Kaz's Korner

My wife Susan informed me right in the middle of the high-scoring Texas-Oklahoma game that she was going to take her afternoon nap.

“How can you leave such an exciting game like this?” I asked her.

“Texas is going to lose,” came her reply.

“How can you sit here in front of the television for over three hours cheering for the Longhorns and out of the blue say Texas will lose when it’s not even the fourth quarter and Texas has a comfortable 41-23 lead?” I asked completely puzzled. “You stick to cooking for me and let me handle the football predictions.”

“Being a high school math teacher for nearly half a century, I’ve learned a lot about momentum and probability. The Longhorns have completely lost that momentum they built up in the first half and once it’s gone, it rarely returns. The probability is that the Sooners will pick up on that lack of enthusiasm and come roaring back in the final period,” she countered.

The football game was over when she staggered out of the bedroom after her nap. But she was not happy that her prediction came true because being from Missouri, she had no love whatsoever for the Oklahoma Sooners, who won the Red River Shootout 55-48.

The loss prevented Longhorns’ head coach Steve Sarkisian from winning this annual event in his first season, a feat accomplished only by Barry Switzer in his first year at Oklahoma.

That rivalry was only one of several attractions that took place last weekend for Orange area sports fans. High school football Friday night saw every local team win their district game—West Orange-Stark over Silsbee 45-20, Little Cypress-Mauriceville’s upset over previously-undefeated Huffman 39-31, Orangefield 34-13 over Liberty, Bridge City 21-20 over Hardin-Jefferson, Vidor 30-20 over Splendora and Deweyville 40-14 over Hull-Daisetta.

Local baseball fans enjoyed the Houston Astros winning their first two games of the Best-of Five American League Division Series over the Chicago White Sox at Minute Maid Park 6-1 and 9-4 before dropping a 12-6 slugfest Sunday night in the Windy City.

But the Astros won big Tuesday afternoon 10-1 and will advance to the American League Championship Series to play the Boston Red Sox for the right to play in the World Series.

The big college football game Saturday night featured Alabama, the nation’s No. 1 team against Texas A&M before more than 100,000 screaming fans in College Station’s Kyle Field. The Crimson Tide swaggered into town as a 17½-point favorite to keep their long undefeated streak intact.

Again, wife Susan and I plopped before the boob tube and watched the Aggies dominate the action over Alabama during the first half, leading at the intermission 24-10. The Crimson Tide reduced the deficit to 31-24 after three periods of play.

The Aggies’ defense stepped up and made Alabama settle for two field goals. But with five minutes left in the game the Tide scored a touchdown and took their first lead of the game, 38-31.

It was then that Susan informed me not to worry. “Alabama is about to suffer their first loss of the season. Their momentum has slackened and the Aggies still have enough of their early momentum to pull off the upset,” she predicted.

I never did see her consult a crystal ball, but the Aggies needed less than two minutes to score on a 29-yard pass play to tie the score at 38-all.

A&M’s defense came up with a stop and the offense took over and gouged the Crimson Tide defense setting up a 28-yard field goal by Seth Small as time ran out. The 100,000 fans ran out on the field to celebrate the 41-38 Texas A&M upset victory over the nation’s No. 1 team.

As a result of Saturday’s games involving this area’s two most popular football schools, the Texas Aggies re-joined this week’s Associated Press Top 25 Collegiate Poll, replacing Texas in the No. 21 slot while the Longhorns sunk to No. 25.

KWICKIES…This week’s AP Top 25 College Football Poll got jumbled up for the first time this season with Alabama dropping out of the top spot for the first time in a many moons. With their loss to Texas A&M Saturday, the Crimson Tide slipped to No. 5 with Georgia claiming the No. 1 spot. Iowa moved up one place to No. 2, Cincinnati got its highest ranking in school history at No. 3, Oklahoma went up two spots to No. 4, Ohio State moved up one place to No. 6 while Penn State slipped three spots to No. 7. The remainder of the Top Ten has Michigan up one to No. 8, Oregon down one to No. 9 and Michigan State up one to No. 10. The other Texas team, SMU, moved up one place to No. 23. The Big Ten is the second conference to have five teams in the Top 10 in a single poll. The SEC is the other.

New England head man Bill Belichick is 11-l against a rookie quarterback since 2014, losing only to Miami’s Tua Tagovalioa last season.

Houston’s Davis Mills, who threw three touchdown passes, had zero turnovers and a 141.6 quarterback rating, is only the third rookie quarterback with 300 yards passing vs. a Belichick-coached team. Mills completed 21-of-29 passes for 312 yards.

Gonzaga’s head basketball coach Mark Few has been suspended from the first game this season for a DWI he received during the Labor Day weekend.

The Houston Texans (13) and Cleveland Browns (15) both had leads and managed to lose their respective games Sunday. Cleveland is the first team in NFL history to lose with 40 or more points (42) and zero turnovers. The Los Angeles Chargers won 47-42.

JUST BETWEEN US…The Houston Texans fans who jammed NRG Stadium to watch their team match wits with Bill Belichick and his New England Patriots Sunday afternoon were gypped out of a victory by Texans rookie head coach David Culley, who resorted to some sandlot plays while leading 22-9 and injected some momentum into the Patriots in the second half and halted his team’s momentum which resulted in New England’s 25-22 victory. The Texans’ special teams were graded with an F-minus by Monday’s edition of the Houston Chronicle and said it was “the worst special teams’ performance in Texans history.”