Around the Big 12, Week Two: Kansas Awakens

Week Two in college football was weird. Kentucky beat Florida! Arizona State beat Michigan State! Texas A&M fumbled out of the end zone, except maybe it didn’t, but the refs said they did anyway!

The Big 12’s slate of games, however, went about as expected, with two exceptions — and one of them was that dang TCU-SMU game that shall never be mentioned again, let’s just forget that first half ever happened and be done with it.

Let’s take a trip around the conference and check out the Good, the Bad and the Cyclones.

THE GOOD

Kansas (1-1) 31, Central Michigan 7

It finally happened. Kansas won a road game for the first time since Sept. 12, 2009. That’s 46 games of misery before the Jayhawks took out some frustration on the Chippewas.

On Sept. 12, 2009, the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” was the No. 1 song on the Billboard charts. The iPad had yet to be released. And I was one day away from my 14th birthday.

We’ve come a long way since then. Congrats, Kansas.

Texas Tech (1-1) 77, Lamar 0

Yikes! The Red Raiders took Lamar behind the woodshed, scoring 42 points in the first half. They didn’t let off the gas pedal, either, as Tech went ahead and put up 21 points in the fourth quarter. Lamar finished with 182 total yards of offense; the Red Raiders had 683 and averaged 12 yards per pass attempt.

It’s hard to get a good sense of where Texas Tech is right now after losing badly to Ole Miss and whooping Lamar. Next week the Red Raiders play Houston — that should help us figure out if Tech and Kliff Kingsbury are going to make any noise in the Big 12.

Oklahoma State (2-0) 55, South Alabama 13

Taylor Cornelius threw for 428 yards on 25-30 passing (with, strangely, only one touchdown). The Cowboys generously let South Alabama hang around for a quarter or so before turning on the afterburners and winning the second half 24-0.

Nothing to see here, really. Check back next week when the Cowboys play Boise State for some unknown reason (seriously, Mike Gundy, this can only bring you pain and suffering, you do not want to play this game).

West Virginia (2-0) 52, Youngstown State 17

Will Grier is still very good. He threw for 332 yard and four scores on 21-26 passing. Call him Mr. Popper, because he owned the hell out of the Penguins this week. (Zing!)

The Mountaineers get NC State next week in what could be a sneaky good game. Check your local listings.

Baylor (2-0) 37, UTSA 20

The Bears have doubled their win total from last year, and did so in what was technically a revenge game against UTSA. Baylor might have a quarterback controversy on its hands — Jalan McClendon was on fire in the opener against Abilene Christian, while Charlie Brewer looked like the better player against UTSA.

Baylor plays at home against Duke next week for a chance to be undefeated heading into Big 12 play.

THE BAD

Oklahoma (2-0) 49, UCLA 21

The result on the field wasn’t bad for the Sooners, who easily dispatched UCLA. But Rodney Anderson, who looked like an all-world running back in the first two weeks, suffered a knee injury late in the game, and early reports are not good. Nothing is definite, but if Anderson does miss significant time, it’ll be a major blow for the Oklahoma run game. Here’s hoping for a swift recovery.

Also, Kyler Murray is still amazing, as he accounted for five total touchdowns. The Oklahoma Quarterback Factory continues to churn and churn.

Texas (1-1) 28, Tulsa 21

At this point, maybe anything other than a loss for the Longhorns should be considered good, huh? Texas led for the majority of this game but kept letting the Golden Hurricanes hang around until late in the fourth quarter. Sam Ehlinger was efficient, posting 237 yards and two scores on 21-27 passing.

But this was Tulsa, and Texas only won by seven. That’s, uh, not going to be good enough for the Longhorn faithful.

USC comes to town next week.

THE UGLY

Mississippi State 31, Kansas State (1-1) 10

Nick Fitzgerald, Kylin Hill and the Bulldogs beat Kansas State at its own game, pounding the ball on the ground and suffocating the Wildcats with relentless intensity. Mississippi State was in control from the opening whistle. Hill ran for 211 yards on 17 carries (!!) and scored twice, and Fitzgerald added another 159 yards on the ground to go along with two scores through the air.

Are we in the nest? Are we in the circle of trust?

Bill Snyder should’ve retired three years ago.

Iowa 13, Iowa State (0-1) 3

Well, they don’t call it ¡El Assico! for nothing.