The Big 12 saw several entertaining games this week, if for wildly different reasons. Oklahoma had quite the slugfest with Florida State, the Pokes had a game that went into the wee hours of the morning, Texas finally whipped UCLA, Baylor had a game called off early, and the Kansas Jayhawks gave up an unfathomable 604 yards rushing to Georgie Tech (I recommend you watch that carnage on ESPN3 if you can; it was surreal). Only Oklahoma's game had an immediate impact on the national picture, but we'll see another matchup between Top Ten teams this week, and it will also be a conference game.
This time, we'll start with last week's marquee matchup before moving on to the other teams, and that's obviously the Sooners' game against the Seminoles.
Oklahoma
LAST WEEK: The nation got a taste of old fashioned smash mouth football Saturday night with a not quite unanimous #1 OU coming out on top of Florida State 23-13 in what was a highly entertaining game in front of a record crowd at Doak Campbell stadium and national television audience. OU's offense did just enough to take advantage of two interceptions and benefitted from knocking out the Seminoles QB E.J. Manuel on a brutal ground crunching tackle to come away with the victory. The stat line was not impressive unless you love defensive play and the Sooners line up an array of hard hitting linebackers and speedy safeties that deliver impressive results.
THIS WEEK: #1 Oklahoma starts conference play hosting the Missouri Tigers at Gaylord Family Stadium spotting the Tigers an early line of 21.5 points.
SEASON OUTLOOK: Oklahoma is the real deal. Watching the game I came away impressed with their speed and decision making at each edge position. As long as they stay away from the injury bug this team should ride to another Big 12 championship. - TXStampede
Baylor
LAST WEEK: The #19 (AP) ranked Bears put it to the SFA Lumberjacks 48-0 which saw Baylor score each time it had the football. RGIII had another great statistical night leading Baylor to touchdown scores on their first five possessions. He also has as many TD's as incompletions through his first two games this season. The game was conceded before the 3rd period expired due to lightning.
THIS WEEK: #17 (AP) Baylor hosts Rice for their third straight home game.
SEASON OUTLOOK: Baylor has shown a propensity to score at will versus the competition as the all-american and all around great guy RGIII looks the part. Baylor will continue to get looks as a real dark horse until they face the meat grinder portion of the Big 12 conference schedule. - TXStampede
Iowa State
LAST WEEK: The Cyclones are the early season cardiac kids of the Big 12. Playing on the road before a packed Husky stadium, ISU had another come from behind win to beat UCONN 24-21 in spite of 3 interceptions by Cyclone QB Steele Jantz. Jantz led his team on a 65 yard early fourth quarter drive that put the Cyclones ahead for good. "Confidence continues to build as we find ways to win football games," said head coach Paul Rhoads.
THIS WEEK: Idle as they prepare for a home game against Texas.
SEASON OUTLOOK: This team continues to impress as they move to 3-0 for the first time since 2005. ISU received some positive PR news today in that their game against Texas will be televised on FX. Nice exposure for the Rhoads led program. - TXStampede
Kansas
LAST WEEK: Not a lot to offer here except Georgia Tech was able to find restitution from last year's upset in Manhattan Lawrence shellacking the Jayhawks 66-24 in Kansas' tenth road loss in a row. The Yellow Jackets racked up over 600 yards rushing on 50 attempts (12.1 avg) in the blow-out victory.
THIS WEEK: Idle.
SEASON OUTLOOK: Things were looking up for the Jayhawks when they began they year with two straight losses. But after Saturday's embarrassing loss, Kansas took a significant step backward as they head into conference play. I still am holding to my prediction of zero conference wins. Basketball season can't get here fast enough for Jayhawk fan. - TXStampede
Kansas State
LAST WEEK: Predictably, the Wildcats walloped Kent State 37-0.
THIS WEEK: Kansas State takes on the Miami Hurricanes this week on the road, a team that just finished embarrassing Ohio State. They have a shot, but Miami has some talent and speed on both sides of the ball and it remains to be seen how KSU's offense looks against a real team after their dismal showing in Week 1. I don't expect K-State to walk out with a victory, but we'll see how Snyder's scrappy squad responds.
SEASON OUTLOOK: The Wildcats continue to look pretty limited on offense and probably won't be able to muster enough points to win many games this season. - TheElusiveShadow
Missouri
LAST WEEK: I said the week before that Missouri would probably take out their anger from losing to Arizona State on poor Western Illinois. They did. In a merciless beat down, the Tigers racked up 700 more yards than the Leathernecks (744-44), allowed only one first down, and ceded 1.13 yards per play, en route to a 69-0 victory.
THIS WEEK: Missouri starts conference play against #1 Oklahoma in Norman. Many people are tagging this as a "trap" game after OU's hard fought win over the Seminoles, but I'd be more inclined to believe that if this game was at Mizzou. In Norman, I have a hard time seeing the Tigers pull off the upset. Their defense will certainly have to have a far stronger showing than they did against ASU if they're going to even have a prayer.
SEASON OUTLOOK: Missouri has a decent team but the conference slate is tough this season. James Franklin is coming along but the defense needs to improve and will get a rough test this week against the Sooners. - TheElusiveShadow
Oklahoma State
LAST WEEK: In a bizarre game that was delayed till past midnight because of the weather, the Cowboys smacked around Tulsa 59-33. Like their Week 1 game, the score is deceptive; what looks like a shootout was pretty one-sided throughout the contest, as the Pokes had a 41-6 halftime lead and merely coasted. This was helped by the injury to G.J. Kinne in the first quarter for Tulsa, ending whatever close-to-zero hopes the Golden Hurricane had of keeping up with OSU's dangerous offense. However, Weeden threw two more picks and has six on the year, so it is something worth watching.
THIS WEEK: The Pokes take on Texas A&M in College Station for one of the biggest games of the week. Most people are probably predicting some sort of offensive shootout, and for good reason; both offenses are very strong. It will be important for Weeden to reel in this interception streak he's apparently on, for in a game like this, a turnover may mean a 10-14 point swing. I wouldn't look too much into the amount of points the Cowboys have given up so far, as the vast majority of them have come in garbage time, but they're going to have to be prepared to bring it for four quarters against the Aggies. Every stop will be big.
SEASON OUTLOOK: Losing this week's game won't be catastrophic, but it will definitely put a damper on their high preseason hopes. We'll learn a lot about them this weekend. - TheElusiveShadow
Texas
LAST WEEK: Unlike the last two games, the Longhorns started out quickly, aided by three early interceptions by Kevin Prince, and kept UCLA at arm's length for an easy 49-20 victory. The game was very encouraging on many levels: The defense looked energized, the offense is steadily improving, and Case McCoy and David Ash did their jobs well. UCLA did a lot of dumb things, but that doesn't take away from the immense promise the Horns showed, particularly from our young players.
THIS WEEK: Off before taking on Iowa State. May not be as easy of a game as we typically have thought, since they're well-coached and will give high effort.
SEASON OUTLOOK: Texas is a team that continues to improve but has a long way to go. The bye this week will help, but the two game stretch of OU and OSU is just right around the corner and it's a race against the clock to get this team ready for that. One area worth keeping an eye on is the QB position after GG's surgery; while he was now third on the depth chart, his surgery makes us frightfully thin at the position. An injury to either Ash or Case would make things pretty hairy. - TheElusiveShadow
Texas A&M
LAST WEEK: In a game that nobody watched because it was on PPV, the Aggies cruised by Idaho 37-7. Not exactly an interesting game.
THIS WEEK: The Aggies have started both of their games this season somewhat shakily (the epic fail of Kyle Padron notwithstanding). Neither Idaho nor SMU was a threat to them, but Oklahoma State has shown the ability to blast a team from the beginning, essentially ending all three games so far by halftime. I still have questions for the Aggie defense, and it will be very informative to see how they look early against a multifaceted Cowboy attack. The Aggies no doubt remember the whipping the Pokes gave them last year and will want to respond in kind, but that will obviously mean coming out sharp from the get-go. I like the Pokes better as a team, but the fact that the game is in Kyle Field makes it a tough decision. Still, I'll go with OSU in a close one.
SEASON OUTLOOK: Like with A&M, losing this game won't be disastrous (unless they get killed, which I doubt), but it will say something important about them before they take on Arkansas next. - TheElusiveShadow
Texas Tech
LAST WEEK: In spite of facing arguably one of the weakest FBS teams, the Raiders were nonetheless impressive in their overwhelming victory Saturday night against New Mexico 59-13. Tech quarterback Seth Doege set an NCAA record completing 90.9% of his passes in a 40 of 44, 401 yard, 5 touchdown effort. Give that boy a raise and congrats to him on the performance.
THIS WEEK: The Nick Kaepernick-less Nevada Wolf Pack come calling in yet another soft-scheduling tune up game.
SEASON OUTLOOK: Okay, so the offense was able to get some solid work in against erstwhile New Mexico. Still, without the benefit of playing real competition, it is difficult to get a bead on the Raiders. I will need data before a final evaluation can be made. - TXStampede
Players of the Week (courtesy of big12sports.com)
Big 12 Co-Offensive Players of the Week
Henry Josey, Missouri, TB, So, Angleton, Texas
Henry Josey ran for 263 yards and three touchdowns in only two quarters of play to lead Missouri's ground assault in the 69-0 win over Western Illinois. Josey had 14 first-half carries, and averaged 18.79 yards per attempt. The sophomore needed only 57 yards to set the MU single-game rushing record of 319 yards by Devin West (1998 vs. Kansas), but with the game in hand did not play in the second half. Josey's rushing total is the highest single-game output in the NCAA through games of Sept. 17, and it was the fourth-highest single-game total in MU history. His three scores came from six, 21 and 68 yards. He is currently No. 1 in the Big 12 and No. 6 nationally in rushing, with 133.33 ypg. His per-rush average of 13.8 through three games is tops in the nation among those with 15 or more carries on the year.
Seth Doege, Texas Tech, QB, Jr, Lubbock, Texas
Seth Doege set an NCAA record against New Mexico as he completed 40-of-44 passes for 401 yards and five touchdowns in the 59-13 win. With just four incomplete passes (all four in the endzone), he surpassed former Texas Tech quarterback Kliff Kingsbury, who set the previous NCAA mark by completing 49-of-59 passes at Texas A&M on Oct. 5, 2002. Doege started the game with 15 consecutive completions which tied a school record set last season by Taylor Potts in the first half of Tech's win over Baylor at the Cotton Bowl. He completed 11 straight passes before the game went into a 51-minute lightning delay. Following the delay, Doege completed another four consecutive passes to tie the school record. The 401 yards and five touchdown passes marked career highs.
Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week
Javon Harris, Oklahoma, S, So, Lawton, Okla.
Javon Harris picked off two passes in No. 1 Oklahoma's 23-13 win at No. 5 Florida State. He returned the first one 69 yards to set up a Sooner field goal, then salted the game away with his second, which came with 5:34 remaining in the game. The Sooners drove the ball into field goal range after the final pick and converted the kick to build the final 10-point advantage. Harris also had three tackles, all unassisted, and one pass broken up. Coming into the game, the Seminoles had thrown only one interception through their first two outings.
Upcoming Game of the Week: #6 Oklahoma State at #8 Texas A&M (-3.5) (2:30 p.m. ABC)
Ranking
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Texas A&M
Baylor
Texas
Texas Tech
Iowa State
Missouri
Kansas State
Kansas