Weekend War Zone: Bad Day for the Big 12

The Big 12 had a chance to make a BIG statement Saturday, as five teams faced off against Power Five opponents. But heartbreakers for Texas and Kansas State, as well as another Baylor loss, gave the conference a losing record and cost them a chance to put the conference back on the map as a true contender. Thankfully, Oklahoma State remains a world-beater and OU stays a top five team, beating up on an overmatched Tulane program.

Baylor 20, Duke 34

The Anu Solomon experience appears to be over, as the Bears’ offense was much better against Duke than either previous game. But, Baylor is still losing the time of possession and turnover battles, and appears a ways away from being a competitive football team.

And, oh, they get OU next.

Our Daily Bears has thoughts on the game, and bless them, they are churning out tons of content through the pain.

Iowa State 41, Akron 14

Sneaky good, those Cyclones are. Sure, they are going to lose more than they win in conference play, but, they can put up points in bunches and could give the top of the Big 12 fits, especially in Ames. Wide Right and Natty Lite is proud of their defense and their clever headline, and they get an early bye week before Big 12 play, and what could be a fun matchup with Texas on a Thursday night in a week and a half.

Kansas 30, Ohio 42

The most notable part of the Jayhawks embarrassing loss to the Bobcats Saturday was this play:

While most of the internet chalked it up to KANSAS FOOTBALL, those of us familiar with a Doug Meacham offense knew it was by design. What isn’t be design is KU’s 1-2 non-conference record and people calling for David Beatty’s head already. Kansas remains bad at football, and our friends at Rock Chalk Talk know it.

Kansas State 7, Vanderbilt 14

While Kansas got crushed, the Wildcats took the brunt of a crushing loss, falling on the road in Nashville to a Vanderbilt team that looks solid on defense and completely inept on O. The vaunted Kansas State rushing attack was helmed by QB Jesse Ertz, but he got little help from his backs and had just 76 yards through the air. What looked like a legitimate Big 12 title contender now has serious questions on offense, and while the D is good, you have to score to win in this conference. EMAW gets consecutive bye weeks, as they stay home Saturday before welcoming Baylor to the Little Apple. If there’s a cure for what ails ya, it’s them Bears. Not much to be said about the game from Bring on the Cats, who seem flustered by the surprising L.

Oklahoma 56, Tulane 14

After a slow start, the Sooner defense went to town on an overmatched Tulane team, while the offense did what it does - pile up yards, pile up touchdowns, and destroy the will of opponents. Baker Mayfield had over 300 yards and four passing touchdowns on just 27 attempts, while CeeDee Lamb was close to breaking the freshman single game receiving record before being ejected on a targeting call - in the first half. Crimson and Cream Machine likes what they saw in the second half, and feels confident in their squad with Big 12 play set to begin, kind of, next week with a road tilt at Baylor.

Oklahoma State 59, Pittsburg 21

Speaking of destroying the will of opponents, Oklahoma State looked poised to drop 100 points on a hapless Pitt team on their home field before Mike Gundy’s mullet chose to take pity on the Panthers. Mason Rudolph had nearly 500 yards without hardly trying, piling up stats on just 32 attempts and leading the Cowboys with five passing scores. This OSU offense is downright scary - Pitt is trash, but that’s still a Power Five program being completely undressed at home. Justice Hill had nearly 100 yards on 11 carries and James Washington averaged 25 yards per catch, but it was Jalen McCleskey stealing the show with three TDs. Cowboys Ride For Free is happy with OSU’s 7/7 showing on touchdown drives in the first half.

TCU 56, SMU 36

Oh, we don’t give you FIVE THINGS here at Frogs O War, you get EIGHTEEN! TCU’s offense was efficient and productive, outside of some fumbling issues, and the defense showed up after a scary first quarter. TCU ends the preseason 3-0, but we will know more about this team after a trip to Stillwater Saturday.

Texas 24, USC 27 (2OT)

Oh, Texasssssssssssssss.

That’s a heartbreaker.

As my friend Bart said, that’s about the most perfect result most non-Texas fans could hope for. None of us really want Texas to win and see them leap to the top of the polls (because we all know they would have), but they went on the road against a top five USC team and acquitted themselves quite well. Texas might not be back, yet, but that defense may very well be. They will be an interesting follow throughout conference play, which begins for them 12 days from now with a tough tilt at Iowa State.

Texas Tech 52, Arizona State 45

HAHAHAHAHAH REMEMBER WHEN WE THOUGHT THE RED RAIDER DEFENSE WAS ACTUALLY NOT A COMPLETE JOKE?

Yeah, that’s over.

I saw someone tweet, when the Red Raiders were up 35-17 at the half, that Tech was on pace to score 70 and win, something that wasn’t always a sure thing the last few years. Well, last night, they proved that old habits die hard, as they allowed a furious Sun Devil rally that led to a tie game late in the fourth. But a rushing TD by a wide receiver inside of two minutes provided the winning margin, as Tech managed a stop with the help of a big time sack in the waning moments. A tough game at Houston is next for the Red Raiders, before they open Big 12 play with Oklahoma State in Lubbock.

West Virginia 59, Delaware State 16

WVU started slow before Will Grier and co woke up and ran all over Delaware State. The Hornets put up ten quick points on the Eers before they settled in defensively, and the offense went for 300+ through the air, 200+ on the ground, and had three wide receivers with at least 50 yards. WVU had four fumbles, losing two, and forced four fumbles, recovering two, in addition to a single Will Grier pick. Not the cleanest performance, but a big win in a game that was over after the first quarter. The Mountaineers go to Kansas next week and will get a bye before traveling to Fort Worth in October for what should be a fun one.