Around the Big 12 - Week 8

#10 Oklahoma State needs OT to win at Texas, 13-10

This game was easily the most surprising in the Big 12 this week. Most predicted big scores from both teams, evidenced by the total over/under for points being set at 65. Instead, the fans in Austin were witness to a defensive struggle that saw only two combined touchdowns the entire game. The Longhorns have relied on their defense all season, so it comes as no surprise that they did so again for this matchup. But, it was Mike Gundy’s defense that came up with the biggest stop of the day in overtime, intercepting a pass attempt to the end zone from Sam Ehlinger that left many scratching their heads.

#9 Oklahoma uses second half to rally at Kansas State, 42-35

The Sooners somehow both stuck to the same script and flipped it in the same game. Oklahoma has been plagued by an inability to finish their last 3 matchups after getting off to hot starts. Perhaps a weather delay in Manhattan was a factor, but Kansas State came out with an extremely effective run game to the tune of a 21-10 halftime lead.

But, in the second half, Baker Mayfield did Baker Mayfield things. He ran for 2 touchdowns and threw for another in that half. Kanas State didn’t just completely lay down in the second half. Sophmore Alex Delton threw his first touchdown pass of his career and ran for his third rushing touchdown of the day in the fourth quarter, tying the game on both occasions. The Wildcat defense was simply outmatched after halftime, and a Rodney Anderson touchdown run with only 7 seconds left in the game sealed the Oklahoma victory.

#23 West Virginia escapes at Baylor, 38-36

Baylor somehow made this a game. Will Grier threw an impressive 5 touchdown passes through the first 3 quarters, but the real story of the game begins at the start of the 4^th quarter. West Virginia is ahead 38-13. Perhaps inspired by Texas Tech’s meltdown last week, the Mountaineers had to hold on for dear life to escape Waco with a win. Baylor put in freshman quarterback Charlie Brewer, and he took full advantage of the opportunity. He hooked up with another freshman Trestan Ebner twice in the quarter. Throw in another 40 yard touchdown run from Ebner and a field goal, and you’re left with West Virginia having to come up with a sack on a two point conversion and a recovery of an onside kick in order to squeak out the win.

#4 TCU dominant at home against Kansas, 43-0

Kansas was blanked for the second straight week as the Horned Frogs rolled the Jayhawks easily at home. Kenny Hill harkened back to his Kenny Trill days as he threw for 5 touchdown passes on the day. KaVontae Turpin showed out with this ridiculous 90 yard punt return.

Despite the offensive fireworks, the real story was TCU’s defense dominating Kansas, leading to some historically bad offensive numbers. TCU only yielded 21 total yards. I’ll give you a minute to read that sentence again….That total is the lowest in Big 12 history and is the lowest in all of FBS history in the last 20 years.