Net week begins the heart of conference play, so teams had their final opportunity this week to get all of the kinks out of their gameplans and lineups. Unfortunately, for one contender, they put themselves a step behind the rest of the conference as they stumbled in their first conference game. Another potential front-runner took advantage of non-conference play and prepared themselves for the grueling Big XII schedule.
Here is a recap of this past weekend's Big XII games.
Conference Games
#11 Oklahoma State- 21
West Virginia- 30
West Virginia is the definition of why college football fans say, “Anything can happen on gameday.” After getting trounced by Maryland the week before, the Mountaineers came out and notched their first conference win against 11th-ranked Oklahoma State.
The game looked like it was going to get out of hand early after Cowboy’s quarterback J.W. Walsh connected with receiver Josh Stewart for a 73-yard touchdown pass. However, on Oklahoma State’s next possession, Walsh underthrew his intended target and the pass was picked off and returned for a touchdown by West Virginia defensive back, Ishmael Banks.
The momentum stayed with West Virginia, as they added on a score late in the first on a pass from Clint Trickett, in his first start of the season, to Kevin White. From that point on, West Virginia never trailed.
Offensive standouts from the game were Oklahoma State receiver, Josh Stewart, who caught seven passes for 127 yards, and the 73-yard score. For the Mountaineers, running back Charles Sims had 142 total yards and one touchdown.
Non-Conference Games
#14 Oklahoma- 35
Notre Dame- 21
Notre Dame started off the game on the wrong foot, with Tommy Rees tossing a pick-six to Oklahoma linebacker Corey Nelson less than a minute into the game. That interception set the tone for the rest of the game.
Tommy Rees played poorly. He only completed 9-of-24 pass attempts and tossed three interceptions. Blake Bell, on the other hand, proved that his performance last week, was not a fluke, throwing for 232 yards and two scores and helped conduct a Sooner' offense that never trailed in the game.
The Irish offense was led by George Atkinson, who ran for 148 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter.
SMU- 17
TCU- 48
Believe it or not, TCU was down 10-7 at halftime. They were hurt early by a fumble, a holding penalty, and an inability to effectively move the ball.
In the second half, quarterback Trevone Boykin found a rhythm with his receivers, tossing two touchdown passes. TCU also received help on defense and special teams, thanks to an interception return for a touchdown, and a kickoff return for a touchdown on an attempted onside kick.
In the end, TCU comes away with the Iron Skillet, the trophy given to the winner of this rivalry matchup.
Iowa State- 38
Tulsa- 21
In this Thursday night matchup, Iowa State found its offensive rhythm.
Quarterback Sam Richardson threw for 255 yards and two touchdowns, completing passes to 10 different receivers, led by Tad Ecby, who caught six passes for 59 yards. On the ground, running back Aaron Wimberly carried the ball 19 times for 137 yards, and Jeff Woody scored three goal line touchdowns.
Iowa State’s defense played well too, holding Tulsa to 3-of-12 on 3rd down conversions, and held running back Trey Watts to only 38 yards on the ground. Tulsa quarterback Cody Green was benched temporarily after making one-too many mistakes, only to be later put back into the game.
Iowa State opens conference play next weekend against Texas.