The plot thickens in the Big XII race as one team fell from the ranks of the unbeaten and another contender switched quarterbacks, potentially creating a bad situation moving forward.
Here is a recap of this past weekend's Big XII games.
#8 Baylor- 59 vs. Kansas- 14
In the preview for this past weekend’s games, I discussed that Baylor would have to rely on their running game because Kansas has a sneaky good pass defense. I was wrong.
Bryce Petty put up high numbers once again, throwing for 430 yards and three touchdowns. However, he did receive plenty of help on the ground, as both Lache Seastrunk and Shock Linwood both rushed for over 100 yards and four different players scored a touchdown on the ground.
Kansas, as has been the case all season, struggled on offense. Jake Heaps was finally benched after completing only seven of his 19 pass attempts. However, backup Montell Cozart did not do much better, completing only four of his 14 attempts.
Baylor has finished the easy part of their schedule. Now they head onto the tough guys, facing Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State over the next three weeks.
#10 Texas Tech- 30 vs. #15 Oklahoma- 38
In the Big XII game of the week, the Sooners came out on top in what was a back and forth affair. Oklahoma led for much of the game, but the Red Raiders kept it close, pulling ahead in the third quarter, 24-21. However, with less than a minute in the quarter, Oklahoma scored the touchdown that put them ahead for good on a 35-yard reverse by Lacoltan Bester.
For the Sooners, Blake Bell finally got back on track, throwing for 249 yards and two touchdowns, and committed zero turnovers. Damian Williams carried the running game, totaling 97 yards and scoring twice.
Davis Webb completed 33 of his 53 pass attempts for 385 yards and two touchdowns and two interceptions in the losing effort.
The Red Raiders suffer their first loss of the season and the Sooners keep their Big XII title hopes intact as they head to Waco next Thursday to play Baylor.
#19 Oklahoma State- 58 vs. Iowa State- 27
After almost beating Texas, Iowa State has fallen apart, getting demolished in every game since. This past weekend, they fell to Oklahoma State by 31 points.
After a solid relief performance last week, Clint Chelf got the start for the Cowboys, and played average. He only completed 10 of his 26 attempts on the day. The real story was the performance by running back Desmond Roland, who carried the ball 26 times for 219 yards and scored four touchdowns.
Justin Gilbert also picked off another pass, returning this one for a touchdown. Gilbert now has four interceptions on the season.
Texas- 30 vs. TCU- 7
In a game that had a weather delay of over three hours, Texas kept rolling and TCU continued to struggle on offense.
Trevone Boykin once again struggled, but this time, the Horned Frogs had Casey Pachall to turn to. Pachall was injured against LSU and hadn’t played again until Saturday. In his first game back, Pachall completed 19 of his 34 passes for 139 yards and threw an interception. As Pachall gets more comfortable back on the field, the offense will slowly look better than it has all season.
Case McCoy, once again, played a solid game, throwing for 228 yards and a score. He also threw two interceptions, but they did not affect the outcome. However, he will need to minimize those mistakes as the Longhorns head into the second half of Big XII play.
Another notable storyline from this game was Texas coach Mack Brown removed the redshirt from true freshman quarterback Tyrone Swoopes, which likely means David Ash will be out for a little while longer. It will be interesting to follow the Longhorn’s offensive gameplan with Swoopes now available to be part of the offense.
West Virginia- 12 vs. Kansas State- 35
West Virginia’s quarterback woes continue, as Clint Trickett was pulled from the game after playing poorly, replaced by Paul Millard. At this point, it will be a bigger storyline if West Virginia actually finds a quarterback who can play more than two consecutive games before getting pulled.
Kansas State seems to have found its rhythm running a two-quarterback system, as both Jake Waters and Daniel Sams split snaps and had nearly equal carries and pass attempts. Between the two of them, they completed 18 of 23 pass attempts for 291 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for another 71 yards.
West Virginia heads to TCU next week, and Kansas State stays at home to play Iowa State.