Big 12 Wrap: Week Nine
Week 9 in the Big 12 featured more good matchups, and a few surprises.
Here's the breakdown:
Oklahoma 49, Iowa State 3
Iowa State came into this game feeling good about themselves, and deservedly so: they feature a legitimate Heisman contender at quarterback and had played well enough all season to crack the Top 10. And then Oklahoma just dominated with their defense and special teams, and was coldly efficient on offense despite the rain. The Sooner D held Seneca Wallace and Iowa State to 60 total yards and dominated time of possession. It's probably the best defensive effort against a quality team we will see this year. Oklahoma now has a week off. Iowa State, on the other hand, must deal with Texas.
Texas 17, Kansas State 14
This may be a defining game for Texas. After the loss to Oklahoma, Texas came out and played tough defense. Their offense struggled at times, but Bill Snyder makes that happen quite a lot to teams that visit Manhattan. The Texas running game is still struggling, but a win is a win -- and the Longhorns are no doubt clutching at Nebraska's improbable run to the BCS title game last year despite not even playing for the conference championship. Iowa State will be another test next week in Austin, and then the Longhorns travel to Nebraska. Both are winnable games.
Colorado 34, Baylor 0
Baylor is just pitiful. This one was never a contest. The Kevin Steele deathwatch continues.
Texas A&M 47, Kansas 22
Kansas is just pitiful. This one was never a contest either. Texas A&M's offense continues to benefit from playing bad teams. They probably won't ring up 40+ points on Nebraska next week, but who knows given Nebraska's problems.
Oklahoma State 24, Nebraska 21
Oklahoma State had not beaten Nebraska since 1961 coming into this one. But Oklahoma State just outplayed the Huskers, who looked slow (and the rain was only partially to blame -- Nebraska's talent level is just down). It's been that kind of season for Nebraska. Rashaun Woods had another monster game for the Cowboys, but I actually saw something I've never seen before: he dropped a catchable ball (it's rare -- the guy is probably the best in the Big 12, UT's receivers notwithstanding). Oklahoma State has Texas A&M in Stillwater next week, and hopes to break out of a habit of playing well one week and poorly the next.
Texas Tech 52, Missouri 38
These two teams are both a notch below the best teams in their division, and fairly evenly matched, and this was a real show for the fans. Texas Tech never trailed, and Kliff Kingsbury completed 49 of 70 (!!!) for 510 yards, 5 TDS, and no picks -- but still, since Texas Tech doesn't play defense, no lead is ever really safe, keeping the fans in the seats. Imagine what Mike Leach's team could do if they ever put together a quality defense.
[Posted at 22:24 CST on 10/20/02] [Link]
