Big 12 Road Trip: Week 3

Week 3 of the season is in the books, still mostly working through the non-conference games in preparation for Big 12 games to get started.  Another week of shaking my head when looking at scores across the conference.  Three teams in the conference had a chance to step up and add to the Big 12 resume over the weekend.  Three teams in the conference failed to step up and add to the Big 12 resume.

Texas Tech 20 TCU 10

In the only conference game of the week, the Red Raiders knocked off TCU Thursday night.  Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to see anything other than highlights of this game.  Tech jumped out to an early 10-0 lead in the first quarter.  TCU found a way to tie the game up at 10 early in the 4th quarter before Tech scored their second touchdown of the night and followed it with a field goal to put the finishing touches on the win.  Tech gained 336 yards on the night with only 43 of those coming on the ground.  TCU gained 207 on the ground and another 194 through the air but had a costly interception late in the 3rd quarter after driving 56 yards against the Tech defense.

From HawkeyedFrog at Frogs O' War:

There will be positives to take out of this game (The defense played amazingly for three quarters, running the ball is effective) but they are few and far between.  TCU should have never been in a position to let the referees decide the game, and as a result we're 1-2 and 0-1 in the Big 12.  Things are going to need to change, or this season will end with nothing more than the same disappointing bunch of "what ifs" that last season did.

And the other side from Viva the Matadors:

That was the toughest game that I think this team has played in ages. Ages. It was glorious on one hand and brutal on the other, but any time that you can get a 10 point win with everything that happened, I'll take it every day. That danged defense played as tough a game as I can remember, faulting with just a touchdown just once. And when you walk into work and you're whistling because your happy, don't let any one tarnish a Big 12 win. Yeah, the offense wasn't great, but I've been telling you all summer that TCU has a danged good defense, should be one of the best two by the end of the year.

Iowa 27 Iowa State 21

Don't let the score fool you, this game was not as close as it appears.  Through the first half on Saturday, Iowa State had gained a total of 48 yards.  In 30 minutes of football, the Cyclones gained 48 yards.  The first six drives went punt, punt, punt, punt, turnover on downs, and interception.  This is a team we can beat.

From Wide Right and Natty Lite:

Oh, and despite getting absolutely worked over, we only lost by one touchdown because we abused Iowa's prevent defense to cover the spread. Past that, this season is going to be a tire fire. We were just dominated by a not-particularly-great Iowa squad. **** everything. Burn it down.

Ole Miss 44 Texas 23

Texas led at halftime, 23-17.  In the 3rd quarter, Texas had four possessions.  Texas also punted four times in the 3rd and found themselves trailing 37-23 by the start of the 4th quarter.  At this point, it's better to let the UT fans do the talking.

We'll start at Burnt Orange Nation:

It just seems pointless -- keystrokes with no meaning. The only thing that matters is the expedition of Mack Brown's removal as the head coach at Texas.

In the sense that yet another home loss furthers that end, there's a cynically numb side that sees this game as nothing but a success.

Texas fan in the postgame thread:

Do we have what it takes to beat Kansas?

I’m seriously wondering.

Seeing Ole Miss put up 449 yards with 272 of it on the ground, I'm starting to dream about this one. The feelings at Barking Carnival aren't much better:

If anyone, anywhere, has been harboring any notions that Mack willl 'get this fixed', it's long past time to let them go.  The good news is that change is assured at this point, and that in roughly three more months the pride and winning tradition of the Texas Longhorns will no longer be entrusted to the weak and the timid.

Oklahoma State 59 Lamar 3

I'm with Cowboys Ride for Free on this game, these games are getting old.  Of course, if it were my team performing like this I would be dancing in the street.

Sorry folks, not gonna bother with lots of analysis of a game that didn't teach us much, but did give us an ESPN top 10 moment.

Oklahoma 51 Tulsa 20

Another game that I wasn't expecting much out of this week but the Sooners did end up providing something of interest. From Crimson and Cream:

The story of the day is Blake Bell who went 27/37 for 413 yards and 4 touchdowns. In all the Sooners racked up 607 yards of offense.

Yes, it's only Tulsa but  413 yards and 4 touchdowns is still impressive, especially for a guy that Stoops wouldn't let pass before Saturday.  If Bell is going to give the Sooners a passing threat, they just became scary.

K-State 37 UMass 7

The Wildcats did what they do.  They didn't look real impressive.  They had some big plays.  The defense bent a little more than they would like.  They won by 30 points.  QB Jake Waters wasn't particularly good through the air, opening the door for the more athletic Daniel Sams to continue to increase his playing time and gain even more support from a segment of fans that believe Sams is the guy to take K-State to their max potential.

From the postgame report at Bring on the Cats:

One of the bigger surprises of the day was the long rumored Jake Waters run game finally making an appearance. Waters finished the day with 74 yards on nine carries for a team-leading 8.2 yards per rush. His passing numbers were less than stellar though, going five for ten with for 115 yards and the two scores. He threw another bad interception on K-State's second offensive drive that the Minutemen quickly turned into points. It's his fifth interception in three games.

West Virginia 41 Georgia State 7

I don't really care about this one.  So here's The Smoking Musket:

After a slow start that saw WVU head into the halftime locker room up only 17-0 and saw GSU score a 3rd quarter TD that cut it to 17-7, the Mountaineers finally wore down the Panthers, scoring the final 24 points of the game. While the performance certainly didn't have the feel of a high-powered offensive showing, it looked plenty good on paper. WVU totaled 604 yards with 245 on the ground and 359 through the air.