8timechamps
9/8/2014, 04:37 PM
All in all, a pretty sloppy week for the conference. Here's the rundown (minus OU):
20 Kansas State 32
Iowa State 28
I fully expected ISU to get run off of the field by the Cats, but in typical ISU fashion, they made it a close game. This ended up being a very entertaining game, but I still can't really tell much about either team at this point. Iowa State isn't as bad as they looked in week 1, and KSU looks like every KSU team we've seen under Snyder. The Cats' QB, Jake Waters did his best Colin Klein impersonation (239 passing yards/138 rushing yards), and proved to be too much for the Cyclones late. I'm not as impressed with Waters as I was Klein, but as long at Tyler Lockett stays healthy, the Cats will be a tough out for any team.
Next up for KSU: 5 Auburn
Next up for ISU: Iowa
Oklahoma State 40
Missouri State 28
Don't let the score fool you, OSU controlled the majority of this game. I said somewhere that I didn't think OSU would finish among the upper half of the Big XII with Walsh at QB, and I want to reinforce that opinion. Walsh will not be able to stay healthy, as witnessed during the first quarter of this game. Walsh's replacement (Daxx Garman) picked up where Walsh left off going 16/26 for 244 yards and 2 TDs. The Poke defense didn't look too bad either, allowing most of Missouri State's points in the fourth quarter. JUCO transfer Tyreek Hill is a legitimate weapon for OSU, and could keep the Cowboy's in some close games. There's still a lot of questions about OSU (specifically their defense), but they do look better than what the prognosticators projected coming into the season.
Next up for OSU: UTSA
Kansas 34
SE Missouri State 28
Unlike the OSU/Missouri State game, the score tells a pretty good story about how this game went. KU jumped to an early lead and headed into halftime up 24-0. Things got a little (a lot) sloppy for the Jayhawks after that. SEMSU continued to pound the KU front with their run game and finally started to get something going midway through the third quarter. Late in the game, KU missed a long field goal that set the Redhawks up in good field position. With a little over a minute and a half left, SEMSU scored to pull within a TD of KU. KU recovered the onside kick to save the game for the Jayhawks. Despite KU's Montell Cozart's mobility, he was -6 yards on 8 carries, and had a mediocre day passing (12/24 196 yards). KU relied on RB De'Andre Mann (121 yards) and Corey Avery (91 yards) to secure the win. Things don't look much better in Lawrence this year.
Next up for KU: Duke
BYU 41
Texas 7
The state of melt-down in horn land is one you can only dream about. In reality, this is what happens when you lose what seems to be 20 players from last year's squad. The horns are depleted all over the field, and while the defense put up a valiant effort in the first half, they finally broke in the second, and the wheels fell off. Surprisingly, Tyrone Swoopes didn't look too bad, but Texas didn't ask a lot from him. He was solid when attempting short passes, but otherwise was uninspiring. The Texas offensive line was horrible, and when the defense got their heads down, they didn't fight back and let BYU run at will. I'm not sure anyone was expecting this kind of beat down last Saturday, and it shows just how far Texas has fallen. This isn't a make or break year for Strong, but continuing to put performances like this one on display will certainly turn up the heat for him. It doesn't get any easier for Texas, and it could very well get much darker before the Horns see any light at the end of the tunnel.
Next up for Texas: 12 UCLA
West Virginia 54
Towson 0
Not much to talk about here, other than WVU's offense appears to be somewhat improved from last year. The problem with games like this one is that even the team itself, can't really use this as a gauge. Beating down an FCS teams tells you nothing, unless that team is NDSU, and Towson is nowhere near that kind of team. Still, I am impressed with this year's WVU team so far, if only for how they played Bama in week one. We'll see if WVU is really that improved, or if the opening game was an anomaly. QB Clint Trickett does appear to be more comfortable though, and the WVU defense seems to have remedied some of the issues from 2012. We may not fully know what kind of team WVU is until the Sooners travel to Morgantown.
Next up for WVU: Maryland
Baylor 70
Northwestern State 6
Even less to talk about in this one. When OU had to schedule FAMU a few years ago, after TCU joined the conference, everyone knew it would be ugly. The game was actually fun for the first quarter or so. After that, it was less about the game and more about making sure no key players got injured, then it was just about getting the game over. As a fan, it's not something I would want to watch every year, let alone 3 games worth every year. Baylor needs to get with the program and stop this bull**** (and no, SMU isn't much better). That's all I have to add.
Next up for Baylor: Buffalo
Texas Tech 30
UTEP 26
We know first hand what it's like to play at UTEP late on a Saturday night. However, that was a season opener. This was part of what appears to be a trend for the Red Raiders. This game was in serious doubt with less than 5 minutes to play. It took a last minute drive for Taco Tech to pull this one out. In week one, Tech was plagued with penalty after penalty, and just an overall feeling of disorganization. Some of that was excused as "opening game sluggishness". Well, that same sluggishness followed Tech to El Paso. Tech had 10 penalties for 90 yards in the game, which in fairness was better than the 15 penalties for 114 yards in week one. Both are horrible though. Maybe dance-offs at practice aren't the best use of time in Lubbock. To this point, Tech has been the better team, but that will change...and when it does, there won't be anymore 'skin-of-their-teeth' victories.
Next up for Tech: Arkansas
20 Kansas State 32
Iowa State 28
I fully expected ISU to get run off of the field by the Cats, but in typical ISU fashion, they made it a close game. This ended up being a very entertaining game, but I still can't really tell much about either team at this point. Iowa State isn't as bad as they looked in week 1, and KSU looks like every KSU team we've seen under Snyder. The Cats' QB, Jake Waters did his best Colin Klein impersonation (239 passing yards/138 rushing yards), and proved to be too much for the Cyclones late. I'm not as impressed with Waters as I was Klein, but as long at Tyler Lockett stays healthy, the Cats will be a tough out for any team.
Next up for KSU: 5 Auburn
Next up for ISU: Iowa
Oklahoma State 40
Missouri State 28
Don't let the score fool you, OSU controlled the majority of this game. I said somewhere that I didn't think OSU would finish among the upper half of the Big XII with Walsh at QB, and I want to reinforce that opinion. Walsh will not be able to stay healthy, as witnessed during the first quarter of this game. Walsh's replacement (Daxx Garman) picked up where Walsh left off going 16/26 for 244 yards and 2 TDs. The Poke defense didn't look too bad either, allowing most of Missouri State's points in the fourth quarter. JUCO transfer Tyreek Hill is a legitimate weapon for OSU, and could keep the Cowboy's in some close games. There's still a lot of questions about OSU (specifically their defense), but they do look better than what the prognosticators projected coming into the season.
Next up for OSU: UTSA
Kansas 34
SE Missouri State 28
Unlike the OSU/Missouri State game, the score tells a pretty good story about how this game went. KU jumped to an early lead and headed into halftime up 24-0. Things got a little (a lot) sloppy for the Jayhawks after that. SEMSU continued to pound the KU front with their run game and finally started to get something going midway through the third quarter. Late in the game, KU missed a long field goal that set the Redhawks up in good field position. With a little over a minute and a half left, SEMSU scored to pull within a TD of KU. KU recovered the onside kick to save the game for the Jayhawks. Despite KU's Montell Cozart's mobility, he was -6 yards on 8 carries, and had a mediocre day passing (12/24 196 yards). KU relied on RB De'Andre Mann (121 yards) and Corey Avery (91 yards) to secure the win. Things don't look much better in Lawrence this year.
Next up for KU: Duke
BYU 41
Texas 7
The state of melt-down in horn land is one you can only dream about. In reality, this is what happens when you lose what seems to be 20 players from last year's squad. The horns are depleted all over the field, and while the defense put up a valiant effort in the first half, they finally broke in the second, and the wheels fell off. Surprisingly, Tyrone Swoopes didn't look too bad, but Texas didn't ask a lot from him. He was solid when attempting short passes, but otherwise was uninspiring. The Texas offensive line was horrible, and when the defense got their heads down, they didn't fight back and let BYU run at will. I'm not sure anyone was expecting this kind of beat down last Saturday, and it shows just how far Texas has fallen. This isn't a make or break year for Strong, but continuing to put performances like this one on display will certainly turn up the heat for him. It doesn't get any easier for Texas, and it could very well get much darker before the Horns see any light at the end of the tunnel.
Next up for Texas: 12 UCLA
West Virginia 54
Towson 0
Not much to talk about here, other than WVU's offense appears to be somewhat improved from last year. The problem with games like this one is that even the team itself, can't really use this as a gauge. Beating down an FCS teams tells you nothing, unless that team is NDSU, and Towson is nowhere near that kind of team. Still, I am impressed with this year's WVU team so far, if only for how they played Bama in week one. We'll see if WVU is really that improved, or if the opening game was an anomaly. QB Clint Trickett does appear to be more comfortable though, and the WVU defense seems to have remedied some of the issues from 2012. We may not fully know what kind of team WVU is until the Sooners travel to Morgantown.
Next up for WVU: Maryland
Baylor 70
Northwestern State 6
Even less to talk about in this one. When OU had to schedule FAMU a few years ago, after TCU joined the conference, everyone knew it would be ugly. The game was actually fun for the first quarter or so. After that, it was less about the game and more about making sure no key players got injured, then it was just about getting the game over. As a fan, it's not something I would want to watch every year, let alone 3 games worth every year. Baylor needs to get with the program and stop this bull**** (and no, SMU isn't much better). That's all I have to add.
Next up for Baylor: Buffalo
Texas Tech 30
UTEP 26
We know first hand what it's like to play at UTEP late on a Saturday night. However, that was a season opener. This was part of what appears to be a trend for the Red Raiders. This game was in serious doubt with less than 5 minutes to play. It took a last minute drive for Taco Tech to pull this one out. In week one, Tech was plagued with penalty after penalty, and just an overall feeling of disorganization. Some of that was excused as "opening game sluggishness". Well, that same sluggishness followed Tech to El Paso. Tech had 10 penalties for 90 yards in the game, which in fairness was better than the 15 penalties for 114 yards in week one. Both are horrible though. Maybe dance-offs at practice aren't the best use of time in Lubbock. To this point, Tech has been the better team, but that will change...and when it does, there won't be anymore 'skin-of-their-teeth' victories.
Next up for Tech: Arkansas