07 September 2008
Big 12 Wrap: Week 2
There weren't really many surprises this week in the Big 12. Here are the games:
Oklahoma 52, Cincinnati 26
A good win for the Sooners over a solid opponent, with just enough to work on to keep Bob Stoops and staff busy. It would have been nice to see the second half. Ah well!
Missouri 52, SEMO 3
We need a twelfth game (but no playoff) for THIS?
Texas 42, UTEP 13
Despite the blowout, UTEP actually rolled up 400+ yards of offense and had the ball nearly 37 minutes.
Kansas 29, Louisiana Tech 0
Kansas makes it look easy.
Texas Tech 35, Nevada 19
Tech makes enough plays (offensively AND defensively) when it mattered to put Nevada away.
Oklahoma State 56, Houston 37
If the Oklahoma State team that showed up in the second half would show up for entire games, the Pokes could be a force.
Kansas State 69, Montana St 10
See the Mizzou/SEMO entry.
Nebraska 35, San Jose State 12
Baby steps...
Colorado 31, Eastern Washington 14
Remember when the Buffs used to compete for national championships? It's been a while...
Iowa State 48, Kent State 28
Iowa State gets "revenge" for last year's loss.
Baylor 51, Northwestern State 6
Coach Briles' teams look crisp against teams of this quality.
Texas A&M 28, New Mexico 22
A win is a win...
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/07/08 18:06 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (4)
01 September 2008
Big 12 Wrap: Week 1
Football season is finally here, and with it come the weekly Big 12 wraps, my pithy takes on each week's Big 12 games. Here we go...
Oklahoma 57, Chattanooga 2
We're not fans of Big 12 teams playing I-AA opponents. The Sooners scheduled this one when a I-A team backed out, which makes it only slightly more palatable. At least they didn't charge full admission.
Missouri 52, Illinois 42
Nice win for Mizzou, which starts the season as explosive as they were last season.
Texas 52, Florida Atlantic 10
Schnellie might not want to call out UT's toughness before the game next time (if there is a next time).
Kansas 40, Florida International 10
Ho hum.
Texas Tech 49, Eastern Washington 24
Is Tech ready to join the Big 12's Big Boys? Hard to say either way after this one.
Colorado 38, Colorado State 17
The Buffs win the state championship!
Kansas State 45, North Texas 6
UNT looks as dreadful as they did last season.
Oklahoma State 39, Washington State 13
A nice road win to start things for OSU.
Nebraska 47, Western Michigan 24
The Bo Pelini era is off to a successful start.
Iowa State 44, South Dakota State 17
*yawn*
Arkansas State 18, Texas A&M 14
Suck.
Wake Forest 41, Baylor 13
Enjoy Art Briles, Baylor fans, because Coog fans are really pleased with his replacement.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/01/08 12:17 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (1)
01 December 2007
Boomer! (Or, Big 12 Wrap: Championship Edition)
It's time for the last Big 12 Wrap of the year, and even though I try to keep them objective, I have to admit the Sooner fan in me is ecstatic over the Big 12 title game tonight.
The Sooners dominated the second half of the game, turning in what was probably their best one-half performance of the season, to flip a 14-14 game at halftime into a rout.
And they did it against an outstanding #1 ranked Missouri team that, in my opinion, played the best football in the Big 12 over the course of the entire season (slightly edging the Sooners). Unfortunately for Mizzou, they didn't play like the best team in the Big 12 in two games -- both against Oklahoma.
I missed the first half because I was watching UH basketball (another good performance, to another nearly empty building -- very disappointing and hard to understand) cruise to another win. So that was cool. And the BCS officially blew up tonight. That's pretty cool too. Win, win, win!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/01/07 23:22 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (4)
25 November 2007
Big 12 Wrap: Week 13
This week's games mark the end of the regular season (and the end of some Big 12 coaching careers). Here are the games:
Missouri 36, Kansas 28
Mizzou just had too much talent for Kansas in this one, and now moves on to the Big 12 title game in an effort to avenge its only loss (to Oklahoma, in Norman). Mark Mangino consistently got more than any coach in America out of his talent, so here's hoping a nice bowl is in KU's future.
Oklahoma 49, Oklahoma State 17
Oklahoma got physical in manhandling its in-state rival, with a power running game that might have kept it in the national title hunt had the coaches remembered it a week ago. Oklahoma State ends a frustrating season in which Mike Gundy's most notable "win" was beating up a female reporter.
Texas A&M 38, Texas 30
This one was disappointing to Texas fans, who had started talking BCS bowl despite mediocre play from the team most of the season. Dennis Franchione departed shortly after the game, which was not disappointing to many A&M fans.
Colorado 65, Nebraska 51
The fact that looks like a basketball score is one of many reasons Bill Callahan gets to go away. Finally.
Fresno State 45, Kansas State 29
No bowl game for Ron Prince's crew this year.
And, that's that. The Big 12 title game matches Oklahoma against Missouri in San Antonio next week. For weeks, Missouri has looked very impressive. Oklahoma has looked very impressive at home, and has been unpredictable on the road. So who knows how this one will turn out?
Speaking of not knowing how things will turn out, this is kind of a fun look back at the Houston Chronicle's Terrance Harris's predictions for the Big 12 this year:
South Division
1. Oklahoma State
-Offensive weapons galore and just wait until you see Bobby Reid do his Vince Young impression this season. Look for the Cowboys to stun the Longhorns come Nov. 3.
2. Texas A&M
-Aggies have the toughest road to go in the Big 12 South, but they also arguably have the most talented offensive cast of any of the division opponents. Look for a combination of ball control offense and outstanding defensive play to carry the day in key road games against Tech, Nebraska and Oklahoma.
3. Texas
-Colt McCoy will be a year wiser and with the help of Jamaal Charles and Limas Sweed should take another huge step forward this season. But there could be questions along the offensive line and in some key defensive areas.
4. Oklahoma
-The Sooners are more than able to replace Adrian Peterson in the backfield, but who's at quarterback? Not much was settled this spring between Joey Halzle and redshirt freshman Sam Bradford.
5. Texas Tech
-The Red Raiders will again put up staggering offensive numbers, but one day Mike Leach will learn this game is really about how you play defense.
6. Baylor
-How can we say this? It's been real coach Morriss.
North Division
1. Nebraska
-The Cornhuskers have the pieces in place to take last season's North title run to the next level. Some might be concerned about who replaces Zac Taylor, but Sam Keller steps in and the offense doesn't miss a beat with the double-threat backfield of Marlon Lucky and Cody Glenn.
2. Missouri
-Chase Daniel and the Tigers have the North Division title in sight. Circle Oct.6 showdown with Nebraska as a must-win game.
3. Kansas State
-After stunning Texas last season, Ron Prince has the Wildcats believing the hype. Now, if only their opponents will buy it.
4. Kansas
-The Jayhawks have a solid defense with stalwarts like defensive tackle James McClinton and linebacker Mike Rivera back. But they still may not have enough offense to get over the hump.
5. Colorado
-Dan Hawkins will find out what his former boss, Dirk Koetter, found out when he left Boise State for Arizona State: This is a whole new level.
6. Iowa State
-The Cyclones team could be so bad that it almost seems unfair that Bret Meyer can't claim hardship and transfer to another Division I-A program without penalty.
Well, at least he nailed Baylor and Iowa State -- the really tough ones to predict! :D
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/25/07 21:42 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (1)
18 November 2007
Big 12 Wrap: Week 12
Only one real surprise in the conference this week. Here are the games:
Kansas 45, Iowa State 7
Mark Mangino's team continues to demonstrate that it is the best coached team in the conference. But will it come out on top next week against super-talented Mizzou?
Missouri 49, Kansas State 32
Missouri has tons of talent on offense, but can be prone to mistakes, making next week's matchup with Kansas even more interesting.
Texas Tech 34, Oklahoma 27
Without its two best players (quarterback Sam Bradford and defensive end Auston English), Oklahoma looked very average. The coaches' strange decision to stay pass-happy with Bradford's struggling, inexperienced backup instead of leaning upon the team's three excellent running backs didn't help. Maybe they forgot how they won the Big 12 with an average QB last year.
Oklahoma State 45, Baylor 14
The Cowboys should be feeling very confident heading into their Bedlam matchup with OU. Baylor, meanwhile, has fired its coach, and has even floated Houston Nutt's name. Who says the Baptists don't have a sense of humor?!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/18/07 22:10 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (0)
11 November 2007
Big 12 Wrap: Week 11
Things went mostly according to form this week in the Big 12. Here are the games:
Oklahoma 52, Baylor 21
The Sooners come up with more big plays than the Bears in this blowout, but Bob Stoops can't be happy with his defense giving up 450 yards as offensive powerhouses Texas Tech and Oklahoma State loom.
Missouri 40, Texas A&M 26
A&M sorta, almost tried to make a game of this one, but Fran's plodding offense just couldn't pull it off against explosive Mizzou.
Kansas 43, Oklahoma State 28
There is no coach in the Big 12 (and perhaps in the country) who is getting more out of his talent this year than Mark Mangino. His team makes just enough plays to win, they are disciplined, and they rarely make mistakes. Mike Gundy could learn something from his example.
Texas 59, Texas Tech 43
Mike Leach has already fired one defensive coordinator. It sounds like he'd like to fire the Big 12 officials. Maybe he's just frustrated because it's hard to beat good teams when you don't give a damn about defense and your wacky offense isn't perfect.
Nebraska 73, Kansas State 31
Does anyone think that perhaps Clueless Callahan was playing the wrong quarterback most of this season?
Iowa State 31, Colorado 28
Don't look now, but Iowa State is starting to resemble a Division I-A football team! They might even be ready to avenge that early-season loss to Northern Iowa at this point.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/11/07 23:03 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (0)
Coach Leach loses it
'Incompetence or bias?' (Mark Rosner, AAS)
Steamed with the officials after his team's 59-43 loss to Texas on Saturday, Texas Tech coach Mike Leach couldn't settle on a proper description for their work.
"It may be incompetence. It may be bias. I don't know," Leach said. "The level of officiating in this game was a complete travesty."
Leach seemed primarily angry about one drive and one official. During the drive, early in the third quarter, two replay reviews resulted in rulings against Tech.
As for the official, Leach would not name anybody, but he referred to "an Austin resident." Randy Christal, the head referee, lives in Austin.
Christal could not be reached for comment Saturday night. Big 12 Conference spokesman Bob Burda said the league would have no comment Saturday.
Leach's gripes involved four incidents in a span of six snaps.
The first was a 28-yard pass from Tech quarterback Graham Harrell on which freshman receiver Michael Crabtree made a spectacular attempt to catch a ball with one hand at the Texas 6. The officials ruled no catch, confirming the call on replay after Leach made a challenge. Three plays later, an 18-yard pass from Harrell to Eric Morris was originally ruled a touchdown. But Longhorn coach Mack Brown challenged the call, and replays confirmed that Morris did not secure the ball.
Two plays after that, Harrell hooked up with Danny Amendola for a 13-yard touchdown. But officials called holding on Tech guard Louis Vasquez, who grabbed Texas linebacker Sergio Kindle. The refs did not call an apparent late hit by Longhorn Henry Melton on the play.
"After that, they have the temerity to call us for holding," Leach said.
Tech finished the drive without scoring; Leach finished the game an angry man, although he did not raise his voice while criticizing the state of Big 12 officiating for more than 17 minutes.
I tend to agree with Coach Leach on the late hit on his QB, but it was close and a judgment call. I don't think he has much of a complaint on the other calls, though.
And if he's going to point fingers at anyone for Tech's inability to win most big games, he might start with himself. I loved Coach Leach's work at OU and think he's a breath of fresh air as a head coach, but his teams rarely beat the best teams because 1) they don't play defense and 2) his offense often isn't up to the task. Indeed, that last probably stings a bit.
That's not to defend Big 12 officiating. I watch a lot of conference games, and the officiating often seems like something more fitting for CUSA than an alleged power conference. But the officiating didn't cause Coach Leach's team to get trampled (again) yesterday.
UPDATE (11-12-2007): As Tom Kirkendall reminds, Coach Leach didn't have a similar meltdown after dubious officiating gave his team a rare win against Oklahoma in 2005.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/11/07 13:19 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (0)
10 November 2007
Tramel: Never forget she was 12 years old
Never forget she was 12 years old (Berry Tramel, Daily Oklahoman)
She was 12 years old.
What do you say we don't forget that? What do you say we don't let that drift off into the margins? What do you say that remains front and center as the Chris Collins case makes its way through the Oklahoma State administration?
Berry Tramel is a fine writer, and that's a fine column.
Mike Gundy has his defenders (for reasons I truly cannot fathom), but in my view he regularly shows highly questionable judgment in many areas. This would be one of them. Maybe keeping Boone Pickens happy creates pressures that normal people just don't understand.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/10/07 13:43 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (1)
07 November 2007
Clueless chimes in with weekly "I won't resign" comment
Callahan says he won't resign (AP)
If Nebraska interim athletic director Tom Osborne wants Bill Callahan out as football coach, he'll probably have to fire him.
Callahan said Tuesday he would not resign before the season ends, even if he were offered a buyout worth more than he is entitled to by his contract.
"That term 'resignation' is not in our vocabulary," Callahan said.
The term "fired" is going to be soon enough.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/07/07 22:18 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (0)
04 November 2007
Big 12 Wrap: Week 10
It was another crazy week in the Big 12, so let's get to the games:
Missouri 51, Colorado 10
This one stayed close. For a few minutes. Then it wasn't any more.
Oklahoma 42, Texas A&M 14
This one was never in doubt, just a workmanlike blowout for the Sooners against a plodding, overwhelmed team that should have a new coach next season.
Kansas 76, Nebraska 39
Mark Mangino decides to score like Bill Self's team! Will Clueless Callahan make it through the week?
Texas 38, Oklahoma State 35
Oklahoma State cruises for most of the game, only to suffer another miraculous Texas finish. The term "lOSUr" may need to be broken out for this latest effort.
Iowa State 31, Kansas State 20
Gene Chizik's team has been looking better in recent weeks, and finally gets a W to show for it.
Texas Tech 38, Baylor 7
Anyone want to crank the Graham Harrell Heisman campaign up again after this one? Nah, didn't think so. Surely these are the last games of the Guy Morriss era at Baylor.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/04/07 22:57 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (1)
31 October 2007
I haven't broken out this graphic in ages
Texas coach Brown spreads the news (Chip Brown, Dallas Morning News)
Two weeks ago, Texas coach Mack Brown said he took a poll of his players and was surprised to learn almost none of them paid attention to newspapers, talk radio or TV. Then Monday, Brown, who has repeatedly said he doesn't pay attention to the media, went off on the media for its critical coverage of his team's 28-25 victory at home over Nebraska."Everyone will be critical of how we played for three quarters this week and that helps our team," Brown said. "Media and fan-driven stuff that are negative really motivates our team better than on days where it's really good. It's amazing to watch that for 10 years here, but it happens.
"Everybody will be talking about how great Oklahoma State is this week and how we're going to get beat. That's a plus for us. You all really help us. You limit my motivational speeches. I have less pre-game talks because of you all, and I'm trying to get our players to watch you more."
I've kind of grown to like Mack Brown a little more in recent years, but I guess this is proof that he can still act like a dumb@ss when his team is underachieving. And if he's going to act like a dumb@ss, I can't resist breaking out "the graphic." :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/31/07 22:35 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (1)
28 October 2007
Big 12 Wrap: Week 9
Another weekend has flown by, and that means it's time to take a quick look at the Big 12 football action.
Missouri 42, Iowa State 28
Mizzou's high-octane offense was a little sluggish this week, but Iowa State wasn't good enough to take advantage.
Kansas 19, Texas A&M 11
The Big 12's only undefeated team keeps its streak alive at Kyle Field, where a new A&M coach will almost surely be roaming the sidelines next year.
Texas 28, Nebraska 25
Nebraska put a scare into the underachieving Longhorns, before running out of gas late. Nebraska's next coach is going to have to do something about that porous defense.
Colorado 31, Texas Tech 26
Colorado closes in on bowl eligibility, while Mike Leach's team unravels.
Kansas State 51, Baylor 13
Guy Morriss won't be coming back next year, will he?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/28/07 22:14 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (0)
21 October 2007
Big 12 Wrap: Week 8
It's Big 12 roundup time... so here we go.
Missouri 41, Texas Tech 10
Leave out that fourth quarter last week against Oklahoma, and hasn't Mizzou looked better than anyone else so far in conference play? They just spanked Mike Leach (who has trouble beating ranked opponents).
Oklahoma 17, Iowa State 7
The Sooners have three excellent running backs. Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson remembered that just in time to salvage what was shaping up as a disaster in Ames. Norman writers are keeping an eye on the BCS rankings, but this team will have trouble winning out in conference with more performances like this.
Kansas 19, Colorado 14
Mark Mangino and undefeated Kansas do what Bob Stoops couldn't -- hold off pesky Colorado late for the win.
Texas 31, Baylor 10
Baylor gave Texas a pretty good game for a couple of quarters, but couldn't keep up.
Oklahoma State 41, Kansas STATE 39
The best game in the Big 12 this week was one that nobody outside of Stillwater saw, because inexplicably no network picked this one up.
Texas A&M 36, Nebraska 14
Callahan announces he's not resigning, and then produces this. Poor Nebraska.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/21/07 22:46 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (0)
16 October 2007
Osborne returns
Tom Osborne returns as Nebraska interim AD (AP)
LINCOLN, Neb. - Tom Osborne is returning to Nebraska to temporarily run the Cornhuskers' athletic department and possibly determine the fate of Bill Callahan.
Umm, is his fate really in question?
NU fans should just be thankful that the Pederman/Clueless debacle didn't set back their program quite as much as the Howard Schnellenberger/John Blake years at Oklahoma. And as Bob Stoops and Joe Castiglione have proven, two men can right a ship pretty quickly. Here's hoping Nebraska finds their two guys. The Big 12 needs Nebraska to be a national power again.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/16/07 21:03 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (1)
15 October 2007
Pederson out at Nebraska; Clueless surely not far behind
Nebraska fires AD in wake of blowout losses (AP)
OMAHA, Neb. - Nebraska athletic director Steve Pederson was fired Monday, two days after the school's once-mighty football team was rocked with its worst home loss in nearly a half-century.
Pederson, along with coach Bill Callahan, has been heavily criticized after a series of one-sided losses this season. The most recent was a 45-14 loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday with former Cornhuskers coach Tom Osborne and his 1997 national title team in attendance.
Over the past two weeks, the Huskers (4-3) have lost by a combined margin of 86-20, dropping a 41-6 decision at Missouri two weeks ago.
"We are, of course, disappointed about the progress in our football program,'' Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman said in a news release. "Steve has done many positive things for Husker athletics during his tenure, but I think only new leadership can objectively assess the state of our program and make the decisions necessary to move us forward.''
At the end of the July, Pederson's contract was renewed for five years, but this season has been a nightmare for the most part.
The leadership that extended both Pederson and Callahan look pretty clueless themselves.
Callahan is surely history, although it may not come until the end of the season. My best guess it that Nebraska wanted to have a competent AD in place to hire the next coach, so getting rid of Pederson had to happen ASAP.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/15/07 17:14 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (2)
14 October 2007
Big 12 Wrap: Week 7
The Big 12 mostly went according to form this weekend. Here are the games:
Oklahoma 41, Missouri 31
Missouri took the lead late in the third quarter, courtesy of some poor Oklahoma decisions, but then squandered it with mistakes of their own. Oklahoma looks like a good team that could be a real force if it played smarter. Mizzou could well face the Sooners again this season.
Texas 56, Iowa State 3
This could have been much worse. Iowa State just looks inept.
Kansas 58, Baylor 10
Kansas remains undefeated. Baylor remains hapless.
Texas Tech 35, Texas A&M 7
Texas Tech owns Coach Fran, which is one of many reasons that Coach Fran will not be coaching the Aggies next season.
Oklahoma State 45, Nebraska 14
The great Nebraska fans should not have to endure a shellacking like this at home, let alone by a team coached by Mike Gundy. We shall resume our earlier references to "Clueless Callahan" until further notice.
Kansas State 47, Colorado 20
A balanced attack gets it done for the Wildcats.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/14/07 21:07 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (1)
07 October 2007
Big 12 Wrap: Week 6
After two weeks of no (American) football in Greece, I watched WAY too much football this weekend. Here are this week's thoughts on the Big 12 action:
Oklahoma 28, Texas 21
Forget all the talk about this game being secondary and other teams leading the South. These are the two elite programs in the Big 12, and everyone knows it. This game wasn't a thing of beauty, but it was a great rivalry match, with two excellent young QBs battling to the very end. Oklahoma was a little better this time, although its defense will have to improve next week against Mizzou, which has more offensive diversity than "McCoy to big guys inexplicably left running free down the middle of field."
Missouri 41, Nebraska 6
Nebraska is obviously not the real deal, despite lots of preseason talk about the program being ready to rejoin college football's elite. Since Gary Pinkel teams tend to underachieve over the course of a season, we don't yet know if Mizzou is the real deal. But their team speed is impressive, as they demonstrated in humbling the Huskers.
Kansas 30, Kansas State 24
The Jayhawks finally score a meaningful victory, with a big road win in Manhattan.
Texas A&M 24, Oklahoma State 23
Fran beats Gundy in the battle of the Big 12's two dumbest coaches. I think that while watching this game, I had moments where I actually mimicked that vacant, emotionless stare of Coach Fran, as I tried to stay awake watching A&M's plodding offense. It's still hard to believe they ditched R.C. Slocum for... that. *snore*
Texas Tech 42, Iowa State 17
Iowa State is terrible. Texas Tech always beats hell out of terrible teams. Next!
Colorado 43, Baylor 23
Same old Baylor...
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/07/07 20:39 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (0)
16 September 2007
Big 12 Wrap: Week 3
The Big 12 continued to look like a so-so conference in week 3. Here's a quick look at the games.
Oklahoma 53, Utah State 3
It was 48-3 at the half, after which Stoops ran in lots of reserves. Sam Bradford continues his stellar play, and Oklahoma's depth at running back, o-line, and d-line has them looking strong.
Texas 35, Central Florida 32
Mack Brown has set the bar high at UT, which is why Longhorns fans are aghast that their beloved Burnt Orange were actually extended, late, by a lowly CUSA directional school. This does not look like a Top Ten team.
USC 49, Nebraska 31
The final score is misleading, as this one wasn't even that close. Nebraska still has a ways to go to reclaim its old place among the college football elite.
Texas A&M 54, Louisiana-Monroe 14
The expected (or at least hoped-for) blowout -- but boy, did Coach Fran need it. The contest this week against Miami could prove to be a real setback for college offense.
Texas Tech 59, Rice 24
Boy, Rice is bad. And Tech can score.
Missouri 52, Western Michican 24
Boy, Western Michigan is also bad. Maybe worse than Rice.
Kansas 45, Toledo 13
Toledo is not good, but due to the Jayhawks' sorry schedule, we really have no idea how good Kansas is.
Kansas State 61, Missouri State 10
Wow, the Wildcats can beat the hell out of a I-AA team. Well, that's more than Michigan can say.
Troy 41, Oklahoma St. 23
If Boone Pickens donates a few more million, will OSU give him the privilege of firing Mike Gundy on the sideline sometime during the season?
Iowa State 15, Iowa 13
Proof that weird things can happen in state rivalry games. Since Northern Iowa beat dreadful Iowa State last week, does that make Northern Iowa the state champ this year?
Baylor 34, Texas State 27
Baylor was extended by a I-AA program, but at least they didn't lose.
Florida State 16, Colorado 6
Hard to believe these were two elite programs in the 90s. Especially Colorado. They can't seem to run two plays in a row without making a mistake.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/16/07 22:28 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (1)
09 September 2007
Big 12 Wrap: Week 2
Week 2 is done, so here's my quick take on the games.
Oklahoma 51, Miami 13
Miami looked shaky early, spotting the Sooners a nice lead. They got themselves back in the game early in the third, only to be rolled the rest of the way. The Sooners made enough mistakes that Bob Stoops will have plenty to work on, but he has to be liking the potential of this team at this point.
Texas 34, TCU 13
UT's second-half destruction of the second-best football program in Texas right now should calm down the Burnt Orange Nation a little.
Nebraska 20, Wake Forest 17
Nebraska holds on to win a nailbiter against Wake. Two steps forward, how many back?
Texas A&M 47, Fresno St 45
There's some controversy about the officiating at the end of this one, but there is no denying that if Fresno State's player hadn't gone brain-dead and fumbled at the one, Dennis Franchione's career at A&M would be concluding at the end of the season. It may still be.
Texas Tech 45, UTEP 31
This is Mike Leach's kind of game! Who needs defense?!
Missouri 38, Mississippi 25
Chase Daniel powers Mizzou to the win.
Kansas State 34, San Jose State 14
A feel-good game for Kansas State after last-week's tough loss.
Oklahoma State 42, Florida Atlantic 6
Oklahoma State makes up for last week's poor showing at Georgia by beating the hell out of Howard Schnellenberger. Is there a quarterback controversy at OSU now?
Kansas 62, SE Louisiana 0
Big 12 programs should not be playing I-AA teams. Boo.
Baylor 42, Rice 17
Baylor will be bad this year, but Rice looks to be horrible.
Arizona State 33, Colorado 14
Colorado led 14-0 early, before their general ineptitude took over the game. My goodness, this program has fallen quickly.
Northern Iowa 24, Iowa State 13
Iowa State's fans must be very proud that their AD fired one of the most successful coaches they've had so that Gene Chizik could lose not only to a I-AA school at Ames, but to an in-state I-AA school!
Note: Yes, I realize the NCAA doesn't want to use the designation I-AA any more, but I prefer it.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/09/07 22:35 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (5)
03 September 2007
Big 12 Wrap: Week 1
It's the start of another football season, and I guess I'll continue the blog tradition of posting a pithy review of the week's Big 12 action. Here are the games:
Oklahoma 79, North Texas 10
UNT was overmatched from the start in this one, even though Oklahoma's top two running backs didn't play. New QB Sam Bradford had a nice debut, but the competition stiffens quickly with Miami arriving in Norman next week.
Texas 21, Arkansas State 13
A late ASU score made this one look a little closer than it was, but the Texas faithful can't be excited about that start to the season.
Nebraska 52, Nevada 10
Nebraska rolls after a slow start. Is Nebraska finally ready to rejoin the conference elite?
Texas A&M 38, Montana State 7
Aggies should start 3-0 before facing one of many big road tests.
Auburn 23, Kansas State 13
Ron Prince's crew outplayed Auburn for much of this game, but seemed to run out of gas at the end (and made too many mental mistakes to win this road game).
Texas Tech 49, SMU 3
Different season, same offense for Mike Leach and Texas Tech.
Missouri 40, Illinois 34
One of college football's two perennially underachieving head coaches had to win. Mizzou hangs on to win a wild one.
Georgia 35, Oklahoma State 14
A handful of people (like one of the Chron's Big 12 reporters) actually picked OSU to win the Big 12 South (really). That will be hard to do if they can't perform better than this on the road against good teams (like A&M, Nebraska, and Oklahoma).
Kansas 52, Central Michigan 7
Maybe Michigan should have scheduled Central Michigan this weekend?
Colorado 31, Colorado State 28
I watched a fair amount of this snoozer, and can't really say how Colorado managed to win it.
TCU 27, Baylor 0
Baylor will be hanging out in the Big 12 cellar once again.
Kent State 23, Iowa State 14
Iowa State fans must be delighted they chased off one of the best coaches they've ever had so Gene Chizik could lose his opener to a MAC school.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/03/07 19:35 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (4)
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