Quick Look: Baylor and Oklahoma State make their debuts

The Big 12 played seven games on Saturday... and lost three of them. To Sun Belt schools.

Not a great look.

As we hit week three of the college football season, two of the remaining three conference schools will take the field, and should things go according to plan, the Horned Frogs will be the only league member to not have taken the field to this point this fall.

Oklahoma State and Baylor have their turn now, as both teams are playing rescheduled games after their original opening dates were postponed due to COVID concerns. Baylor went so far as to switch opponents, giving the Cougars the “u up?” call after La Tech was forced to back out of their September 12th matchup.

Tulsa at #15 Oklahoma State

11:00 AM (Boone Pickens Stadium, Stillwater, OK)

The Golden Hurricanes were supposed to make the trip to Stillwater a week prior, but a rash of positive cases delayed both team’s openers a week. Now, Oklahoma State begins their season, and quest for a Big 12 Championship Game appearance, a week late and after watching fellow dark horse contender Iowa State throw up a stinker in their opener.

With Tylan Wallace, Chuba Hubbard, and Spencer Sanders, the Cowboys’ offense should be explosive once again. On the other side of the ball, the defense returns a ton of veteran talent, and could compete with TCU to be the stingiest in the conference. Tulsa, coming off of a 4-8 campaign, should not present much of a problem for the Pokes, who will look to shake off the rust and rest their primetime players.

Houston at Baylor

11:00 AM FOX (McLane Stadium, Waco, TX)

Baylor AD Mack Rhoades was quick to get on the horn when Louisiana Tech was forced to cancel their game against the Bears, working to get Lone Star State cohort Houston to fill in on short notice. Dave Aranda goes from making his head coaching debut against the Bulldogs to matching wits with offensive ingenue Dana Holgorsen, whose Houston team disappointed in a 4-8 debut campaign.

D’Eriq King is now a Cane, but Clayton Tune looked decent in taking over a third of the way through last year. Aranda, a defensive savant, will have his hands full with the skill players the Cougars roll out, but he’s got a veteran quarterback and some nice pieces of his own should Charlie Brewer and the Bears have to match the Cougars’ attack point for point. On defense, Baylor lost a lot, with only two returning starters heading into 2020.

This comes down to one thing, in my opinion: a healthy Charlie Brewer beats the Cougs.

Other challenges will come as the season progresses, but Aranda should get off to a 1-0 start this week.