Big 12 Wrap: Week 7
The two best teams in the Big 12 fought tougher-than-expected teams from the North this week, and the next best teams in the South fought each other, making for an interesting week of football in the Big 12.
Oklahoma 31, Kansas State 21
Bill Snyder leaves no stone unturned in preparing for his former co-defensive coordinator Bob Stoops, and this year was no exception. With the Sooners expecting a game plan featuring a heavy dose of Darren Sproles, Kansas State opened by frequently emptying the backfield and throwing. They moved the ball effectively at first, scoring on their first two drives (with the help of untimely Sooner penalties). The Sooner defense finally adjusted, and shut down Kansas State, whose defense also slowed Oklahoma. By the end, the precision of Jason White and the persistence of Adrian Peterson (who wound up with 36 carries) was too much for a Kansas State team that is now 0-3 in the Big 12.
Texas 28, Missouri 20
Mack Brown may have created expectations in Austin that he can't fulfill. All his team did this week was go out and beat the North's best team, despite the loss of Vince Young during the game. And all that columnists have to say is that Texas can't throw the ball very well. Mack Brown got that pot boiling with bizarre comments after the game about his team's inability to throw, and wouldn't rule out a change at quarterback. Meanwhile, it appears Vince Young's health is fine after he was knocked out of the game. The Texas defense did a good job with Mizzou's dazzling quarterback, and Cedric Benson ran well again. Mack Brown will be favored to win every game left on the schedule, and barring a coaching meltdown on his part, his team should (related thoughts here). Has the expectation in Austin really become that the man must win every game by 35 points AND beat Oklahoma?
Texas A&M 36, Oklahoma State 20
Texas A&M went on the road and dominated an Oklahoma State team that has made a habit so far this season of pushing other teams around. Reggie McNeal accounted for nearly 400 yards of total offense passing and running, and the Aggie defense clamped down on a potent Cowboy rushing attack. I said last week that the real test of A&M's progress under Dennis Franchione would come in this game. I was pretty sure that Oklahoma State was for real heading into this one. Now I'm pretty sure that A&M is for real too. The two best teams in the conference (UT and OU) will underestimate these guys at their peril -- and of course the remaining games among these four teams (with the possible exception of UT-OSU) all offer grudge-match potential.
Colorado 19, Iowa State 14
I flipped over to this one once, and quickly realized that it was probably the most boring game that anyone had the bad sense to televise on Saturday. I never flipped back and can't really comment intelligently on what happened. But Colorado may stay in the thick of things in the mediocre North, and is almost assured of the ability to play spoiler (finishing with Kansas, Kansas State, and Nebraska).
Nebraska 59, Baylor 27
The good news is, Bill Callahan finally got his sputtering West Coast offense on track. The bad news is, it came against Baylor, which means next to nothing. The further bad news is that the defense, which was an overachieving, tough unit last year under Bo Pelini, gave up 27 points to Baylor.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/17/04 22:35 | Big 12 Football | Technorati
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