All the Big 12-2 Conference news that is and isn't fit to read...
And some other stuff.
Help wanted. [Houston Chronicle]
Longhorns coach Mack Brown said freshmen kickers Nick Jordan and Nick Rose will compete over the next few days for the right to handle field goals and extra points this Saturday against New Mexico. Anthony Fera, the Penn State transfer who was expected to win the kicking job this summer, remains doubtful with a groin injury.
Yes, everyone was surprised. [Houston Chronicle]
This, I believe, is what surprised Brown and Christiansen: that Smith put up those kinds of numbers against the Texas defense.Like Christiansen said, Texas is supposed to be one of the nation’s top defenses this season.
You could draw the conclusion from Saturday night’s game that Smith is the real deal. Or that Texas’ defense isn’t. Or both.
The question on everyone's mind...How was Wes Lunt? [NewsOK]
Learned: He was accurate, as advertised, completing all 11 passes he threw for OSU's first "perfect game" by a quarterback. He appeared calm and confident, too, not at all like some raw rookie.
To Be Determined: Lunt's accuracy was at least partially tied to a safe passing approach based largely on short to intermediate throws, with just one pass attempted downfield. How will he be when more variety is needed to move the chains? Lunt was never pressured or hurried Saturday, making it easy to remain calm. So his test under such scenarios is yet to come
TCU coach Gary Patterson is nearing a milestone in his career. [Fox Sports]
Excitement is mounting in Ft. Worth. [Ft. Worth Star-Telegram]
"You pinch yourself," said TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte, who will be on hand, along with chancellor Victor Boschini and others for a 1 p.m. dedication ceremony prior to the open house Thursday. "It's a huge week for us. It's here."
Things got a little sloppy in WVU's game against Marshall. [Wheeling News-Register]
"As far as how many yards we gave up, that's not something we're going to be too concerned with at this point," head coach Dana Holgorsen said. "The football got kinda sloppy there in the second half, both on offense and defense. It's more about evaluating each and every position to see what we have to do to get better between now and two weeks."
The conference is about to sign a 2.6 billion dollar deal. [CBS Sports]
This was not the QB's fault. [NewsOK]
When a reporter at Big 12 media days prefaced a question by mentioning that Landry Jones had struggled late in 2011, when he didn't throw a touchdown pass for 151/2-straight quarters, Stoops jumped to Jones' defense.
"Everybody (said), ‘Landry struggled.' No, he didn't," Stoops said. "The offense struggled. ... To me, it's more of an issue of the offense and the offense around him than it is him."
The special teams have some issues. [NewsOK]
Should Norman panic? [NewsOK]
So either Mike Price has coached up the Miners in a big-time way or the Sooners have a long way to go.
Let's go with the latter.
"Little bit rough," Stoops admitted about a game that was 10-7 with 11 minutes left. "I'm not disappointed, I'm just not satisfied that we didn't play as well as we could play."
Bob just being Bob. [NewsOK]
Hoover: "Why didn’t Roy Finch play on Saturday?"
Stoops: "We play who we feel is set to play the best for us right now. You want to ask about why another 90 guys didn’t play? We play who we feel is set to play. … From today, through the end of the year, guys play who we feel are in the best position to play at the time. I’ll repeat that answer from here to the end of time."
Hoover: "I don’t want to ask about 90 other guys, because Roy was the starting running back at the end of the year last year."
Stoops: "OK, well he isn’t today."
Don't make me like you, Barry. Please don't. Barry Switzer is an animal lover and nice guy. [Fox Sports]
When you lose big to a Dennis Franchione team, expect the worst. [Houston Chronicle]
You usually hear about highlights of the week, but never the lowlights. [CBS Sports]
Missouri is off to a great start in the SEC. [Herald-Tribune]
Missouri held talkative defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson out of media day Monday after the player's remarks about Georgia and the SEC in general.
Richardson, a junior, said after Saturday's opening victory over Southeastern Louisiana that he watched some of the Bulldogs' opening victory over Buffalo earlier in the day but turned off his TV because "it's like watching Big Ten football, it's old man football."
The Good, The Bad, The Sanctioned
This is a shocker. Two USC athletes have been accused of accepting illegal gifts. [LA Times]
The allegations are contained among hundreds of Scott Schenter's county work emails that suggest the former appraiser provided football star Joe McKnight with a car and an airline ticket, and basketball player Davon Jefferson with about $3,700 in cash. The Times obtained the emails from the assessor's office under the California Public Records Act.
Lane Kiffin on the allegations: [LA Times]
"It's not even registering with us, as far as this football team and what we're doing," Kiffin said, during a teleconference, of the McKnight situation.
McKnight played for USC from 2007 to 2009. The NCAA has a four-year statute of limitations on rule violations.
Weltschmerz
You can't help but be consumed by Aggie logic when you move to College Station. [AAS]
I can't believe Kevin Sumlin's idea of discipline. The first-year Texas A&M coach has yet to coach a single Aggie game but already suffers from a lack of accountability after he suspended linebacker Steven Jenkins and safety Howard Matthews for the first game and then announced he would make them sit in the Louisiana Tech game, which was postponed from Thursday because of weather concerns to Oct. 13. Rather than sit them against Florida in the new season opener, Sumlin will push their penalty back six weeks. Kind of like you breaking a window at home on a Monday and getting spanked by your dad more than a month later. Yeah, that makes sense.
Students are fired up for the first ever Aggie football game in the Southeastern Conference. [KBTX]
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