Weekend Warzone: Big 12 Roundup Week 9

Oklahoma St. Cowboys 58, Iowa State Cyclones 27

Iowa State is not very good at stopping the run (yet still TCU will refuse to run on them).  The previously putrid efforts of the Cowboys on the ground melted away this week, as the Cowboys ran, and ran and ran some more, cranking out over 350 yards of rushing at 7.4 yards per carry with five rushing touchdowns.  This is a very good thing, because Clint Chelf had a jaw droppingly awful game- to the point where I think even TCU could have outscored the OSU passing attack.  Try 9-26 for 71 yards and matching a touchdown with an interception on- a staggering 2.7 yards per attempt.  Cyclone quarterback Sam Richardson wasn't worlds better before leaving the game with a head injury, but that's to be expected while the Cyclones were stuffed repeatedly on the ground.  Remove one 51 yard run by Sam Richardson and you're looking at a putrid 2.3 yards per carry, so it's no surprise that the passing lanes weren't opening up for Iowa State.  I'd be surprised if the Cowboys stuck with Chelf going into next week's road contest with Texas Tech, as 71 yards aren't going to cut it against the Raiders.  Meanwhile (mercifully) Iowa State limps into the winnable portion of their schedule needing to win out to secure a bowl bid.  Things don't look good.

Next week: Oklahoma State- @ Texas Tech, Iowa State- @ Kansas State
Staff Picks: Everyone picked OSU by about 20.

Oklahoma Sooners 38, Texas Tech Red Raiders 30

A quote from my pick for this game: "the Sooners go run heavy on the smallish Tech defense".  Big check on that, as the Oklahoma ran the ball 50 times in this one, controlling the clock while grinding out 279 yards at 5.6 yards per carry.  On the other end Tech had some success on the ground but had trouble converting on third down and made the critical mistakes that OU did not.  Tech QB Davis Webb was soundly outplayed by Blake Bell, as Webb matched his two touchdowns with two interceptions, while Bell had his typical mistake free performance and an excellent 11.3 yards per attempt.  It was Webb's second pick that was especially egregious, as it set up an OU touchdown to make it a two score game and let OU take its time on the next drive instead of trying to match a Tech score.  The Sooners put together a beautiful drive that took an insane six minutes to drive to the Tech 19 and put up a field goal that put Tech in dire straits with just 1:17 left.  The only bummer from my perspective about this game?  If Tech had converted their two point conversion attempt I'dve had the score perfectly.  Tech foils me again.
Staff Picks: Hawk and Fungo both picked the Sooners, but HawkeyedFrog had the score pretty well dead on, predicting 38-32.
Next week: Oklahoma- Bye, Texas Tech- Oklahoma State

Kansas State Wildcats 35, West Virginia Mountaineers 12

When Kansas State's quarterbacks are on, they're as scary a team as there is in the Big 12.  Jake Waters and Daniel Sams went 18-21 to give the Wildcats the aerial threat they needed to compensate for their usually stout rushing attack struggling against the Mountaineers solid defense.  West Virginia held a 12-7 lead at one point in this game before the Wildcats took to the air and absolutely blitzed the Mountaineers in the second half.  Could this actually the dream opponent that TCU should attack through the air?  Only time will tell.  The Mountaineer offense struggled with consistency, breaking a few big runs but not getting much else out of the running game and struggling through the air as Clint Trickett completed barely over 50% of his passes for no touchdowns before being replaced by Paul Millard who was worse (30.8%) and threw a pick to boot.
Staff Picks: Hawk and Jamie picked the Wildcats, while Hawk came closer by picking the Wildcats by multiple scores.
Next week: West Virginia- @ TCU, Kansas State- Iowa State

Baylor Bears 59, Kansas Jayhawks 14

Next week for Baylor- teams start fighting back.
Staff Picks: Everyone picked Baylor, only Hawk was foolish enough to think it would be close.
Next week: Baylor- Oklahoma, Kansas- @ Texas

Texas Longhorns 30, TCU Horned Frogs 7

Possibly the best crowd at Amon Carter Stadium since 2010 Utah to start the game.  Then...

The rain eventually stopped, but all the energy and atmosphere was gone, and TCU's playcalling and wide receivers continued to suck.  Nothing you haven't seen before.
Staff Picks: We're all suckers.  Kudos to TCU'90 and 97 Frog for not being suckered in and coming close to getting the score right.
Next week: Texas- Kansas, TCU- West Virginia