Kansas State Wildcats 30, UTSA Roadrunners 3
New quarterback? No problem for the Wildcats, as they dismantled the Roadrunners on the road in impressive fashion over the last three quarters, holding them to under 250 total yards and decimating their running game, letting UTSA gain just 37 yards on 25 attempts. The KSU offense is still a work in progress, as the yards per carry and completion percentage were both fairly average, but the defense will be solid once more- and it should also be said that KSU looked much better beating UTSA on the road than the currently ranked Arizona Wildcats did at home.
Staff picks: We're all good on this one, acknowledge HToadSwayze for getting the K-State score right and the closest margin of victory
Bring on the Cats: Learned 5 things.
Next week: Vs. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
Texas Tech Red Raiders 69, UTEP Miners 20
Raiders, calm your enthusiasm just a smidge as I don't think UTEP is actually a very good football team- being outscored 117-33 over two weeks will do that, and it's hard to argue about the quality of competition given that the Miner's previous opponent just lost to Toledo. As usual, Tech threw the ball a lot and collected a lot of yards/success, but there were issues on defense as the Miners rolled up just about 5 yards per carry. Next week we're going to find out if the Raiders defense will hold up to the biggest pounding in college football today, as they face off with Arkansas in the "Who beat UTEP worse?" showdown.
Staff Picks: Everyone picked Tech and nobody was particularly close with the scoring picks- I call it a wash.
Vivathematadors: Didn't laugh at 69.
Next week: @ Arkansas Razorbacks.
West Virginia Mountaineers 41, Liberty Flames 17
West Virginia is much better at football than an FCS team. It's not gaudy, but WVU definitely got the job done.
Staff Picks: Scott Boase is the closest, but nobody is foolish enough to pick FCS teams to win, right?
The Smoking Musket: Extinguishing the flames of liberty sounds awfully communist...
Next week: Vs. Maryland
Iowa Hawkeyes 31, Iowa State Cyclones 17.
This one was tight and down to the wire, as it always seems to be in this series, but the Cyclones made a costly error in throwing a pick just after Iowa scored the go-ahead touchdown to go ahead 24-17, and as a result the Hawkeyes cashed in just two plays later to make it look like a much healthier win for them than it actually was. As bad as Iowa State has to feel though, the Hawkeyes capped the game off with a great tribute to their fallen former team mate for a moment that goes beyond sports wins and losses. Iowa State's defense looks solid, but the offense is still a work in progress- we'll leave it at that.
Staff picks: Melissa, Andrew, Warrior, Rusty, Scott, Masone and Simone got this one, with the Jamboogie being closest.
Wide Right and Natty Lite: No clever title.
Next week: @ Toledo (Man, that game looks a lot more imposing this week, huh?)
Oklahoma Sooners 31, Tennessee Volunteers 24 (2OT)
The Sooners showed a lot more fire and resiliency than they have in the last couple of years in this one, as when Tennessee went into the half with a 17-3 lead I confess to having this recap half written in my head- OU never quit though, as their defense made adjustments and Baker Mayfield overcame an up and down day (and about a 50% completion rating) to rally back and stun the Vols in overtime. It's still early goings, but I think that this Oklahoma team is going to be the fastest growing team this season, which could mean danger for ourselves and Baylor catching the Sooners at the end of the season.
Staff Picks: Warrior and Mason were the only incorrect guesses, but special kudos to fearless leader for having the final score 100% dead on.
Crimson and Cream Machine: The return of Sooner Magic?
Next week: Vs. Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Memphis Tigers 55, Kansas Jayhawks 23
You could be forgiven if you thought that this was going to be a very different sort of game if you looked at the scoreboard after the first 5 minutes and saw that the score was 10-0 in favor of KU- If you didn't remember that Memphis happens to be coached by TCU's prodigal son, Justin Fuente, that is. As it was, Memphis answered quickly on offense and then hammered the Jayhawks repeatedly to put the game out of reach. I give credit to KU for hanging in there as long as they did without quitting, but there's not much you can do when your opponent's starting QB goes 22/25 fo 14.2 yards a pop. Now, I do think that Kanas got an upgrade at the HC position this offseason, but if they had the opportunity to sign Fuente (I don't know if he would've accepted the job) they made a mistake in not doing it.
Staff picks: Everyone got this one apart from Warrior HF, who boldly believed in the Big 12, but fearless leader was closest to the margin of victory in this one.
Rock Chalk Talk: That sucked.
Next week: @ Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Oklahoma State Cowboys 32, Central Arkansas Bears 8
The Cowboys left no doubt in this one, and continued to show that last year's late season defensive improvement may be carrying over into this year, but the ground game that was supposed to be a strength didn't put up huge numbers against what is not a very good Central Arkansas team. It's dangerous to compare performances against teams week to week, but I will just point out that Samford had a much healthier victory over UCA last week- OSU still has some work to do if they're going to be a contender this season.
Staff picks: Not KU/ISU against FCS = Unanimity. Melissa was the closest, though.
Cowboys Ride for Free: Some good, some bad.
Next week: Vs. UTSA
Baylor 66, Lamar 31
The only news coming out of this one is that Baylor suspended their OC and one other coach for this game due to violations- Were they actually too afraid of SMU to just do it week 1?
Staff Picks: Yeah, everyone had Baylor by lots. Yay everyone!
Our Daily Bears: 5 thoughts, real original guys.
Next week: Vs. Rice
Texas Longhorns 42, Rice Owls 28
Texas' offensive woes were the talk of the conference last week, and it led to Charlie Strong making a big move in stripping OC Shane Watson of playcalling duties- but the bigger move may have been the benching of former all-start recruit (and looking now like another huge bust- I wonder if he could've been good if he'd gone with us as he seemed to be leaning at one point?) Tyrone Swoopes for Jerrod Heard, who wasn't asked to do much, but he didn't make the back breaking mistakes that Swoopes is prone to. Despite the scoreboard differential though, don't be too impressed by this reversal of fortune for the Longhorns- the offense didn't do much, and while the defense got turnovers (and capitalized on it) I'm not convinced that they're going to hold up any better against the high powered offenses that they're going to be facing. The fact that Notre Dame had to luck out to survive against Virginia is also... not a good sign.
Staff picks: Alas, myself and Simone believed in the Owls to our detriment. Don't bet against the streak. Kudos to Scott and HToad!
Burnt Orange Nation: Three lessons- The mothership is slacking off.
Next week: Vs. Cal Golden Bears
TCU Horned Frogs 70, Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks7
You got the analysis for this one, so I'll just say this- that felt a lot better, didn't it?
Staff picks: Hooray for Warrior redeeming himself slightly by picking the biggest win in our unanimity.
Frogs O' War: Is the best blog, you should just hang out there.
Next week: Vs. SMU Mustangs
Here are the updated staff standings:
Name |
This Week |
All Time |
% Correct |
Closest Score
|
|
T-1 |
RustyFrog |
14-1 |
28-2 |
93.3% |
4 |
T-1 |
Andrew Felts |
15-0 |
28-2 |
93.3% |
3 |
T-3 |
Melissa Triebwasser |
14-1 |
27-3 |
90% |
4 |
T-3 |
Scott Boase |
13-2 |
27-3 |
90% |
0 |
T-5 |
HToadSwayze |
13-2 |
26-4 |
86.6% |
5 |
T-5 |
Mason Jamboogie |
13-2 |
26-4 |
86.6% |
4 |
T-5 |
Marshall Weber |
13-2 |
26-4 |
86.6% |
4 |
T-8 |
Simone Elices |
13-2 |
25-5 |
83.3% |
3 |
T-8 |
Jamie Plunkett |
12-3 |
25-5 |
83.3% |
1 |
T-10 |
Samantha Calimbahin |
12-3 |
23-7 |
76.6% |
3 |
T-10 |
Hawkeyed Frog |
12-3 |
23-7 |
76.6% |
2 |
12 |
Warrior Horned Frog |
13-2 |
21-9 |
70% |
3 |