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Figured today would be a good time to go around and check out the thoughts from our conference pals and their reactions to the games this past weekend. I'm ready to watch some Jayhawk football but in hindsight I don't mind not playing last Saturday. Had all the time in the world to flip back and forth and watch whoever looked interesting. Unfortunately for the conference, interesting is not always a positive. One team was competitive with a ranked opponent, one team was competitive with a bad in 2012 FCS team, and two teams lost to FCS teams. And the popular joke from the weekend: All that and Kansas didn't even play.
North Dakota State 24 Kansas State 21
The guys at Bring on the Cats aren't thrilled with the coaching, defense, or offensive line after week 1. However, they will tell you North Dakota State is actually a BCS caliber team.
Even Alabama fans are expressing the opinion that K-State's got nothing to be ashamed of in losing this football game.
Um, why do I care what an Alabama fan thinks? Does linking the fan to Alabama automatically bring credibility to the discussion?
The post game analysis is worth a read:
With nine minutes and 80 yards to go, the North Dakota State Bison slowly and methodically tore the hearts out of the Kansas State players and every purple clad fan in the stands. It was Chinese water torture. Drip, drip, drip, they moved the ball down the field.
Northern Iowa 28 Iowa State 20
Iowa State gave up almost 7 yards per rush and over 220 yards on the ground. We like seeing that when looking for conference wins. The feeling summed up by a fan at Wide Right Natty Lite:
Ive gone from being giddy for college football to over it in a span of hours! ISU did this to me!
Shenanigans been had as well. A female trying to get on the field.
Goudie was stopped for trying to enter the field. Goudie was unsteady on her feet. Goudie blew .341 PBT.
Of course this being 2013, her twitter response:
Just went to jail #yolo
West Virginia 24 William and Mary 17
The Smoking Musket says a win is a win. From the parts of this game I watched, I would describe it as a pillow fight. Neither side could do enough offensively even though the defenses made it known they were doing very little to get in the way. When the game MVP is given to the punter, you know it wasn't pretty. For us, add another game in the "Winnable" column.
Oklahoma 34 La Monroe 0
Lets go ahead and start sliding OU out of the winnable column, not that they were ever there in the first place. Trevor Knight looked a little shaky at times but it was his first start. The defense looked legit, especially for a team that supposedly had a defense that was falling apart in August. Crimson and Cream discussing the unit:
The defense gave up 38 total rushing yards, swallowing up ball carriers near the line of scrimmage. As the oracle (aka Bob Stoops) promised, the attention and emphasis on stopping the run has been renewed...or so it seems.
Texas 56 New Mexico State 7
New Mexico State is bad, we know that. However, putting up 56 in about 2 1/2 quarters and over 700 yards of offense in the game is impressive. Barking Carnival has this one covered if you're curious:
Suddenly, the offense was in sync, our players found tempo and confidence, and the Longhorns compiled 56 unanswered points in three quarters while amassing a school record 715 yards on only 72 plays. Welcome to the hurry-up, no huddle spread. Holy shit.
Oklahoma State 21 Mississippi State 3
If you're a person that cheers for the conference, you should be very happy about this win. It was not what we've come to expect out of the Gundy Cowboys but it was a victory over a decent SEC team. Cowboys Ride for Free sums it up pretty well:
The defensive front seven physically dominated the running game, and kept fairly consistent pressure on the opposing QB. As the game wore on, the offense's continued battering wore down the opponent's defense. A solid, predictable start to the 2013 campaign...if you are a traditional, smash mouth SEC or Big 10 program.
So yeah, Okie State will be pretty solid this year. Perhaps different than expected though.
Texas Tech 41 SMU 23
Sounds like a perfect week according to Seth C at the Tech SB Nation site:
Expectations are a funny thing. It's strange how there are so many different ideas about what to expect. That game was just about what I expected from this team given the entirety of the circumstances, and in some ways, exceeded expectations and in other ways there are definitely some areas to improve upon.
LSU 37 TCU 27
In the marquee game for the Big 12, TCU looked very respectable but couldn't get the win. Unfortunately, respectable isn't going to win many conference championships.
Oh well. Kansas, K-State, Iowa State, and maybe Texas Tech better be shaking in their boots when the Frogs come calling. But after that performance the rest of the Big 12 sure ain't.