Big 12 Whiparound: Week 12

#10 Baylor 45, @ #6 Oklahoma State 35

In the most anticipated game in the Big 12 this weekend, Baylor took a 10-point lead into halftime and held off the Cowboys the rest of the way.

The defense really stepped up for Baylor, and Our Daily Bears noticed:

... the Bears defense turned in easily its best performance of the year, holding the Cowboys to just 440 yards on 73 plays.  The big stat there is that just 10 of OSU's yards came on the ground due to the fact that Andrew Billings and the Baylor DL absolutely dominated the line of scrimmage for four full quarters.

Speaking of kicking ass, the defense managed to rack up 6 sacks yesterday against Mason Rudolph.  That's a full quarter of our season sack total to date, and it was a big part of Baylor forcing 7 consecutive OSU punts in one stretch of the game while we built our lead.

After the disappointment of last week, this game was absolutely incredible to watch from start to finish.  We've said for years that the Art Briles Era is all about making history, and the Bears were able to do that tonight with their first win in Stillwater since FDR's second term.  We won't know yet what this means, if anything, for the Big 12 Championship or the College Football Playoff aside from that we're still alive for both.

CRFF has been talking all year about how bad their running game was, and tonight it finally caught up to Oklahoma State.  Consider the rushing offense totals: Baylor 304, Oklahoma State 8.  The narrative at CRFF hasn't changed; it's like they saw it coming:

The Cowboys have been living dangerously, and it finally caught up with them. On a night when Rudolph threw for 400+ with no interceptions, and OSU won the turnover battle 3-0, our boys were off from the beginning, and it felt like it was just a matter of time.

In the end, however, it was the inability of the offense to take advantage when chances were presented, and that inability starts with the offensive line. The run game was even more non-existent than in previous outings, and Rudolph was regularly harassed and hit, even when Baylor only rushed three.

#18 TCU 29, @ #7 Oklahoma 30

Baker Mayfield was forced to leave the game at halftime after a helmet-to-helmet hit, and Trevor Knight played the entire second half for OU.  The Sooners still had a 30-13 lead on TCU late in the third quarter, but the Frogs fought all the way back, scoring a touchdown with 51 seconds left in the game.  Gary Patterson elected to go for two, however, but the pass was batted away and the Sooners survived.

Frogs O War, while disappointed with the loss, is still proud of their team showing some fight, and is OK with going for two to try and win the game at the end.

The secondary gave up a few big passes to Sterling Shepard, but for most of the night they played really well. Sure, Baker Mayfield left at halftime with a potential concussion, but even he didn't have much success throwing the ball.

TCU's defense stepped up in the biggest of ways in the fourth quarter, though, forcing Oklahoma to punt several times, allowing TCU to climb back into the game. Oklahoma punted nine times on the night, and it was almost enough.

West Virginia, Boise State, and now Oklahoma. Gary Patterson has always said he'd rather go for the win on the road than play for overtime, and he stayed true to his word tonight. It didn't work out, but we shouldn't be mad about it.

I understand the momentum argument, but against Oklahoma in Norman, you don't take the OT chance.

Crimson and Cream Machine, meanwhile...

He (Baker Mayfield) is the absolutely heart and soul of this team. The targeting penalty on TCU did more than end Mayfield's night, it put the entire Sooners team into a funk they nearly almost didn't get out of. His health next week will be be a huge storyline.

The Sooners survived today. They need to get healthy for next week and come ready to compete against the Pokes in Stillwater.

West Virginia 49, @ Kansas 0

West Virginia had three players rush for over 100 yards apiece as they dismantled the Jayhawks in the first half, then cruised to an easy W.  It was ho-hum over at Smoking Musket:

West Virginia had not had 3 players rush for 100+ yards each since 1969 against Cincinnati. West Virginia also practiced on their passing game sporadically throughout the game.

West Virginia's defense was also stellar, completely shutting down anything the Jayhawks tried to do.

The Mountaineers are now 3rd in the FBS with 19 total interceptions on the season.

Just when you think it can't get any worse, well, somehow it does, and we at RCT are now fully cognizant of how far the Jayhawks have fallen since the Orange Bowl:

The rebuilding job for David Beaty and his staff has been described as "Herculean" or "Monumental" among other adjectives, and all of them combined may not be enough to adequately describe it.  Kansas came out absolutely unprepared today, and yes, part of that is on the coaching staff.  However, it's also apparent that they don't have the horses to compete week in and week out in Division 1 football, let alone in the Big 12.

Fear not, KU fans, the season will be over soon:

The 2015 season will mercifully end next weekend, Nov 28, after what is sure to be another beatdown at the hands of Grandpa and the Spacedicks.

Iowa State 35, @ Kansas State 38

Iowa State took a 35-14 lead into halftime after dominating K-State for most of the first half before going stagnant in the second half.  Despite this, the Cyclones still had the ball and a 7-point LEAD with 1:31 left on the clock in the fourth quarter.  Take three knees, win the game, right?  WRONG.

Iowa State managed to lose the game IN REGULATION, a loss that rests squarely on the shoulders of Paul Rhoads.  WRNL called for Rhoads' head after the game (rightly, if you ask me), a request which was granted Sunday morning:

Paul Rhoads deserved to be fired regardless and Saturday's loss is not the reason he should be let go, but is yet another example of why he simply can't lead the Cyclone program going forward.

Coaching blunders aside, Rhoads has been afforded every opportunity to succeed in Ames. He has been gifted unparalleled, unprecedented and undeserved patience. He has presided over a program that has seen close to $100 million pumped into facilities during his tenure. He has been blessed with a fan base that continues to jam into Jack Trice Stadium week after week, despite miserable results on the field.

As for the game:

It's hard to say at this point how much of this was vintage Cyclone piss-it-down-your-leg second half ineptitude, and how much was the last act of the goddamn purple wizard roaming the sidelines in Manhattan. Maybe it doesn't really matter, when you watch the football gods wind up halfway through the 4th quarter, knowing their foot will soon be connecting with your testicles. Either way, this one hurts in a uniquely Cyclone way; a way that few other fan bases will ever know.

Bring on the Cats knows they got lucky yesterday, but they're still mad about stuff:

It was a crazy, crazy game, and a win feels pretty good after two months of agony. But there are still issues. And there's still a great deal to be angry about.

We're not really that angry, so please set aside any complaints. The "five things we're angry about" was written midway through the fourth quarter, before the comeback became real... but let's be honest, Wildcat fans. That K-State came back to win is great, but it doesn't invalidate anything that happened in the first half, and as a result we've opted to go ahead and run with it. This team still has issues, and unless they show up to play 60 minutes the next two weeks we're all going to be making holiday plans that don't involve Wildcat football.