Weekend War Zone: Texas is Back! Oklahoma State is Back! Baylor is 0-5!

It was a quiet week around the conference, as several of the contenders had bye weeks. But there were still some intriguing games on the docket, including a couple night tilts in places that are notoriously hard to win in under the lights.

Texas 17, Iowa State 7:

Well, this was a dud of a college football game. With the bulk of the college football world’s attention available, and up against an NFL blowout, the Horns and Cyclones delivered a sloppy, boring, bleh football game that set the conference known for its offense back a decade.

Shane Buechele somewhat surprisingly returned to the starting lineup in place of a relatively effective Sam Ehlinger, and was okay - going 19/26 for 171 yards, one pick and one touchdown. Thankfully for him, ISU’s Jacob Park was so much worse, turning it over three times - and despite that, David Montgomery, considered by some to be one of the best backs in the conference, got only nine touches.

Somehow, this game wasn’t out of reach until the very end for the Clones, as the Texas O continues to look like a middle school team’s, but the UT defense did enough, and Park kept gifting them the ball. Suddenly, that late October trip to Ames doesn’t look as scary for Frog fans.

Next Up: Texas welcomes Kansas State, while Iowa State travels to Oklahoma. Hahahahhahahahahhahahahhahahahahhaha. Good luck.

Oklahoma State 41, Texas Tech 34:

Weird stuff always goes down in Lubbock under the lights, and Saturday’s matchup between the suddenly humbled Cowboys and out to prove themselves Red Raiders was no different.

I fell asleep early in the third, and up until that point, OSU seemed in control, but couldn’t quite put away Tech. Nik Shimonek made some impressive passes on his way to a 300+ yard game, but Justin Stockton was bottled up as the Red Raiders managed just 2.1 yards per carry on 26 attempts against a team that had allowed well over 200 yards on the ground a week prior at home. Meanwhile, Mason Rudolph had a nice three touchdown, 376 yard day with one interception - a pick six - and Justice Hill had a massive game on the ground (30 attempts for 164 yards) as Okie State controlled the pace on the clock.

Even so, it was a tie game late, as Tech rallied for a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns, but Rudolph sealed the win with a 16 yard run with less than two minutes remaining for his second rushing TD on the night, allowing OSU to escape Lubbock with a bounce back win.

Next Up: Oklahoma State has a bye week, while Texas Tech travels to Lawrence for the rare road game bye week.

Baylor 20, Kansas State 33:

The Bears managed a single field goal against what has been a very stingy Wildcats’ defense Saturday afternoon in the Little Apple, while the K State offense looked a little more like itself against a very bad Baylor D. If you’re a Kansas State fan, when do you start worrying about Jesse Ertz at QB? He had another solid day running the ball - 12 attempts for 95 yards and a TD - but was really bad through the air once again - 7/17 for 119 yards and a score - proving that he just isn’t a consistent threat, something that good defenses will be able to force him to do.

On the other side, Zach Smith continues to struggle with accuracy, but is a dynamic athlete behind center and has a knack for making big plays - unfortunately, there aren’t enough playmakers wearing the green and gold to get them into the win column.

The best part of this game was one of the dumbest decisions that I have ever seen in College Football - Coach “going to turn this thing around” Matt Rhule burning freshman QB Charlie Brewer’s redshirt to come in for two plays, both handoffs, when Smith had to step off the field for a moment. Sure, Anu Soloman is hurt - but do you not have anyone else that can hand the ball off? DUMB.

Next Up:

Baylor should finally get into the win column as they face off with their Bye Week, while Kansas State will try and prove that Texas isn’t back down in Austin.

Kansas: Bye Week

Next Up: verses Tech at home.

Oklahoma: Bye Week

Next Up: verses Iowa State at home.

TCU: Bye Week

Next Up: welcomes in WVU for a top 25 matchup in front of a College GameDay crowd.

West Virginia: Bye Week

Next Up: see above