Texas out of Big 12 soccer tournament
The Texas soccer team came up short against Baylor in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 soccer championship in Kansas City, Mo., falling 2-1 in overtime on Wednesday.
Texas (13-3-2) lost a 1-0 lead in the 88th minute before Julie James took a pass from Aline De Lima to score the winning goal in the 99th minute.
The Longhorns beat Baylor (11-5-2) 1-0 on Oct. 20, the last time Texas has won. Since starting the season 11-0, Texas is 2-3-2 in its last seven games.
This was the ninth overtime match for the Longhorns this season, a school record.
Katie Glenn gave the Longhorns a lead in the 72nd minute off an assist from Haley Berg. It was Glenn’s fifth goal of the year.
The teams put up nearly identical stats for most of the game. Both had 17 shots, but Baylor put nine on goal while Texas had six. Texas had four corner kicks to Baylor’s three.
The Longhorns were on their way to advancing late in the game, but an equalizing goal by Lauren Piercy in the 88th minute put an end to that. Baylor defender Sarah King assisted on the play.
Nicole Curry made seven saves in goal for Texas while Jennifer Wandt made five for Baylor. Cyera Hintzen had four shots for Texas, but just one was on frame. Kayra Dollas and Mikayla Flores also had one shot on goal. James led the Bears with two shots on goal.
Baylor will face top-seeded Oklahoma State on Friday. The Cowgirls topped Oklahoma 2-1.
The Longhorns now await the NCAA Selection Show on Nov. 6 to see who they’ll play in the first round of the NCAA Women’s College Cup, which kicks off Nov. 10 at various sites.
Baseball: Right-handed pitcher Donny Diaz has a right elbow injury that will cause him to miss the 2018 season, coach David Pierce announced Wednesday. The junior transfer from San Jacinto College hasn’t thrown since joining Texas and is scheduled to have Tommy John surgery Friday.
The Buffalo Bills take on the New York Jets to kick off Week 9 on Thursday, and Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor must have confused Halloween for Christmas on Tuesday when he learned his team traded for Kelvin Benjamin.
The new Bill probably won’t play Thursday, but I still like Taylor to start. Of course you’ll start LeSean McCoy as well. On the other side of the ball, Matt Forte is an OK flex play.
Here’s a look at who else you should start and sit in Week 9:
Start these guys
■ Deshaun Watson, QB, Texans: This is probably the last time he’ll be in this section. Not because he won’t be worthy of a start, but because he’s an auto-start from now until the end of the year. If he can do what he did to the Seahawks, he can do it against anyone. This week it’s going to be the Colts. ■ Matthew Stafford, QB, Lions: He didn’t throw a touchdown against the Steelers in Week 8, but amassed 423 passing yards. Don’t worry about him too much. He’ll get the ball in the end zone against the Packers this weekend. ■ Kirk Cousins, QB, Redskins: Cousins faces the Seahawks on the road, but you saw what a rookie did to them on Sunday. Now they could be without Earl Thomas, who is nursing a hamstring. ■ Alvin Kamara, RB, Saints: He could be really special now. If Mark Ingram continues to have fumbling issues, it could get even better for Kamara. ■ Joe Mixon, RB, Bengals: He’s had two games in a row of success catching passes out of the backfield. This week he should do damage on the ground against the Jaguars, who aren’t good at so obviously it hurts that he’s not here. But you’ve got to look at the guys we have running. These guys are very, very capable and have really thrived in this league and behind us, so we’re looking forward to watching them go.”
Smith is expected to get more action along with primary backup Alfred Morris and veteran Darren McFadden.
The Cowboys are expected to use those three in a committee approach to fill Elliott’s void. Elliott, the league’s rushing champion a season ago as a rookie, has the third-most rushing yards in the league with 690.
Morris and McFadden are established runners in the league who have had 1,000yard stopping the run. ■ Paul Richardson, WR, Seahawks: He has three touchdowns in his last two games and I’m thinking he can keep up the production against the Redskins. Josh Norman is likely to stick with Doug Baldwin, leaving Richardson with softer coverage. ■ Ted Ginn, WR, Saints: The Bucs are the worst team at limiting wide receivers in fantasy scoring. Ginn is on a decent roll as of late, catching 13 passes for 275 yards and a touchdown in the last three games. ■ Jermaine Kearse, WR, Jets: He doesn’t have the easiest matchup as he faces the Bills. They’ve only allowed six touchdown receptions, but they’ve given up the fourth-most receiving yards. Kearse looks like a good flex play. ■ Jack Doyle, TE, Colts: As bad as the Colts are, Doyle has been a bright spot for fantasy. He has 25 catches, 215 yards and two touchdowns in his last three games.
Sit these guys
■ Jameis Winston, QB, Buccaneers: I’m seeing some people looking to him as a good start this week as he faces the Saints. There are a lot of concerns, however. First, he’s got an AC joint injury he’s dealing with in his throwing shoulder, and second, the Saints defense is playing better of late. ■ Eli Manning, QB, Giants: Manning is without his top seasons before. But they are not considered to be in their prime anymore.
Morris has served as Elliott’s primary backup, and has 105 yards on 13 carries. McFadden has not been active this season.
Smith has 10 carries for 69 yards, as well as 23 receiving yards on two receptions.
Smith and Martin were the only players who spoke Tuesday when the locker room was open to reporters, and each expressed optimism about the running game.
“It’s always sad when you see a guy has got to go down for any reason, but we’ve two receivers, though he gets Sterling Shepard back. The Rams are a tough draw, however. ■ Andy Dalton, QB, Bengals: He’s had a tough season and he faces one of the best defensive backfields this week. The Jaguars are outstanding at limiting quarterbacks’ fantasy points. ■ C.J. Anderson, RB, Broncos: Anderson’s been disappointing this season and has a really tough matchup against the Eagles. ■ Miami running backs: Don’t get enticed by new opportunities for Damien Williams and Kenyon Drake. Neither could beat out Jay Ajayi, and he wasn’t doing well behind the Dolphins line either. ■ Jay Ajayi, RB, Eagles: Speaking of Ajayi, wait a week before inserting him into your lineup. He’s new in town and has to face the Broncos right away. LeGarrette Blount is still a factor as well. Ajayi is possibly a decent flex play, but temper your expectations if you have to start him. ■ Kenny Stills, WR, Dolphins: He was a decent start last week, but this week is a different story. DeVante Parker is likely to return for Miami, putting Stills further down the pecking order. ■ Mohamed Sanu, WR, Falcons: Sanu is coming off a good game, but he’s got a tougher matchup this week as he faces the Panthers. They’re in the top 10 at limiting wide receiver fantasy points. ■ Randall Cobb, WR, Packers: I’m thinking he’ll be the odd man out this week. Not that the other two main targets in Green Bay will have much better days. It’s a tough hand the Packers have been dealt with Brett Hundley starting at quarterback. got some good backs in our room,” Smith said. “We’re still confident, our team is confident. We’re going to go out there and do what we do.”
The Cowboys’ running game has found its stride in recent weeks. Elliott has topped the 100-yard mark the past three games, averaging 4.69 yards a carry.
The goal is to keep it going regardless of who is in the backfield. It might help that Kansas City has the 28th-ranked run defense.
“The system is the system,” Martin said. “We’re going to be running the same plays. We’re going to be running the ball. We just have to be able to execute up front because we know these guys can make a ton of plays.”
That’s the message throughout the organization.
Owner Jerry Jones remains furious with the league and Commissioner Roger Goodell over the handling of the Elliott situation, but he spoke positively about filling the void on his radio show Tuesday.
“It’s fair to say that this [losing Elliott] is a takeaway for the Cowboys, that’s almost trite,” Jones said. “You just get it done, but you try to get it done a different way. Make no mistake about it though, having a guy with Zeke’s skills has given us a way to do our offense and construct our offense that is very effective. We’ve got to get it done a different way if we don’t have him.”