Weekend Warzone: Oklahoma won a big gold hat

The Big 12 had an opportunity to feast on itself this weekend, and it (almost) took advantage. Unlike the Pac-12, however, which devoured itself so completely that the After Darkers may be on the outside of the College Football Playoff looking in, the top tier of the Big 12 has started to emerge.

Let’s dive in.

No. 6 TCU 26, Kansas State 6:

When the combined time of all the weather delays is longer than an average college football game, it’s going to make for a long, long day. TCU acted like it didn’t bother them in the least, as they surgically dismantled Kansas State and backup QB Alex Delton.

Here’s the weird thing about this game: It could have been so, so much worse for Kansas State. TCU dropped three interceptions, and dropped at least one sure touchdown pass from Kenny Hill. But oh well. Hill’s efficient day (72.9% passing) was boosted by the return of a healthy Kyle Hicks, who stepped right back into his feature back role this week, helped by a Darius Anderson fumble. This was another of the road games that concerned me at the beginning of the season (Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Texas Tech). However, we can now add Iowa State to that list.

We had 14 takeaways, while Bring on the Cats thinks Kansas State’s outlook seems bleak.

Iowa State 45, Kansas 0:

WHAT DID KANSAS EVER DO TO YOU IOWA STATE.

Oh. Yeah having a losing record all-time to Kansas in football isn’t really a good, cool, or fun thing, so you do you Cyclones.

But anyways, Iowa State, coming off of a road victory in Norman, gave their fans a show on Saturday as they beat the worst team in the Big 12. I have two questions: First, how did Iowa State score 45 points while only accumulating 318 yards of offense, and second, could you please chill out in two weeks Iowa State?

Anywho, Wide Right Natty Light is pretty cool with everything right now, while Rock Chalk Talk is now referring to their program as ‘the circus.’ (that’s good, right?).

West(ern) Virginia 46, No. 24 Texas Tech 35:

I enjoyed watching this game as we waited for TCU to kick off. It was back and forth, with Tech holding a steady lead throughout. But then the fourth quarter happened. West Virginia started blitzing, and Texas Tech’s offense completely fell apart. On the other side of things, Will Grier threw for five touchdowns, three to David Sills V, and the Mountaineers scored 22 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to come back and win.

What was going to be a marquee win for a rising Tech program quickly became another “what are we doing?” moment for Tech fans, while Mountaineers washed away their referee hatred as they drank from the keg of glory.

Smoking Musket noted that this was WVU’s first win over a ranked team in three years, while Viva the Matadors is back to questioning whether Coach Bro and his staff are the ones for the job.

No. 14 Oklahoma State 59, Baylor 16:

You know how annoying it is to step in gum? Like, you have to stop down and scrape it off the bottom of your shoe, and you’re never going to get it all off. So, you get as much as you can, then you walk around with your shoe making a weird clicky sticking noise until it gets enough dirt on it to lose its stick.

Cowboys Ride For Free is happy, because their Big 12 Championship hopes are still alive, while Our Daily Bears is ready for the rebuild to be finished.

No. 12 Oklahoma 29, Texas 24:

Well this certainly lived up to the rivalry. I was impressed with Oklahoma’s defense in the first half, and then I was impressed with Sam Ehlinger and Texas’ offense in the second half, and I just tried to ignore the fact that Baker Mayfield was playing for...pretty much the entire game.

OU held on to win, which is good for TCU, while Texas showed that they’re improving week too week, which is also good for TCU.

Crimson and Cream Machine got to make a celebration thread, while Burnt Orange Nation is wondering how the Longhorns will fare moving forward.