Twitter prepares for the matchup against Iowa State

Texas travels to face Iowa State in a huge game for the Longhorns. Here is how Twitter is preparing for this afternoon’s matchup vs ISU.

Texas has a huge game this afternoon as they travel to Ames, Iowa to face Iowa State. Today is a must-win for the Longhorns as they must win out to make it to the Big 12 championship game. Coming in as underdogs, Texas has a lot to prove against the Cyclones.

Here is how Twitter is preparing for the matchup against Iowa State:

Texas faces Iowa State at 2:30 P.M. on FS1.

Going into Friday’s games, the Pistons …

Going into Friday’s games, the Pistons were one of six teams to have played 12 games. Their cumulative record: 24-48. Only the Los Angeles Clippers, at 7-5, had a winning record. So many games so early in the season after a training camp and preseason shortened to three weeks in recent years appears to handicap teams. “That’s why next week is going to be huge,” Casey said. “We’ve got three or four days we can practice. Before, there was one day in between. It sounds like excuses, like the other night (before their Tuesday game at Miami), getting in at 6 in the morning. Sounds like an excuse. But it’s going to take a while for our guys to jell together, work together, learn each other. With Blake (Griffin) and Derrick (Rose) back, for them to learn each other. It’s going to be a marathon. But it didn’t help with the few days off that we had between games.”

Josh Gordon had only 2 catches in Seahawks debut but both were crucial

New Seahawks wide receiver Josh Gordon only registered two catches in the team’s win over the San Francisco 49ers, but both were crucial.

Josh Gordon made crucial contributions in his first game as a Seattle Seahawk on Monday night, despite his stat line showing only two catches for 27 yards. Both of those catches were vital plays in the game against the San Francisco 49ers and offered a glimpse of what the Seahawks and their fans can expect from him moving forward.

Russell Wilson credited Gordon for making the most of his opportunities and helping the team achieve their most important victory of the season.

“Josh Gordon has been a great addition to our team,” Wilson told reporters after the win. “We have a lot of great receivers and a lot of guys who can catch the football and make plays. He made some huge, huge catches today on third downs. He had the one slant to the right and I think another on the left. Just some of the plays he was making with confidence on big third downs to continue drives. He was great. He had a great week. It’s great to have him on our football team.”

Gordon had a reception for 13 yards on third-and-6 that preceded Jason Myers’ 46-yard field goal that gave Seattle a 24-21 lead. His other catch was for 14 yards and a first down in overtime.

While Gordon did not receive many opportunities, he has already displayed a propensity for coming through in the clutch. This could be just what Seattle needs at wide receiver with Tyler Lockett’s status up in the air for Week 12 against the Eagles when the team comes off their bye week.

Sitting at 8-2 with a tough schedule ahead of them, the Seahawks could use more contributions from Gordon down the stretch.

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ESPN bowl projections: Matchups against historical programs

Currently at 9-3, Texas could end up anywhere this bowl season. ESPN projects the Camping World Bowl and the Alamo Bowl for the Longhorns.

Currently sitting at 9-3, which bowl game the Longhorns will make is still up in the air. They could go as high as the Allstate Sugar Bowl or they could end up as low as the Texas Bowl. According to ESPN’s bowl projections, Texas is somewhere in between there.

Here is a look at where ESPN thinks the Longhorns will be bowling:

First, Kyle Bonagura projects Texas to participate in the Camping World Bowl in Orlando, FL. Since 2015, it has been a bowl game between Big 12 and ACC teams. If the Longhorns were to play in the Camping World Bowl, it would be the first time they would participate in it. What sticks out is their opponent, Notre Dame. Two of the most historic programs of all time, both schools are in the top 10 in all-time wins in NCAA history.

Playing as recent as 2015 and 2016, the Fighting Irish and the Longhorns have played a total of 12 times, with Notre Dame leading the series 9-3. The latest game in 2016 is the infamous “Texas is back folks!” game when Tyrone Swoopes scored a touchdown to beat the No. 10 ranked Irish in Austin, 50-47.

With Mark Schlabach projecting both Oklahoma and Baylor to get spots in a New Year’s Six Bowl game, that would leave the second-best Big 12 bowl game, the Valero Alamo Bowl, open for the Longhorns. Texas has not played in the Alamo Bowl since doing it in back to back seasons in 2012 and 2013 when they played Oregon State and Oregon respectively. Playing Pac 12 opponents, Schlabach says Texas will face the Trojans of USC.

These two teams have a lot of recent history and if they met, would be playing each other for the third year in a row. The Longhorns lost a heartbreaker on the road in 2017, while they beat the Trojans by 23 at home last season.

As usual when talking about Texas and USC, you have to mention the 2006 Rose Bowl game for the National Championship. Widely considered the greatest college football game of all time, Texas fans will be remembering this game for the rest of their lives.

Even if the Longhorns are not able to make the most prestigious bowl game this season, these matchups could still be some fun ones. Especially when you are playing against historical blue blood programs like Notre Dame and USC.

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Can Texas still make the Big 12 championship?

Even with losing twice, Texas is still alive for the Big 12 championship game. They’ll need to win out and get some help from other teams.

Despite losing the Red River Shootout to Oklahoma and losing on the road to TCU, Texas is still alive for the Big 12 championship. It has come down to three teams: Baylor, Oklahoma, and Texas. Here is a look at those three teams, how they have done this season, and what games they have remaining.

Baylor Bears 9-0 (6-0) Remaining games: Oklahoma, Texas, @Kansas

Baylor started the season out 3-0 in the nonconference, sneaking past Rice in their third game of the season, 21-13. In Big 12 play, the Bears have gone to double overtime with Texas Tech and triple overtime with TCU. Their impressive win of the season was a 31-12 road victory against Kansas State. All but two of their conference games have come down to one possession and have yet to make a statement. They can make that statement with a win against Oklahoma that would no doubt put them in the Big 12 championship game.

Oklahoma Sooners 8-1 (5-1) Remaining games: @Baylor, TCU, @Oklahoma State

After wrecking their way through Houston, South Dakota, and UCLA, Oklahoma came out firing in the Big 12, winning their first four games by an average of 28 points. That included a huge 34-27 win against Texas that seemed to put them in the driver’s seat in the conference. Then, a 48-41 loss on the road to Kansas State opened the doors up for teams like Texas to sneak back in. If the Sooners win out, not only are they still in contention for the Big 12 but the College Football playoff.

Texas Longhorns 6-3 (4-2) Remaining games: @Iowa State, @Baylor, Texas Tech

Starting the season out with now No. 1 LSU, Texas began the year 4-1 before coming across Oklahoma. The Sooners were able to take care of business in Dallas and the Longhorns have been struggling ever since. Losing to TCU and needing a game-winning field goal to get past Kansas and Kansas State is not what was envisioned for Texas this season. Despite all the struggles, the Longhorns are still in the race for the Big 12 championship game, they just need a little help.

That help will be determined based off of Saturday’s Baylor-Oklahoma matchup. One path is easier than the other for the Longhorns, but it may come at a cost. Here are the scenarios for Texas making the Big 12 championship:

Texas must win out

This is first and foremost the most important thing the Longhorns must do. If Texas loses any of its last three games against Iowa State, Baylor, or Texas Tech, they are more than likely done. It would still mathematically be possible, but odds are it will not happen. Texas’ schedule is the most difficult out of the three and faces an uphill battle.  Let’s assume the Longhorns are able to win against Iowa State so the other scenarios can play out.

If Oklahoma beats Baylor…

Then the Longhorns control their own destiny for the rest of the season. The Sooners would be in the driver’s seat to wear the home colored jerseys in the Big 12 championship game, but who they play would come down to Texas’ matchup against Baylor in Waco next week. It would become the most important matchup this season in the Big 12 for a couple reasons. If Texas were to win, a shot at a rematch against Oklahoma could save their season and propel them into another New Year’s Six Bowl. If Baylor were to win, they could avenge their loss against the Sooners and jump into the College Football Playoff. For any of that to happen though, Oklahoma must win in Waco Saturday night.

If Baylor beats Oklahoma…

Then the road becomes a lot more difficult. Baylor would become a lock to participate in the Big 12 championship, even if the Longhorns found a way to beat them next week. It would become a competition between Texas and Oklahoma. Each with two conference losses, if both teams are able to win out, the Sooners would get a rematch with Baylor at AT&T Stadium. Since Oklahoma beat the Longhorns back in October, they have the tiebreaker to get into the Big 12 championship. In order for Texas to get into the championship game, they would need to beat Baylor and Texas Tech, plus have Oklahoma lose one of their final two games against TCU and Oklahoma State.

Can they do it?

Yes, they can do it. As painful and weird as it may sound, Texas will most likely be cheering for Oklahoma to be beating Baylor Saturday night. Controlling your own destiny is easier than relying on TCU or Oklahoma State to beat Oklahoma. This would then set up a rematch of this year’s Red River Shootout. It would be the second year in a row these two teams met in the Big 12 championship game and would have College Football Playoff/Sugar Bowl implications on the line.

Texas will play Iowa State on Saturday at 2:30 P.M. CST on FS1, while Baylor and Oklahoma will play at 6:30 P.M on ABC.

Week 11 NFL TV schedule and game maps

CBS has the Patriots-Eagles and the Texans-Ravens. Fox’s NFC matchups leave a bit to be desired.

This is a great week for CBS and a not-so-great week for Fox. The marquee game on Fox features the Cowboys, but with the Lions at less than full strength, it’s not exactly a must-see. Now CBS has two great games. The early game shown throughout most of the country will be the Texans and Ravens and the late game that CBS has this week is Patriots-Eagles. Let’s get to what game you’ll see. As usual, thanks to 506Sports.com for the maps.

Texas’ series history against Iowa State

Only meeting 16 times, Texas has dominated Iowa State. With ISU only winning twice, the stakes have been raised the past two years.

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Texas plays a crucial road game against Iowa State and must win if they want to stay alive in the Big 12 championship picture. These two teams have a short history as they have only met a total of 16 times. The Longhorns dominated the begging of the series, winning seven straight. Even after an Iowa State win in 2010, Texas continued to win, beating the Cyclones seven out of the last eight.

Here is the series record between the Longhorns and Cyclones:

All-time series record: Texas leads 14-2-0

Largest wins: Texas 56-3 in 2007, Iowa State 24-0 in 2015

Latest Texas win: Nov. 17, 2018

Last season’s matchup with Iowa State was a ranked matchup as No. 13 Texas played host to the 18th ranked Cyclones. This was a strange game for the Longhorns, as both Sam Ehlinger and Shane Buechele got snaps.

Ehlinger was only able to play in the first half as he picked up a shoulder injury. Before he was forced to leave the game, he was able to get the Longhorns off to a strong start, scoring 17 points on five drives. He went 12-15 with 137 yards and a touchdown. He was also effective on the ground, having 32 yards and a touchdown.

Without Ehlinger, the Longhorns struggled, punting on four out of their six second-half drives. The other two ended with a Daniel Young fumble and a Shane Buechele 27 yards touchdown to Lil’ Jordan Humphrey. On the other hand, the Texas defense was outstanding, stopping an Iowa State offense that was averaging 427.2 yards over their five-game winning streak, to 210 yards. David Montgomery only ran for 33 yards as the Cyclones struggled running the ball.

The 24-10 win ended up being huge for the Longhorns as it was the reason they made it into the Big 12 championship game. Had Iowa State won the game, the Cyclones’ win against Kansas State the next week would have propelled them into the title game. Instead, Texas went on to beat Kansas and played in its first Big 12 championship game since 2009.

Latest Iowa State win: Oct. 31, 2015

2015 was a miserable year for the Longhorns and the matchup against Iowa State was no different. Going into the game, the Cyclones were 2-5, on a three-game losing streak, and allowing nearly 34 points a game on that streak.

Naturally, a Texas offense being led by Tyrone Swoopes and Jerrod Heard at quarterback put up a goose egg. Swoopes and Heard threw for 85 yards on 12-22 passing. The running game was not much better, as they averaged 3.7 yards per carry. Swoopes led the team in that category, rushing for 58 yards on 10 carries.

Iowa State’s offense pounded the ball on the ground, as they had 54 rushing attempts. They got 238 yards on those 54 attempts and added on two touchdowns. Running back Mike Warren had a career-high 32 carries with 157 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Joel Lanning was a mediocre 19-37 with 188 yards and a touchdown.

After defeating the Cyclones four years in a row, Texas shut out on the road, 24-0. It was their second time being shut out in two years after going a decade without it. Texas ended the season at 5-7, the first of back to back Charlie Strong 5-7 seasons.

Texas will play Iowa State on Saturday at 2:30 PM CST on FS1.

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Andrus Peat expected to miss six weeks with a broken arm

The New Orleans Saints lost starting left guard Andrus Peat to a broken arm against the Atlanta Falcons, and he’s expected to miss six weeks

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Bad news hit the New Orleans Saints on Wednesday, with ESPN’s Adam Schefter reporting that left guard Andrus Peat suffered a broken arm in Sunday’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Peat went through surgery Wednesday and the team expects him to be sidelined for six weeks, per Schefter’s report. That would put him on the shelf until their Dec. 22 game with the Tennessee Titans.

It’s a big loss for the Saints. Despite his inconsistent level of play, Peat was their best option to start at left guard as well as the immediate backup for left tackle Terron Armstead. He’ll likely be replaced by his own backup, second-year pro Will Clapp, though free-agent signee Nick Easton should also be a candidate to get playing time. Easton has been a healthy scratch in six of nine games after signing a four-year, $20 million contract with New Orleans earlier this year.

It couldn’t come at a worse time for Peat, who is scheduled to test free agency in the spring. The 25-year-old is playing out the fifth-year option of his rookie contract, guaranteeing him $9.625 million in 2019. The sad state of offensive line play around the league means he’ll have plenty of bidders looking to pay him to start at either left tackle or left guard, and probably put him out of New Orleans’ price range even with this injury.

And injury concerns are something that has dogged Peat throughout his career: he’s never played a 16-game season, despite coming close in both 2016 and 2017 with 15 games played in each outing, though his 2017 season ended with a broken leg. He missed three games in 2018 due to a sprained ankle, concussion, and broken hand, but made the Pro Bowl as an alternate. A growing list of injuries, poor positional fits (the Saints tried him out at both tackle and guard on each side of the line before settling at left guard), and a probably-high price tag mean his days in New Orleans may be numbered.

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NFL announces date, time and TV channel for Broncos’ game vs. Lions

The NFL has announced the date, time and television channel for the Broncos’ Week 16 game against the Lions.

When the NFL announced the Denver Broncos2019 schedule in April, the date, time and television channel for the team’s Week 16 showdown with the Detroit Lions was listed as “to be determined.”

Four other games that week — Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Houston Texans, New England Patriots vs. Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers vs. Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers vs. Oakland Raiders — were also listed as TBD.

The NFL wanted to wait and see how those teams started the season before deciding which games would be nationally televised on NFL Network on Saturday and which games would air on CBS on Sunday.

The league announced finalized dates, times and channels Tuesday.

After Denver started 3-6 and Detriot started 3-5-1, their showdown has been scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 22 at 2:05 p.m. MT on CBS. So unless the Broncos are flexed into “Sunday Night Football” between Weeks 13-15 or in Week 17, all of the team’s seven remaining games will air on CBS.

Houston (6-3) at Tampa Bay (3-6) will air on NFL Network on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 11:00 a.m. MT. Buffalo (6-3) at New England (8-1) will also air on NFLN on Dec. 21 at 2:30 p.m. MT and the Rams (5-4) at San Francisco (8-1) will air on NFLN that same day at 6:15 p.m. MT.

Oakland (5-4) against the Chargers (4-6) will air on CBS on Sunday, Dec. 22 at 2:05 p.m. MT, the same time as the Denver-Detriot contest.

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Wide receiver Collin Johnson is injured again

Coming off his best performance of the season, Collin Johnson is injured again. He is not expected to miss time and will play on Saturday.

At his press conference Monday morning, Head Coach Tom Herman told reporters that star wide receiver Collin Johnson injured his hamstring on the game-winning drive against Kansas State.

Johnson will undergo an ‘aggressive’ treatment this week to make sure he is ready to go against Iowa State on Saturday afternoon. The wide receiver did injure his hamstring earlier in the year, but it is believed to be in a different spot this time around. He missed three games earlier this season with that injury.

Coming off his best game of the season, Johnson continues to be critical for the Longhorns. Not only does he create problems for defenses, but his presence lets other receivers get better.

Seven catches were the second-most in the game behind Duvernay and his 110 yards tied Duvernay for the most for either team. His touchdown came on a red-zone flea-flicker from quarterback Sam Ehlinger.

Johnson will be critical for the Longhorns as they travel to Iowa State on Saturday at 2:30 P.M. CST on FS1.

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