune had himself a good game to the tune of 16/20 for 124 yards and a touchdown (I promise to keep the puns to a minimum). The defense gave up 456 yards, 360 of which were of the passing variety. Even though the rushing and passing stats looked the way they did, Coogs still lost the time of possession battle by almost six minutes. A win is a win, especially when you're 1-3.
Other key results
SMU 48, USF 21: The Mustangs are 5-0 for the first time since 1983. They've jumped into the top 25 rankings this week and now stand an outside chance at crashing the Power 5 bowl party if they keep this up.
UCF 56, UConn 21: The Golden Knights got back on track in a major way with their 35 point win over the Huskies. Their loss to Pitt last week may hurt their chances at a major bowl, but they're up to 18 in the polls so there's still a chance.
Memphis 35, Navy 23: The Tigers move to 4-0 by containing the Midshipmen's run game. Navy was "held" to 291 rushing yards despite averaging 371.5 coming into the game. The Tigers are going to be tough the rest of the way.
Stars of the week
Brady White, QB, Memphis: While the Tiger defense did its thing, White went 14/18 for 196 yards and three touchdowns. Usually, it's their run game that does the heavy lifting. This is a part of what will make this team tough down the stretch.
Gabriel Davis, WR, UCF: Davis had five catches for 119 yards and three touchdowns in their route of UConn. Catching touchdowns on 60% of your receptions is beyond good, regardless of the competition.
Xavier Jones, RB, SMU: Jones carried the ball 15 times for 155 yards and two touchdowns. While his QB Shane Buechele also had a great game, Jones' performance got him the nod here because running the ball well on the road is how you demoralize a team.
Games to watch this week
UCF @ Cincinnati
Tulsa @ SMU
Tulane @ Army
Air Force @ Navy
Players to watch this week
UCF's offense: Going on the road against a defense that's allowing almost 300 yards less than what their season average is could be tough. But Cincy hasn't played an offense quite like UCF's. The two Gabriel's (Doug and Davis) are the ones to watch specifically.
Malcolm Perry, Navy: The quarterback is the Midshipmen's leading rusher in their triple option attack that averages 344.7 yards a game. The Air Force Falcons only give up 93.3 on the ground. Perry only has 336 passing yards on the season, so I'll be interested in seeing how this one plays out.
Xavier Jones, SMU: The others on this list face some sort of adversity. Jones, however, faces the exact opposite in a Tulsa defense that allows 175.8 yards a game on the ground. I expect him to have another big game this week.
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
Jose Altuve and rookie Jacob Melton drove in three runs each as the Houston Astros jumped on Chris Paddack early and cruised to a 10-3 win over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.
Paddack (2-6) tied career highs by allowing 12 hits and nine runs — eight earned — in just four innings for his third straight loss.
Houston rookie starter Colton Gordon (2-1) gave up six hits and two runs with five strikeouts in a career-high six innings.
Jeremy Peña tied a season-high with four hits and rookie Cam Smith had two hits and two RBIs as the AL West-leading Astros won their third straight.
Willi Castro, Royce Lewis and Ty France all hit solo homers for the Twins, who were blown out for the third time in four games after losing to Texas 16-4 Tuesday and 16-3 Thursday.
Lewis, who missed the start of the season with a hamstring strain, pulled up as he was running to first base on a single in the ninth inning and was replaced by a pinch-runner. There was no immediate word on his injury.
The Astros got to work early in this one. The bases were loaded with two outs in the first when Smith hit a two-run single to center field to make it 2-0. Melton followed with a single to right field to drive in another run.
There were runners on first and third with one out in the second when Altuve’s double scored two to make it 5-0.
The Twins loaded the bases with two outs in the third but Carlos Correa grounded out to end the threat.
Melton hit a two-run triple with no outs in the bottom of the inning to push the lead to 7-0. A sacrifice fly by Mauricio Dubón made it 8-0.
The Twins got on the board with Castro’s two-out homer in the fourth inning.
Altuve homered to left-center to start the bottom of the inning and make it 9-1.
Key moment
Smith’s two-RBI single in the first that gave Houston the lead for good.
Key stat
The Astros had four doubles to give them 15 in their last three games.
Up next
Astros RHP Hunter Brown (8-3, 1.82 ERA) opposes Twins RHP Joe Ryan (7-2, 2.96) on Saturday.