Around the Big 12 - Week 9

#22 West Virginia runs out of mountaineer magic, falls at home to #11 Oklahoma State, 50-39

For a few hours on Saturday, Morgantown transformed into Turnovertown. The two teams combined for a total of 9 turnovers. The difference in the game was that the Cowboys were able to capitalize for 28 points off those turnovers, while the Mountaineers only managed 7 points off turnovers. Momentum also played a huge role in this game, Oklahoma State jumped out to a 30-10 lead by the middle of the third quarter. A blocked punt recovered for a touchdown followed by a pick six saw West Virginia mount yet another comeback. However, Oklahoma State settled down and scored touchdowns on their final 4 possessions en route to an impressive road victory.

Texas defense dominates Baylor in Waco, 38-7

The Longhorns set the defensive tone early, returning an interception for a touchdown on just the third play of the game. After that, the Bears only managed to total 249 yards and turned the ball over two more times. Texas attacked the Baylor defense with a balanced offensive attack. Shane Buechele threw the ball 34 times for 256 yards and the backfield combined for 171 yards on 35 rushes.

Kansas States earns 9^th straight Governor’s Cup over Kansas, 30-20

Doug Meacham’s offense finally found the end zone for the first time in 12 quarters and was the statistically better offense. They out gained the Wildcats, had more first downs, converted more third downs, and did so with a better conversion percentage. However, Kansas State won the turnover battle and also got big contributions from the kick return game in the form of D.J. Reed. In the end, Bill Snyder’s team found a way to get the win despite suffering yet another injury at the quarterback position, forcing third-stringer Skylar Thompson into action.

#25 Iowa State continues meteoric rise with upset over #4 TCU, 14-7

In the premier Big 12 matchup of the week, the Cyclones defense once again shut down a high flying offense. TCU was forced into 3 turnovers, including two back-breaking turnovers inside the Cyclones ten yard line. In fact, the only points scored by the Horned Frogs came on a 94 yard kickoff-return by KaVonte Turpin. For the Cyclones part, their offense wasn’t exactly lighting it up either. They were held to just 255 total yards on the day, but made plays when it counted. Iowa State made only three trips to the red zone, but converted 2 of them into Kyle Kempt touchdown passes. The victory marks the second for the Cyclones over a top-5 ranked team in just four weeks and lands them in the surprising spot of tied for first place in the conference.