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Welcome to week two. Last week we learned a lot about several of the Big 12 teams and some teams we learned very little about. Baylor looked dominant but it may have been a weaker than expected opponent or a better than expected defense, time will tell. Really don't know much about UT or OU. Both won big after slow starts against weaker competition. We learned OSU is good, Iowa State and Kansas State have some work today, Tech is dependent on a walk-on, true freshman QB, and TCU is scrappy and tough but has a QB challenge.
This week should provide further clarity, so without further adieu,
Southeastern Lousiana (+43) 17 @ TCU 38
TCU did come away with the win in this game but the Lions hung tough. They came in as a 43-point dog and had been outscored 272-26 in its previous 5 games against D1 competition. I was fully expecting an angry set of eye-blood spitting frogs to roll in this one. But deep in the second quarter this game was tied at 14. TCU finally ground out a win in the second half, but this game was in question for a long time.
There are a couple of items of note in this one. Casey Pachall left with an injury to his non-throwing arm in the first quarter and had surgery shortly after the game. He did start the game but was not particularly effective. Trevone Boykin came in and played well sparking 3 scores in the second half. Another interesting stat was that SELa turned the ball over 3 times. With that number of turnovers, a blowout should have on order but it didn't happen. Last item of note, Devonte Fields did play a half in this game. He still has half a game of suspension to serve at some point in the season, but he did get some time today and had one tackle.
Overall TCU did come away with a win, resolved their quarterback controversy in an unfortunate manner, and is not looking like a contender at this point. Trevone Boykin definitely has talent but was erratic last year when thrust into the spotlight. TCU’s success this season will hinge on his consistency in league play.
For more info on TCU, check out Frogs O' War, SB Nation's blog for the TCU Horned Frogs.
Oklahoma State (-26) 56 @ UT San Antonio 35
The Pokes looked dominant last week without the scoreboard reflecting it. This week the scoreboard did show a blowout without it being reflective of the quality of the game. The Road Runners missed two field goals and turned the ball over twice in the first half. They were moving the ball well on OSU and had over 220 yards through the 2nd quarter. So with a few changes, the first half score could have been very different.
The athleticism and speed of OSU ended up being put on show in this game especially on the offensive side of the ball and that ultimately was the difference. I don't think that there was ever a doubt here, but the OSU defense definitely got a bit exposed by a smaller, slower UTSA offense. If not for the turnovers and missed field goals, this game could have been much closer at half time.
For more info on Oklahoma State, check out Cowboys Ride For Free, SB Nation's blog for the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
Lousiana-Lafayette (+10) 27 @ Kansas State 48
The Ragin’ Cajuns came into this game expecting a blowtorch of turn-around revenge after K-State’s FCS loss in week 1, and that is exactly what they got. Two special teams returns (one for a TD and another to the 1 yard line) and an interception return for a touchdown put this game out of reach. The cats were up 34-3 early in the 3rd and never looked back.
The Cajuns had a special teams, 100 yard touchdown as well to make it 34 – 10, and soon after pulled to within 34 – 17. That was as close as it got though. Jake Waters had a fairly good outing with 278 yards passing but did throw 2 interceptions.
For more on Kansas State, check out Bring on the Cats, SB Nation's blog for the Kansas State Wildcats.
South Dakota (+23.5) 14 @ Kansas 31
We got a look at Kansas this week in their opener against the South Dakota Coyotes in Lawrence. Not a whole lot to say here, Kansas beat very average competition and did it in very average fashion. Jake Heaps made his highly anticipated debut as a Jayhawk and threw a touchdown pass (first for the Jayhawks since 2011) and accounted for 110 yards through the air. James Sims ran for 94 yards on 16 carries and scored 2 touchdowns.
Rice should provide a challenge for Kansas next week and we will get a chance to see how the Weis-led JUCO experiment is progressing.
For more on Kansas, check out Rock Chalk Talk, SB Nation's blog for the Kansas Jayhawks.
Stephen F. Austin (+21) @ Texas Tech 61
Tech had a strong performance in this one jumping out to a 28-7 first quarter lead. Baker Mayfield was extremely strong throwing for 367 yards and 3 touchdowns. He is unquestionably the most interesting story of the season so far. For a walk-on true freshman to be in the top 30 of all FBS quarterbacks and be 2-0 to start the season is extremely impressive.
Before we get too far onto the Mayfield bandwagon though, be aware that Weber State hung 50 on the Lumberjack defense last week. In other words there was not a lot of defense getting played out there. But 3 TDs is 3 TDs. This could be an interesting QB controversy when Michael Brewer comes back from injury.
So the assessment is the same for Tech. If Mayfield continues to play well then Tech will roll on offense. The D is yet to be tested but has given up some yardage and points.
For more on Texas Tech, check out Viva the Matadors, SB Nation's blog for the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
West Virginia (+20.5) 7 @ Oklahoma 16
This was a game that I was really looking forward to. I wanted to see if WVU was going to bring their performance up from their mediocrity in a win against the William and Mary Tribe by 4 last week. More importantly, I wanted to see if OU, especially their defense, was for real. What we got was a Big10-esque scoring drought and an ugly ball game. But this was not the defensive grind that we see from our mid-western conference friends. It had a healthy dose of offensive ineptitude.
Part of the question around these teams got answered though. WVU did look better than last week and ran with strong competition taking a lead into the second quarter. This game quickly turned into a sloppy, sloppy mess though from both sides. Both teams were in the 400 yard range for offense but had 4 turnovers each. They were a combined 8-30 on 3rd down conversions. Blake Bell made a 4th quarter relief appearance of Trevor Knight after the starter threw 2 picks.
Bottom line on this one is that it is impossible to win games in the Big 12 scoring 16 or 7 points and I expect that both of these teams will be running gassers this morning…
For more info on Oklahoma, check out Crimson and Cream Machine, SB Nation's blog for the Oklahoma Sooners. For more info on West Virginia, check out The Smoking Musket, SB Nation's blog for the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Texas (-7) 21 @ Brigham Young 40
Stormy weather delayed the start of this game by 1 hour and 47 minutes and the horns in hindsight wish that it had been canceled. When the game started, both teams were trading scores with UT looking to have the upper hand in the second quarter. That is when BYU took a page out of Norman Schwarskopf’’s book and became the stormin’ Mormons. They started a ground attack that Norman himself would have been proud of.
Quarterback Taysom Hill ran for 259 yards and was 8 short of setting the all-time QB rushing record. The Texas defense, particularly in the trenches, was leaking yardage like a submarine with a screen door. Hill’s average yards/carry was 15.2. He put on a ridiculous show, but in all fairness, the longhorn defense really made him look good. He is clearly talented, but there were no amazing, highlight reel runs. He just took off into open space and kicked in Texas’ teeth.
To add insult to injury, David Ash left in the 4th quarter with a possible concussion. Status is still unknown but he looked pretty woozy on the sideline.
So this is a big mystery solved. UT is the same old underperforming UT that we have come to know and love in the last few seasons. Time will tell if they can turn things around, but this was a disastrous showing for them.
For more on Texas, check out their two SB Nation blogs: Barking Carnival and Burnt Orange Nation.
Sunday Morning Quarterback
This was a very interesting weekend for the Big 12 and there were several questions answered. OSU and Tech rolled over weak competition. OU looked average and UT looked like a pee-wee team in a loss to BYU.
Baylor had a very complete game against a Buffalo team that went toe to toe with Ohio State last week. That definitely will build our credibility but we have more to prove. The offense looks unstoppable and the second and 3rd stringers also played well, winning the second half of the game against mostly Buffalo starters. Kahlil Mack was a non-factor in this one after coming in with such hype.
The defense against the run was very strong with our front line providing a dominating performance. Shawn Oakman was a beast and the defense scored again with a Bryce Hager 90 yard ramble on a fumble return.
The gray lining on the silver cloud was the Baylor secondary. Joe Williams got burned several times and the defense gave up several big pass plays. In fact the first play from scrimmage was a flea flicker that gave up a bomb over the middle. 280 yards passing and 13 points is not a total disaster, but when we run into stronger passing offenses like Tech’s or OSU’s we will need to play much better or face some serious consequences.
I would say that I am still most concerned about OSU and having to face them in Stillwater. Nothing that they have done has allayed any of my trepidation about that game. I am feeling much better about TCU in Fort Worth and UT, OU in Waco.
I think that we can will contend for the Big 12 championship but need to stay focused and take care of business.
Go Bears, 2-0…