Big 12 Conference Football Recap Week 8

Kansas State and Iowa State Alone Atop the North Division

Oct 26, 2009

Up is down and down is up in the Big 12's weakest division, where Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri are off to very slow starts. Also Texas continues to roll.

Welcome to bizarro world in the Big 12, where the bottom-feeders rise to the top and the contenders have all flopped after four weeks of league play.

This is the conference where conventional wisdom can take a hike, particularly in the ever-fetid North Division. The three supposed front-runners - Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri - have put together a string of bad football comparable to Foghorn Leghorn narrating “The Son of Football Follies” for NFL Films.

Meanwhile, Kansas State thrives in the role of afterthought, and proverbial punchline Iowa State is a blocked extra point and an overthrown touchdown pass away from a 4-0 start. Only one team in the entire league strikes fear, and the strength that the Big 12 showed in recent years has not sustained itself.

Big Winners: Texas and Kansas State

Oklahoma 35, Kansas 13: In a game that some Kansas fans somehow predetermined was a victory after the Colorado loss because of Sam Bradford’s injury, the Jayhawks hardly stirred. Todd Reesing is repeatedly overdoing and over-improvising every broken play, losing tons of yardage by scurrying around the backfield when a simple throwaway would suffice. His barrage of turnovers have largely contributed to a two-game losing streak.

The Sooners, playing obviously without Bradford and Jermaine Gresham but also DeMarco Murray, showed no ill effects against a KU defense-in-name-only that looks more like defenses from the Terry Allen-Mark Mangino transition phase.

Texas 41, Missouri 7: Although against top-notch competition, Kansas‘ archrival actually played worse. The game was over after the homecoming band’s pre-game performance. The Longhorns marched to a 21-0 lead and didn’t require much effort from there as the Texas pass rush pummeled an already-gimpy Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert. Gabbert’s bum ankle has rendered him immobile and inaccurate, and it may be time for coach Gary Pinkel to go with backup Jimmy Costello in Boulder on Saturday. The Tigers’ schedule eases a bit, but nobody should mark all five of the remaining games as wins.

Kansas State 20, Colorado 6: Look who’s back in first place in the American League Central of college football, the Big 12 North. Kansas State, which lost to Louisiana-Lafayette and barely squeaked by UMass, is living large with a 3-1 conference start beyond the wildest imaginings of Catbackers. The victory also brought out the grouchy side of Bill Snyder, who lit into his team in the post-game press conference, citing a lack of progress.

As for Colorado, KU will rue the day it lost to this team. After quarterback Tyler Hansen torched the Jayhawks, it was tough sledding in Manhattan, so coach Dan Hawkins couldn’t leave well enough alone and summoned his son, Cody, to take over again. That turned out well.

Big Losers: Nebraska and Texas Tech

Iowa State 9, Nebraska 7: A landmark loss in Lincoln for the Cornhuskers. In the post-Tom Osborne/Frank Solich era, home losses have been more commonplace for Nebraska, but this one might beat them all. Eight turnovers - more than the Huskers’ point total - doomed them, and for the entire game, Iowa State seemed willing to let Nebraska win in spite of the miscues.

And some of these turnovers weren’t because of mere bad luck. Receiver Niles Paul raced down the sideline for a sure touchdown, and as if he realized the ball was contaminated with H1N1, proceeded to let it drop in the end zone for a Cyclone to recover. On the flip side, Paul Rhoads has Iowa State competing and battling every week, and an ISU win at Memorial Stadium for the first time since 1977 is a sweet reward.

Texas A&M 52, Texas Tech 30: How to figure Texas A&M? After a 62-14 drubbing at Kansas State which left many wondering about the direction coach Mike Sherman is taking the team, all the Aggies do is stroll into Lubbock and hang half-a-hundred on a Texas Tech defense that stifled Nebraska. (Or is Nebraska’s offense just that bad?) This result speaks to the unpredictability, and perhaps the raging mediocrity, of the Big 12. Texas A&M beats Texas Tech by 22. Texas Tech beats Kansas State by 52. Kansas State beats Texas A&M by 48. It all makes perfect sense.

Oklahoma State 34, Baylor 7: Even if a devastating injury hadn’t wiped out Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin’s year, blowouts like the one OSU administered would still happen. The short-handed Pokes weren’t perfect but did more than enough to dispatch Baylor, who takes on Nebraska next. In running back Kendall Hunter’s absence, Keith Toston has ably stepped in for Oklahoma State, particularly with his 109 yards on 15 carries Saturday.

Up Next: Longhorns and Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium

Next week, it’s Missouri at Colorado, Kansas State at Oklahoma, Kansas at Texas Tech, Iowa State at Texas A&M and Nebraska at Baylor. The marquee game is in Stillwater, where Oklahoma State hosts Texas. Pundits have been quick to say that Texas historically has trouble at Oklahoma State, but the simple fact is that Texas last lost there in 1997, John Mackovic’s final season as head coach, 42-16. On paper, Texas should cruise. But in the madcap world of the Big 12, nothing is assured.

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