Big 12 Wrap: Week Two
Each week, I'll be posting my take on the weekend's football games in the Big 12.
I skipped week one because of the limited action that week, and I'm slow posting this one (should have gone up Sunday, but I never quite finished it).
That said, here are the games:
Oklahoma 37, Tulsa 0
Yes, Oklahoma got off to a slow start. Yes, the offense had some of the same problems as last year (dropped passes, and some poor decisions by the quarterback in the red zone). On the plus side, the Sooners ran the football as well as they have in the Stoops era. Granted, it was Tulsa, but they haven't run the ball all that well even against the poorer teams in the country. So the offense has something to build on, and will have to get better to beat great teams. The defense is nails, but everyone knew that already.
Texas 27, North Texas 0
83,000+ fans at Memorial Stadium probably expected more from Texas than they got. The much vaunted Cedric Benson led an anemic rushing attack by averaging a little over 2 yards per carry. Overall, UT ran the ball 35 times for 28 yards. The much vaunted Chris Simms averaged only 5.2 yards per pass. And the Horns were penalized for 100 yards. About the best that can be said is they beat a team they were supposed to beat, unlike ...
Colorado State 19, Colorado 14
Gary Barnett has been the coach at Colorado for four years. Colorado has lost its last four openers. They should not have lost this one, but Barnett seems good to give up at least one each year that he should win.
Nebraska 31, Troy State 16
This should have been an easy game, but really wasn't. Nebraska led the game 14-10 at one point, before pulling away slightly. Troy State wound up with more total yards, and a better rushing average. If not for Nebraska's stellar special teams play, this one would have been much closer. Not much sleep for Frank Solich this week.
Kansas State 48, Western Kentucky 3
Bill Snyder is often criticized for his weak scheduling. But while some teams sputter a bit in these sorts of games (Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma this week), Snyder's Wildcats almost always destroy the teams they are supposed to destroy, which was the case this week.
Iowa State 45, Kansas 3
After an impressive showing in a loss to Florida State last week, Iowa State bounced back and demolished Kansas. Was Iowa State really playing a Big 12 team, or a scout team? Forget Chris Simms and Kliff Kingsbury; Seneca Wallace is the most exciting quarterback in the conference. And Mark Mangino is probably wondering why he left a great assistant coaching position at Oklahoma to be head coach at a place that only knows one Roy Williams (not the one playing for the Dallas Cowboys).
Missouri 33, Illinois 20
This was a somewhat surprising win for Missouri, which looks to be improved. But they have plenty of room for improvement after the last few years. And of their eight conference games, they probably will only be favored to win one of them: they play Kansas in Columbia. Better make that the homecoming matchup.
Texas A&M 31, Louisiana-Lafayette 7
Texas A&M only led 3-0 at halftime before putting this one away. Quarterback Mark Farris had a terrible game, going 13 for 32. Aggie fans are clamoring for him to be replaced by a freshman. In reality, it doesn't matter who is quarterback of this team. R.C. Slocum changes his offensive staff almost annually, and meddles. That is the problem. No single player is going to make much of a difference. But Slocum will have a good defense.
Louisiana Tech 39, Oklahoma State 36
After OSU's stunning victory over Oklahoma last year, Les Miles looked like he had the Cowboys pointed in the right direction, and talked the entire offseason about building on the victory. Then he went and lost to Louisiana Tech right off the bat. And did it with style, blowing an 18 point lead in a quarter. Ouch.
California 70, Baylor 22
Former Texas Governor Ann Richards insisted that Baylor be included in what became the Big 12 conference, and all fans of the decent teams in the Big 12 should be thankful, regardless of political affiliation. Unlike the NFL, college football conferences don't have a bye week -- but every team in the Big 12 South effectively does each season against Baylor. I don't have anything to say about this terrible game. But how long can Kevin Steele keep plugging away at this?
[Posted at 17:41 CST on 09/03/02] [Link]
