SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The Texas Stars, American
Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, ended the 2018
calendar year on the wrong end of a 4-2 decision against the San Antonio
Rampage. The Rampage continued their home win streak, extending the
streak to six games.
The Rampage opened the scoring on a beautiful tip by Ryan Olsen nine minutes into the game. Olsen set up at the left side of the net and waited for Mitch Reinke to launch a shot from the blue line. The effort flew three feet wide of the net before Olson redirected the puck past Philippe Desrosiers. Late in the period, the Rampage scored again as Austin Poganski notched his fifth of the season on a rebound. The goal put San Antonio up 2-0 with 20 seconds left in the period.
Texas responded with a goal early in the second period. Nicholas Caamano pushed the puck out to center ice for the Stars to spring up the ice. Adam Mascherin entered the offensive zone and found Gavin Bayreuther for
a partial breakaway. The defenseman collected the puck and took a shot
between his own legs, causing a rebound off the pads of Jordan Binnington. Stars forward Joel L’Esperance
was there to slam the loose puck home and cut the lead in half. It was
one of 19 shots in the period as Texas outshot the Rampage 39-30 in the
game.
Unfortunately for the Stars, all
their shots came with no result on the scoreboard but two rushes for the
Rampage put the game out of reach. Zach Sanford and Connor Bleakley each scored goals 33 seconds apart to extend the lead. Sanford was the trailer on a 2-on-1 and collected a pass from Sam Blais to make it 3-1 while Bleakley’s shot deflected into the net off the Stars defense.
The Stars carried a power play into
the third period and wasted no time finding the net. L’Esperance again
connected, this time on a one timer from the left circle. Ben Gleason and Justin Dowling set the play up for a blast by the rookie to score his 17th goal of the season.
Countless efforts in the third period
would be stopped by Binnington and the Stars were unable to best the
netminder even with Desrosiers on the bench for an extra attacker.
Texas’ loss to the Rampage places them 5-3-1-0 against San Antonio this
year, as the teams will not meet again until March.
The selection committee chose against putting two SEC teams in the playoff for a second consecutive year and instead went with Big 12 champion Oklahoma for the final seed. Oklahoma brings a historically great offense that ranks first in yards per play (8.6, a full yard ahead of second place) and points per drive (4.2). It’s led by junior quarterback Kyler Murray, a terrific athlete whose produced 4,981 total yards and 52 total TDs. The defense, however, leaves a lot to be desired. The Sooners rank 91st in yards per play allowed (5.9) and 107th in points per drive (2.75). Alabama brings a more balanced squad to the table. The Crimson Tide sit one spot behind OU in yards per play (7.6) and points per drive (4.04), but unlike their opponent have a defense to match it. Stocked with next-level talents like linemen Quinnen Williams and Raekwon Davis, safety Deionte Thompson and linebacker Mack Wilson, Alabama’s defense is second in points per drive (1.01) and sixth in yards per play (4.3). Alabama is on one of the most dominant runs in college football history with four national championships in the last nine years. Yet its somehow done that without a truly great quarterback (sorry, A.J. McCarron). Sophomore quarterback Tua Tagobailoa has brought an explosiveness to Alabama’s offense that’s never been seen, which makes some people think this version of the Crimson Tide is the best yet.
Cotton Bowl: #2 Clemson v.s. #3 Notre Dame
This is the only bowl that features two undefeated teams. Clemson is in the College Football Playoff for the fourth straight year. Those last three trips include a runner-up finish in 2015 and a national championship in 2016. Clemson is led by a nasty defensive line that starts three All-ACC first teamers (Clelin Ferrell, Christian Wilkins, Dexter Lawrence) and a third-teamer (Austin Bryant) who will all have their names called early in April’s NFL Draft. The offense has a game breaker at running back in Travis Etienne (1,308 yards, 19 TDs) and a young but talented in quarterback in true freshman Trevor Lawrence, whose completed 65 percent of his passes for 2,606 yards with 24 TDs and only 4 INTs. This is Notre Dame’s first invitation to the playoff party and it comes into this matchup as a double-digit underdog. This is because the Fighting Irish’s undefeated run was less dominant, with half of their 12 wins coming by eight points or less. Clemson had only two such close calls out of 13. Notre Dame’s defense, which ranks fifth in points per drive (1.28) and eighth in yards per play (4.4), is ahead of the offense. But if junior quarterback Ian Book and senior running back Dexter Williams get hot, watch out. Book didn’t start until the season’s fourth game and Williams was suspended until the fifth, which negatively skews the offensive numbers a little bit.
Rose Bowl: #6 Ohio State v.s. #9 Washington
For the second straight year, an embarrassingly lopsided loss to a mediocre team cost Ohio State a chance at the playoff. Last year it was a 55-24 defeat to 7-5 Iowa and this year a 49-20 shellacking at the hands of 6-6 Purdue. The Buckeyes sported their worst defense in some time as they allowed 5.6 yards per play (66th in the country) and 1.89 points per drive (40th). Big play prevention was a major problem. Going into the Big 10 Championship game, Ohio State had given up 36 plays of 30-plus yards, seventh-worst in the nation. Washington doesn’t exactly have the explosive type of offense to take advantage of that, though. The Huskies’ senior backfield duo of quarterback Jake Browning and running back Miles Gaskin has been a bit disappointing. Browning threw just 16 touchdowns, 27 less than he had when he guided the Huskies to the college football playoff in 2016. Gaskin’s 1,147 rushing yards on the season are the lowest of his career and his 4.9 yards per carry don’t even rank in the top 100 of NCAA backs. The matchup of Ohio State’s offense v.s. Washington’s defense should be strength on strength. Sophomore quarterback Dwayne Haskins set a Big 10 record with 4,508 passing yards. Washington’s D finished 16th in yards per play and 12th in points per drive.
Peach Bowl: #10 Florida v.s. #7 Michigan
UCF finished its second straight undefeated season and again wasn’t seriously considered for inclusion into the playoff. This means the Golden Knights will be miffed and pumped up to prove their doubters wrong against an LSU team that might not be as excited for this matchup in the desert. UCF lost its best player when quarterback Mckenzie Milton went down with a serious knee injury in the regular season finale, but backup Darriel Mack Jr. was good enough to lead the Golden Knights to a come-from-behind victory in the AAC Championship Game with six total TDs (four rushing, two passing). LSU is a big step up from Memphis, however, and that could be incredibly problematic for UCF’s defense. The Golden Knights fall well short of the gold standard in stopping the run, where they rank 96th in yards per carry allowed. LSU prides itself on being a tough, physical football team and will certainly test that front seven early and often. Group of five teams are 3-1 in New Year’s Six Bowl Games since the advent of the College Football Playoff. UCF beat Auburn 34-27 in last year’s Peach Bowl under similar circumstances and claimed a “national championship” to much uproar. If the Golden Knights do it again, expect another “national championship” parade in Disney World.
Peach Bowl: #10 Florida v.s. #7 Michigan
With the inclusion of LSU and Florida, the SEC became the first conference to get multiple three-loss teams into New Year’s Six Bowls, which seems a bit unfair considering the season 10-2 Washington State had. But alas, here we are. The Wolverines’ defense was considered tops in the country for most of the year but had a disastrous outing in its final game, a 62-39 loss to rival Ohio State. They still put five players (linemen Chase Winovich and Rashan Gary, linebacker Devin Bush, DBs Lavert Hill and David Long) on the All-Big 10 first team and will be frothing at the mouth to rebound from the Ohio State performance. Offensively, Michigan improved from 102nd to 27th in yards per play and 95th to 20th in points per drive behind the leadership of junior quarterback Shea Patterson, who transferred in from Ole Miss. Senior running back Karan Higdon made All-Big 10 first team with 1,178 yards and 10 TDs. Florida was solid but unspectacular in its first season under head coach Dan Mullen, the revered offensive coordinator from the Gators’ Tim Tebow years. The future is bright in Gainesville but Mullen is still in the early stages of building his program. Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, who is 38-13 in four seasons, is much farther along and enters this game as about a touchdown favorite.
The good news from Saturday is that Tom Herman had his team competing at the peak of its ability when a conference championship was on the line.
The bad news is that when Lil’Jordan Humphrey got assaulted on a potential first-down reception, the refs weren’t on the scene to make the proper call.
Texas (9-4) gave Oklahoma (12-1) all it could handle in a rivalry matchup for the Big 12 title on Saturday, but the Sooners’ late surge was enough to guide Lincoln Riley’s team to a 39-27 victory at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
“It’s difficult,” Texas head coach Tom Herman said. “Losing is supposed to hurt. With a 1-0 mentality that we have, we don’t worry about the big picture. We went 0-1 today. Tomorrow it’s our job to wake up and try to go 1-0 in the bowl game.”
Humphrey appeared to be roughed up on a third-down play in the final quarter, but the referees chose not to whistle the foul, which led to a Longhorn punt. Oklahoma took possession at its own 20 and appeared destined for a score until Gary Johnson jarred the ball loose on a long pass play and Brandon Jones pounced on the loose pigskin.
Moments later, a bit of rivalry deja vu ensued as the Sooners’ Tre Brown played the role of Roy Williams while sacking Sam Ehlinger for a safety after flying in unblocked on a blitz from the edge.
Oklahoma added a final TD to seize a 39-27 lead, and Ehlinger was picked off by Tre Norwood to end the game.
It was a memorable effort by Ehlinger, who staked the Longhorns to a 14-6 lead after capping a pair of early drives with scoring runs of 16 and 3 yards in the first half.
However, Kyler Murray found some rhythm prior to intermission and directed the Sooners to a pair of scoring drives before opening the second half with another TD march. CeeDee Lamb, Grant Calcaterra and Trey Sermon were the culprits in helping Oklahoma build a 27-21 edge.
Ehlinger then led a seven-play, 75-yard scoring march that was capped by a 27-yard toss to Collin Johnson, but the PAT carromed off the upright to keep the score tied at 27-all.
The Sooners’ Austin Seibert responded with a 31-yard field goal, and after the no-call on Humphrey’s key third-down route, Oklahoma survived a fumble to sack Ehlinger and change the complexion of the game for good.
“I felt like we weren’t running the ball like we thought we would be able to,” Herman said afterward. “That was certainly an issue. When you’re playing one-handed a little bit throwing the football, there’s things that can happen. When their drives stalled, they were able to get field goals. When our drives stalled, we had to punt. It’s a matter of 10 or 15 yards.”
The Longhorns still may sew up a bid in the Sugar Bowl, or at the least, a berth in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio. No matter what, a 10-win season would signal a major accomplishment for Herman in his 2nd year at the helm.
Perhaps Sam Ehlinger and Kyler Murray were born to be rivals.
After Murray completed an immaculate run at Allen High School, where he went 42-0 as a starter and guided the Eagles to three straight state championships, he headed off to College Station — not exactly a friendly haven for those who bleed burnt orange.
Right about the time that Murray and the Aggies were preparing for their 2015 Music City Bowl match-up with Louisville, Ehlinger — then a junior at Westlake High School — sprung a 23-17 upset win over Allen in the UIL Class 6A Division I semifinals. The victory ended the Eagles’ winning streak at 57 games and cost Allen a shot at surpassing Celina’s state-record mark of 68 consecutive wins.
Everyone knows the next series of events. Murray transferred to Oklahoma, and Ehlinger, a lifelong Longhorn fan, chose Texas. A collision course was set, and the two finally met face to face at the Cotton Bowl in October, with Ehlinger earning a 1-0 edge by way of his team’s thrilling 48-45 triumph.
The two signal callers reportedly traded a few choice words after the game, which adds even more intrigue to Saturday’s rematch in the Big 12 Championship Game at Jerry World in Arlington. This week, Murray was asked how much he respect’s Ehlinger’s game, and the Heisman trophy hopeful responded with a brief chuckle and a “no comment.”
The Longhorns’ win in the 2018 Red River Showdown represents the Sooners’ lone blemish of the season, and with Ohio State’s recent bludgeoning of rival Michigan, Oklahoma understands that its shot at a national title rides on Saturday’s outcome. Style points may even be necessary depending on what the Buckeyes do against Northwestern in the Big 10 title game.
For Texas, a shot at playing in the program’s first Sugar Bowl since 1995 is likely at stake.
One of the Longhorns’ keys to success in the first meeting with the Sooners was a near-flawless start on offense, as Texas scored on each of its first four possessions and added three more touchdowns during a dominant third quarter. The Longhorns managed to survive a frenzied finish led by Murray when Cameron Dicker nailed a now-legendary 40-yard field goal with 14 seconds left.
To post a second straight win over Oklahoma, Ehlinger, who was picked off twice by Kansas, must return to taking care of the pigskin and converting key third downs to keep Murray and his weapons sitting on the sideline. Texas’ defense will also probably need to manufacture a few turnovers like it did back in October.
The Sooners, on the other hand, will be out to prove that they actually have a functioning defense. Breckyn Hager remains skeptical.
The battle lines have already been drawn for the 114th meeting all-time between the two programs — and the first outside of Dallas in 95 years. If the Horns can improve upon their current series lead of 62-46-5, then it’s finally safe to say that Texas is officially back.
As for Ehlinger, sore shoulder and all, a second straight win over OU will bring him another step closer to earning a spot beside VY, Colt and Major in modern Longhorn quarterback lore.
Not since 1903 — and the third time ever will the Longhorns and Sooners play for a second time in a single season, but this time for the Big 12 Championship.
In a series that began in 1900 these two Rivals will go head to head once more with the conference on the line. A Texas defeat of Kansas in Lawrence last Friday clinched the first appearance in the Big 12 Championship game since 2009 for the Longhorns. Then Friday night, Oklahoma edged out WV in an all out thriller in Morgantown 59-56 Sooners.
The Cotton Bowl rematch in Arlington is set for December 1st this Saturday at AT&T Stadium.The Longhorns narrowly escaped the Sooners back in October at the Red River Showdown this season, in a 48-45 thriller over OU.
The Sooners have been red hot since the loss to Texas and have won every game since.
Texas has seen some offensive woes in recent weeks and QB Sam Ehlinger has gone down in two games due to a shoulder injury. Which Texas team will show up for coach Tom Herman at this Big 12 title match? The team who struggled against Kansas and Baylor, or the team that put up 41 against West Virginia and 48 against the Sooners?
The stakes are high with implications of a potential playoff. Then there is the New Years Six bowl placement, and don’t forget bragging rights in this rivalry. And while I am rooting for my Longhorns to win this game, I also know it will be tough against a high flying Kyler Murry lead offense, however Texas also has the receiver core in Lil Jordan Humphrey and Collin Johnson. With the arm and legs of Sam Ehlinger and a Texas secondary that is lead by Kris Boyd and Caden Sterns the Horns need only stay within a score to catch the Sooners. In fact I’ll bet that the last team with the ball will win.”
The Arlington kick off at is at 11 a.m. Central on ABC.
Texas held off the Red Raiders in a nail-biter last Saturday night in Lubbock getting the win 41-34 over Texas Tech improving to 7-3 on the season.
The win came from some improved plays on the offensive side of the ball for Texas with the sophomore quarterback Sam Ehlinger hooking up with Humphrey once more for the go-ahead touchdown. The two hooked up earlier in the game when Humphrey hauled in his fifth catch for a 9-yard touchdown. That gave Texas the lead, 10-7 with 3:46. Texas played loose at times but this game basically came down to whoever had the ball last before the clock read zeros.
Ehlinger has thrown 274 consecutive passes without a pick setting a Big 12 conference record.
SERIES HISTORY: Texas leads the all-time series, 50-17. The Red Raiders won a decisive 27-23 victory over the Longhorns in Austin in November of 2017. Neither team has won on its home field since the Longhorns defeated the Red Raiders 41-16 in Austin in 2013.
The Longhorns have had several close games this season and now prepare for a statistically tough defense in the Big 12 with Iowa State coming to Austin this weekend.
No. 14 Texas (7-3, 5-2 Big 12) vs. No.18 Iowa State (6-3, 5-2 Big 12)
November 17, 2018
Where: Austin, Texas Stadium: Darrell K Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium Time: 7 p.m. CT TV: Longhorn Network
Can the Texas Longhorns rebound after dropping two in a row in Big 12 play?
Tom Herman’s young Longhorn team has cooled like the Texas weather in recent weeks after defeating 3 top ranked teams in a 6 win streak after falling to Maryland in week 1.
The Longhorns slowly climbed the top 10 ranks eventually getting to #6 in the nation before loosing to Oklahoma State 3 weeks ago then falling yet again to Big 12 Power West Virginia.
Going into the Tech game this weekend Texas fans are bewildered as to what Herman team will show up. Has Todd Orlando’s defense given away the secret sauce to the rest of the Big 12? He is certainly going to have to make adjustments moving into this late in the season in conference play.
Red Raiders Alan Bowman’s partially collapsed lung will apparently keep him from starting against the Longhorns so Tech QB Jett Duffey will start QB against Texas.
Duffy who is listed at 6’1 and 200 pounds, is a smaller back, but ran a 4.60 40-yard dash in high school.While Duffed isn’t Kyler Murray, he does have elite agility and could give the Texas Defense extra running and spying duties Saturday.
Red Raiders host Texas tomorrow night on FOX. Get your umbrella out horns fans, the Tortillas will be thrown at you most likely in Lubbock this weekend.
It has been very tight in terms of lap times at the first day of track action for
the FORMULA 1 GRANDE PREMIO HEINEKEN DO BRASIL 2018. In free
practice, the fastest four drivers all lapped within 165 thousandths of a
second of one another. Valtteri Bottas was fastest overall with a lap in
1.08.846 in the second session for Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport
going down to Max Verstappen, the slowest of the quartet, with a 1.09.011
for Aston Martin Red Bull Racing. In between, the now five times world
champion, Lewis Hamilton, was second fastest, just three thousandths
slower than his Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport team-mate, with his
worthy rival Sebastian Vettel (Scuderia Ferrari) third in FP2 with a best lap of
1.08.919.
The gaps are always small here, as Interlagos is such a short and quick track,
which has usually produced spectacular racing with plenty of overtaking.
As was the case a fortnight ago at Mexico City’s Hermanos Rodriguez circuit,
here at another track named after a famous driver from the past, namely
Carlos Pace, Red Bull proved capable of mixing it with the two teams still
fighting it out for the Constructors’ title. Unfortunately, reliability problems
continue to be the Milton Keynes team’s Achilles Heel. At the start of the
Brazilian weekend came the news that Daniel Ricciardo will take a five place
grid penalty, for changing the turbocharger on his power unit. As for
Verstappen, he lost the first half of the second session, apparently due to an
oil leak that took a long time to fix. It meant that the winner of the Mexican
Grand Prix completed just 44 laps in total today, four less than Bottas
managed in just the second session.
As always, evaluating the behaviour of the Pirelli tyres is a major part of
everyone’s Friday programme and the results must always be looked at with
extreme caution, especially on a “green” track like Interlagos. The same goes
for the apparent signs of degradation seen on some cars. The work of the
engineers over the next few hours will be crucial in adapting the cars to the
predicted track evolution, given that, at the moment, the forecast is for much
warmer conditions on Sunday.
While the Drivers’ title was decided in Mexico, the Constructors’ one is still up
for grabs with Mercedes leading Ferrari by 55 points. To keep the fight going
down to the final race, the Maranello team has to score 13 more points than
its rival.
In order for the Houston Texans to contend for real in the AFC, there are some things they need to have happen.
They’re going to need Deshaun Watson to keep playing hard. The Texans quarterback has been dealing with a chest injury, and yet still guided them to victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Watson is tough, sure, but he’s more than tough, he’s completed 63 percent of his passes. Houston could do with a tad bit more consistency out of Watson though, at the time of writing he’s thrown seven interceptions to just 10 touchdowns.
They’ll need their playmakers to keep making plays. DeAndre Hopkins is having a great year so far, and the Texans will need him to keep making explosive plays if they want other wide recievers like Will Fuller and Keke Coutee to keep making plays as well. When one wideout draws the coverage, the rest of them benefit. Lamar Miller needs to make more plays in the rushing game as well.
Finally, on the defensive side of the ball, they need to keep rushing the passer well. The Texans front seven is downright nasty, and they’ll need to keep the pressure on opposing gunslingers in order to play for real in the AFC. JJ Watt, Jadaveon Clowney, and Whitney Mercilus can all create nightmares for opposing offensive lines, and need to keep doing what they’re doing.
The Texans are in a very weak division, and might very well win that by virtue of not being the absolute worst. Contending in the AFC is still a bit of a longshot for right now, especially with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs appearing Super Bowl bound. The Texans have the pieces in place, but it may very well just be someone else’s year. Eventually though, they’ll begin to make waves
Texas has, so far, taken the college football world by surprise. The one-loss Longhorns are currently leading the Big 12 and are poised to have their first very successful season in what feels like forever.
These developments have some fans talking about the holy grail: the College Football Playoff. It could happen, they reason, the rest of the college football world outside of Alabama isn’t great, they say. They’re correct, this isn’t a deep roster of teams in 2018. However, a Texas berth in the College Football Playoff is a little bit premature, but not outside of the realm of possibility.
Yes, the Longhorns are ranked No. 6 in the nation. But according to Bill Connelly’s S&P+, a series of stats and rankings intended to be predictive of a team’s success over the whole season, the Longhorns rate just No. 38. Connelly’s number are by and large accurate when it comes to predicting victories, and so far, the data shows that the Longhorns’ rushing offense without Keaontay Ingram just isn’t explosive enough to predict lots of victories in the points-laden Big 12, and that when the Longhorns turn the ball over, they do it in the worst possible scenarios.
Keep in mind as well that Texas still has to play West Virginia, go on the road to play Texas Tech, and take on the crushing defense of Iowa State. At the halfway mark of the season, though, the Longhorns are still sitting pretty.
You might say, so what, these fancy numbers indicate that the Longhorns are going to lose a game or so, but numbers have been wrong before. You’re correct! Unfortunately for the Longhorns’ playoff hopes, their loss was to Maryland. Maryland looked good at the beginning of the season, but is sitting at a very average 4-3 record at the time of writing. Contrast this with the rest of the current AP top four teams, three of which (Alabama, Clemson, and Notre Dame) have no losses and LSU, who only has a loss to a top 10 ranked Florida. Yes, the SEC bias is real and is carrying lots of water for that LSU loss, but Florida is still currently a one-loss team and at least deserves to be ranked. Contrast that with Maryland, who, well, doesn’t.
It’s an uphill climb and the Longhorns are working against some tough forces. Fortunately for Tom Herman and the boys, they’re arriving a year early. If the Longhorns don’t make the playoff, don’t sweat it. They’ll return nearly every impact player next year, and be fully ready to make a playoff push in 2019 should they get left out in 2018. Kick back and enjoy the ride.
