Frogs O' War Big 12 Predictions: Week 3

A pretty good week for the crew, as apart from Jamie and Ezra whiffing on Kansas State and Patrick being the only BYU believer everyone came out largely unscathed.  This week sees a few more interesting matchups, so we may see a bit of digression here.  Let's check it out.

TCU @ Texas Tech

HawkeyedFrog- TCU 45. Tech 37
Has there ever been a low scoring slugfest in a Big 12 Thursday night showcase? If there has, I don't remember it, and I expect this one will be true to form. Last year Tech overcame a frenzied home crowd by riding an efficient quarterback performance against a talented Freshman who made too many mistakes. This year I think the script flips, as Devonte Fields and company are able to get enough pressure on Baker Mayfield to force a few bad decisions. Tech scores a frustrating amount of points, but the Frogs pass the season's first Big 12 test.

Patrick- TCU 20, Tech 23
Listen, I think TCU has a ton of talent, but I have a lot of reasons for pause right now... The d-line could be without Hunter or with only have a Hunter, the offensive line appears to only be kinda ok right now, the wide receivers haven't stepped up... And, we are going to play at Tech, at night, during prime time... TCU is up in the first half, Tech comes back, Tech wins it late... I really hope I am wrong.

Jamie- TCU 38, Tech 28
Devonte Fields is going to make all the difference in this game. He's going to get pressure on Mayfield and rattle the walk-on true freshman into making some mistakes. Boykin shows out in a big way for this game, because the triple overtime loss last year is still fresh on his mind.

Tulsa @ Oklahoma

HawkeyedFrog- Oklahoma 30, Tulsa 17
The Blake Bell era finally begins in Norman as the plowhorse QB is given the start and looks okay throwing the ball while still being an unstoppable force on third and short. The Sooner faithful are still unsettled by the lack of big plays, but it's a comfortable win with Tulsa adding a late touchdown against the OU second string.

Patrick- Oklahoma 27, Tulsa 7
The Oklahoma defense looks ok, and the offense looks like it is being led by a freshman QB. Not surprising, lots of questions have emerged about the Sooners. They get it done against Tulsa, but don't look for typical Sooner dominance.

Jamie- Oklahoma 35, Tulsa 10
OU doesn't have a quarterback that can throw the ball, which typically is a problem. It won't be though, when they face off against Tulsa, who has allowed 400 rushing yards in their first two games against Bowling Green and Colorado State.

Georgia State @ West Virginia

HawkeyedFrog: West Virginia 24, Georgia Southern 10
The Mountaineers defense continues its tour of strange improvement as they shut down Georgia State's ground game fairly consistently, and unlike against OU, they actually turn good field position into points. Not a lot of points mind you, they're not there yet, but enough to win fairly easily.

Patrick- West Virgina 37, Georgia Southern 10
I don't know what to think about Dana's crew... It seems that they have some talent and skill, but they haven't quite put it together as of yet. Maybe, against a disorganized G-St crew, they figure some things out.

Jamie- West Virginia 34, Georgia Southern 3
I think this is the week the Mountaineers start to get it rolling a bit. We'll see how long that lasts though as they head into conference play after this week.

Iowa @ Iowa State

HawkeyedFrog: Iowa State 19, Iowa 16
Iowa State got a week to think about their failure against Northern Iowa, and nobody gets the troops amped up for a rival like Paul Rhoads. Couple that with the fact that the game is in Ames and I see the Cyclones giving even Kirk Ferentz's monstrous buyout on an early hotseat.

Patrick: Iowa State 10, Iowa 27
Iowa is better, at the end of the day... But, Rhodes and crew will make it interesting early.

Jamie: Iowa 30, Iowa State 17
It's a rivalry game, and neither team is particularly good this year, but Iowa isn't nearly as bad as the Cyclones.

UMass @ Kansas State

HawkeyedFrog: Kansas State 38, UMass 12
Another week, another game that makes you think "Man, I can't believe the Wildcats lost to North Dakota State." The difference is that NDSU is a very, very good FCS team and UMass is a very, very bad FBS team.

Patrick: Kansas State 27, UMass 7
I think Bill Snyder's team will get better with each passing week, but the offense may lag behind a bit. They get it done against the Union, but it may seem ugly to the home fans.

Jamie: Kansas State 30, UMass 7
Kansas State has a win under its belt, and now I think they get rolling a little bit.

Kansas @ Rice

HawkeyedFrog: Kansas 27, Rice 21
Yes, I'm picking the Jayhawks to double their win total from last year on their very first attempt. Things will look dicey throughout, but the Kansas running game keeps grinding away before setting up a play action pass from Jake Heaps to provide the winning margin.

Patrick: Kansas 30, Rice 20
Kansas wins, and continues to surprise many with a much improved team. But, Rice isn't awful, they will make it a game. I could see Rice winning too, so this pick feels a bit iffy.

Jamie: Rice 27, Kansas 20
Rice proves that the first half against A&M wasn't a fluke, and Kansas stays stuck on one win.

Lamar @ Oklahoma State

HawkeyedFrog: Oklahoma State 52, Lamar 10
The Cowboys overcome a distraction filled week and pummel Lamar throughout the first three quarters before easing up in the fourth. The Cowboys will not be tested in any phase of the game.

Patrick: Oklahoma State 48, Lamar 7
Okie-State marches on despite lots of bad news floating around about the program, beating a fairly weak opponent in Lamar. Okie-State looks the part as Big 12 favorite right now, it seems the only thing that can stop them in their run to a championship will be distraction.

Jamie: Oklahoma State 50, Lamar 3
Oklahoma State wants to ruin Lamar, in an effort to make people stop talking about all the naughty, naughty things they did. HINT: It doesn't work.

Ole Miss @ Texas

HawkeyedFrog: Ole Miss 41, Texas 30
Ole Miss has a lot of talent and is well coached. Texas has a lot of talent and is not well coached. Texas does a much better job in ground defense, making people wonder if Greg Robinson might actually be a competent coordinator (he's not), but Ole Miss still wins and has the 100k in Royal Memorial filing our with five minutes left.

Patrick: Ole Miss 27, Texas 13
It doesn't look like Ash will play due to a head injury, meaning the already troublesome Texas offense will be lead by the inept McCoy or one of Texas' younger QB options... That, against a young but talented SEC team, is a recipe for disaster.

Jamie: Ole Miss 28, Texas 20
Derp face McCoy is leading the charge for the Longhorns, which is not a good thing (not that he could be any worse than Ash though, really). Also, Greg Robinson won't fix this defense this year, more or less in one week, and Ole Miss just runs over around and through feeble Texas arm tackles.

Bye @ Baylor

HawkeyedFrog: Baylor 80, Bye 0
Art Briles takes advantage of the Bye week to run up the score on his own defense.

Patrick: Baylor 100, Debauchery 0
The Bears win one for morality, this week.

Jamie: Dancing 7, Baylor 0
Baylor has mastered a lot of things, but this is not one of them.

Feel free to mock our picks in the comments, or if you're feeling particularly brave why not make your own?  If you outpick our staff we may all have to turn to you next week!