A weekly report on the weekend of Big 12 football.

Previous weeks: 1, 2

THE RUNDOWN

BIG XII SOUTH

Idle: Texas Longhorns (2-0), Texas A&M Aggies (1-1)

• Oklahoma 55  Washington 14 [Box / Recap / Blog Coverage]
  
  Are there any Sam Bradford doubters left? Certainly for 2008, with this supporting cast, there shouldn't be. The sophomore completed 18 of his 21 passes Saturday for 304 yards and 5 more touchdowns, giving him 12 on the season, against just 2 interceptions. He's leading the nation in completion percentage (79.0), is second in passer rating (214.4), and hasn't been sacked yet this season. Not that the Sooners are one dimensional: Oklahoma's averaging 217 yards per game on the ground, as well. Add it all up and you get 7.0 yards per play on offense so far this year. Gaudy? Oh, yes, but we have to note that the Sooners haven't faced anything resembling a real defense yet. They will this week when TCU comes to Norman. The Horned Frogs are second nationally in total defense through three games--all wins (at New Mexico, versus Stephen F Austin, vs Stanford). Something's gotta give.
  
  
• Baylor 45  Washington St 17 [Box / Recap / Blog Coverage]
  
  PB's favorite non-Longhorn player Robert Griffin exploded Friday night in Waco, leading Baylor to a blowout win and scooping up Big 12 Player of the Week honors in the process. The numbers? Could have come from another #10:
  
  11 rushes, 217 yards, 19.7 per attempt, 2 TDs
  7-15 passing, 129 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
  
  I could gush again about how much I love Griffin, but in this case I'll let the video do the talking:
  

• Oklahoma State 57  Missouri State 13  [Box / Recap]
  
  Two rushers averaging 9+ yards per carry last week apparently wasn't enough for Oklahoma State, as they upped that to three rushers who averaged over 10 yards per carry this Saturday. Keith Toston (11 carries, 148 yards, 1 TD), Beau Johnson (13-138, 2), and Kendall Hunter (11-132, 2) combined to anchor a Cowpoke rushing attack which amassed 492 yards rushing on just 56 carries for an eye-popping 8.0 yards per carry.
  
  "But... but... it was Missouri State!" I can hear you object. Remain skeptical all you like, but consider this before you totally waive off the accomplishment.
  
  
• Texas Tech 43  SMU 7 [Box / Recap / Blog Coverage]
  
  A week after an ugly night in Reno, Graham Harrell delivered the kind of performance we've come to expect (31-48, 418 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INT) in helping lead the Red Raiders to an easy win over the visiting Ponies. Nice as that was for Tech fans to see, the silly passing numbers aren't nearly important as Mike Leach's commitment to the running game, which was exceptionally productive on Saturday to the tune of 194 yards on 27 carries (6.7 per attempt). Texas Tech's offense is always tricky to defend, but it's truly nightmarish to defend when the running game is grooving. Last season the Red Raiders managed an atrocious 3.1 yards per carry rushing; as their offense became one dimensional, they began to struggle. Though the running game was productive in the early going last year as well, it's so far, so good in 2008.
  

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A weekly report on the weekend of Big 12 football.

Previous reports: Week 1

THE RUNDOWN

BIG XII SOUTH

• Texas 42  UTEP 13  [Box / Recap / Blog Coverage / As Told At YouTube]
  
  You didn't think it would all be pretty, did you? Hopefully not, as the Longhorns were actually outgained by the Miners last night (412-404). The game was an oddity, neither as close as the final stats nor wide as the final margin might indicate. The best news for Longhorns fans has to be the exceptionally strong start from quarterback Colt McCoy, who's sitting on video game numbers after two games: 44-58, 504 yards, 7 TDs, 1 INT, 185.2 QB Rating. Of course, he's not exactly been playing in Varsity mode--Florida Atlantic's defense let UAB's Joe Webb rack up 326 yards this week, while UTEP's defense was scorched for 484 total yards by Buffalo a week ago. If the strength of Texas' opponents suggests holding off on a parade would be prudent, there's no reason to feel gloomy, either. Mighty Casey hasn't come close to striking out.

• Oklahoma 52  Cincinnati 26 [Box / Recap / Blog Coverage / As Told At YouTube]
  
  Whether or not they match some of their predecessors' success, you could make the argument this is Oklahoma's best team on paper. Maximum evil. The Sooners racked up a ridiculous 592 yards of total offense against Brian Kelly's Bearcats, taken seriously for--if anything--their defense. Demarco Murray barely broke a sweat in rushing for 5.9 yards per carry, as Oklahoma rode the arm of Sam Bradford (29-38, 395 yards, 5 TD, 2 INT) to a comfortable win. As I wrote this summer, don't hold your breath for Bradford to cool off. Not when he's got five senior brick walls giving him all day to find the open man.

• Baylor 51  Northwestern St 6 [Box / Recap / As Told At YouTube]
  
  Ah, the sweet smell of picking on the weak guy--the slump buster. Weak opponent or not, my new favorite non-Texas player--true freshman quarterback Robert Griffin--was outstanding yesterday, passing for 294 yards on 15 of 19 passing, including 3 touchdowns and no turnovers. Throw in 42 yards on 10 carries for good measure and we can mark off "dominates weak competition" on the Robert Griffin path to stardom checklist.

• Oklahoma State 56  Houston 37 [Box / Recap / As Told At YouTube]
  
  Not taking the Oklahoma State offense seriously yet? That might be a mistake... So ridiculous were the Cowboys offensively on Saturday that the standard video game analogy breaks down; it was sillier than that. This was more like The Matrix and the realm of the jaw-droppingly impossible: 699 yards of total offense, including 379 rushing on 51 carries. Kendall Hunter needed just 22 carries to rack up 210 yards, while Keith Toston added 78 more on 8 attempts, giving Oklahoma State two rushers who averaged over 9 yards per carry. Not blown away yet? This oughtta seal the deal: in the third quarter, the Cowboys scored 28 points on 20 offensive snaps. Bow down.

• Texas Tech 35  Nevada 19 [Box / Recap / Blog Coverage / As Told At YouTube]
  
  The True Believer segment of the Red Raider fanbase are gloating this morning after Tech's defense put in a "dominating performance" against Nevada Saturday. That might be generous, given the 6.0 yards per play allowed to the Wolfpack, but Ruffin's Riders deserve credit for standing tall when it mattered most: As Tim Griffin notes in the above link, Nevada was inside the Tech 26 yard line on 8 separate occasions in the game's first three quarters, but came away with just 4 field goals from those drives. They picked the right game to show up, too, as Graham Harrell was uncharacteristically off the mark. The senior missed on 27 of his 46 pass attempts, had just 1 touchdown pass, and turned the ball over twice. On the bright side, Texas Tech ran the ball well (5.6 yards per attempt), something they must do well for Mike Leach's system to succeed against strong competition. Tech moves to 2-0, and with home games against SMU and Massachusetts to close out the non-conference season, they'll open Big XII play 4-0 on October 4th in Manhattan.

• Texas A&M 28  New Mexico 22 [Box / Recap / Blog Coverage / As Told At YouTube]
  
  To give you an idea of how fortunate A&M was to win this contest, the Aggies were outgained by 134 yards by the Lobos and got 7 of their 28 points on an interception return. To be fair, an injury to Mike Goodson early in the game hamstrung the Aggies' rushing attack, but, they also caught a huge break when they lost quarterback Stephen McGee for the game, as well. Had Grass Stains McGritty been in there for four quarters, it seems likely A&M would be 0-2. Game ball goes to Jerrod Johnson, the 6-5 redshirt sophomore from Humble, who found the end zone three times through the air. As a Longhorn fan, the likely end of the McGee era is a bitter one, the opportunity to wax him in Austin this November now lost. Should Johnson become the A&M starter heading forward, McGee will finish his career with a winning record against Texas. Life is incredibly unfair.

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