As the West Virginia Mountaineers took their bye week, the status of many Big 12 teams started to solidify in the sixth week of games.
Oklahoma’s victory over Texas drew clearer, yet not permanent, divisions between the top teams in the conference. Other games revealed which schools should and should not be taken seriously as strong programs in the Big 12. Regardless, a glimpse at potential Big 12 final standings and bowl game participants has finally arrived for many college football fans.
Oklahoma vs. Texas: Latest installment of the Red River Rivalry lived up to expectations
As the only undefeated Big 12 teams after five games, the Associated Press’ third ranked Texas Longhorns and the No. 12 Oklahoma Sooners battled for the top spot in the conference standings on Saturday. The matchup stayed close throughout, as no quarter ended with more than a touchdown-sized margin between the teams’ scores. The Oklahoma Sooners ultimately came out on top 34-30 thanks to a drive with 1:17 remaining that saw a Texas pass interference and four complete passes from Dillon Gabriel. The last of these throws led to the Sooners’ only receiving touchdown of the night, which was also freshman Nic Anderson’s only time touching the ball in the game.
Neither team showed much leverage over the other throughout the game, indicating that, despite this weekend’s outcome, the programs have an equal chance to end the season as the champions of the conference. For the Longhorns, their defense could only hope to contain the Sooners, who have scored 50 points or more three times this season, but this was not an issue due to their continued offensive consistency that matched Oklahoma’s. Texas’s 40 more yards lost to penalties than Oklahoma caught up to them, though, allowing the run game focused offense to take a slight advantage throughout this game and sending the rivalry’s Golden Hat trophy back to Oklahoma. Both teams will rest next week as they continue their seasons, which may include another meeting in December for the Big 12 Championship game.
Oklahoma State vs. Kansas State: Cowboys expose Kansas State’s QB weaknesses
Formerly 15th ranked Kansas State fell to underdogs for the second time this season as the OSU Cowboys gained their first conference victory on Friday 29-21. Oklahoma State’s strong play early gave the team some breathing room as Kansas State’s offense collapsed. Wildcats quarterback Will Howard threw three interceptions in the game and completed 15/34 passes for 152 yards. As such, Oklahoma State, who has struggled in trusting a primary quarterback option during the season, seemed to run the better offense on Friday through Alan Bowman’s 19/35 throwing for 235 yards and no touchdowns.
The Cowboys, though they have seemingly turned a new leaf after resting last week, still need major improvements in turning yardage into scoring. The team relied heavily on kicker Alex Hale, who made five field goals for the Cowboys in the game. As such, OSU will need to continue the strong defensive presence they had this week to move into the upper levels of the Big 12 conference. They will test their abilities against another strong team in the Kansas Jayhawks next week as Kansas State will attempt to gain some consistency, starting with a Saturday night away game against Texas Tech.
Texas Tech vs. Baylor: Red Raiders’ minimal number of offensive weapons take down Baylor Bears
Texas Tech relied on few players for offensive production on Saturday night as they evened their record to 3-3 in a convincing victory over Baylor, 39-14. While Tahj Brooks and Cam’Ron Valdez split the work load against Houston, Brooks took the lead in the run game this week, as he gained exactly 10 times the amount of rushing yards as Baylor’s entire team, accounting for 170 of Texas Tech’s total 186 yards and a touchdown. All other offensive efforts for the Red Raiders came through their quarterback Behren Morton, who rushed for a touchdown and passed for three touchdowns, and interception, and 180 yards on 19 completions in 26 attempts. This simple offensive gameplan kept Texas Tech moving to extend their winning streak to two ahead of next week’s matchup against the Kansas State Wildcats, but whether or not this approach holds up is yet to be seen.
After a major comeback against UCF last weekend, Baylor lost hopes of starting a winning streak early in the game, as they trailed 17-3 at halftime. This lack of scoring is in spite of the solid play of junior quarterback Blake Shapen, who completed 22/38 attempts for 324 passing yards and a touchdown. Much of the yardage, though, can be attributed to the play of Monaray Baldwin, who had 126 yards and a touchdown in his five receptions. As shown throughout the season, the Bears’ abilities offensively seem solely dependent on their ability to use the run game, but their major inconsistencies from within hold Baylor back at the moment. The Bears will attempt to work out these issues as a team next week during their bye week and return the following Saturday in Ohio to play the Cincinnati Bearcats.
Kansas vs. UCF: Jayhawks compensate for disappointing performance against Longhorns
After a 40-14 loss to Texas knocked Kansas out of the AP top 25 poll placings, the Jayhawks showed a similar treatment to UCF as they took down the Knights 51-22. Kansas’s offense worked almost entirely through their running backs, as Jason Bean only threw for 91 yards in the game in his eight completions on 12 throws while gaining just 10 rushing yards in six carries. Devin Neal, Daniel Hishaw Jr., and Dylan McDuffie, meanwhile, combined for 379 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 44 carries between the trio. Though the Jayhawks waited until the second quarter, where they scored 21 points, for this major offensive push, Kansas kept UCF scoreless in the first half before easing their grip on the team in the second half.
For UCF, coach Gus Malzahn experimented with two quarterbacks in the game and would likely do anything to have his team regain their footing after falling to a 3-3 record from the continued three game losing streak. The Knights will have the opportunity to rest next week before attempting an upset against Oklahoma while Kansas will play next week against Oklahoma State.
Iowa State vs. TCU: Cyclones grab their second conference win as TCU continues struggles
After a narrow loss to the Mountaineers last weekend, TCU found themselves in a worse spot this week as Iowa State evened both teams’ records to 3-3 with a 27-14 victory. TCU outdid the Cyclones in gained yards, as their opponents continue to lack a reliable source for offensive production, but the Horned Frogs simply failed to take advantage of their 23-to-16 first down advantage over Iowa State. TCU threw four interceptions in the game, including one by their wide receiver, and though these errors did not directly lead to touchdowns for the Cyclones, it did make it easy for Iowa State to stay in the driver’s seat for the game. Iowa State scored the only touchdown in the first quarter and held a 10-7 lead at halftime before scoring two touchdowns during a third quarter that saw no points from Texas Christian. The home victory is strong motivation for Iowa State, who started their season a bit rocky, and they look to continue this upward trajectory next weekend against Cincinnati. TCU will play the BYU Cougars in efforts to get their second conference victory of the year.
