Big 12 Roundup & Power Rankings: A Very Bad Week in Big 12 is Good for Mountaineers

#21 Baylor 38 (3-0,0-0) Rice 10

Watching Baylor in 2016 depends on how you view your “glass”. If you are a glass half full person, you think, well once Baylor is able to figure out the other team they have piled on the points. If you are a glass half empty person, you think Baylor has struggled to start every game. This game wasn’t much different as Baylor was tied 0-0 at the end of the first quarter and Rice ran the ball well against the Bears. The Baylor offense seemed to find itself and look “normal” finally reaching 600 yards and Seth Russel broke 300 yards passing. Shock Linwood became the leading rusher in Baylor history ending the game with 3,675 yards.

Week 4: vs Oklahoma State

TCU 41(2-1, 1-0), Iowa State 20 (0-3,0-0)

The Horned Frogs jumped out to a 24-7 halftime lead and rolled to the first Big 12 win of the year. Thanks to playing the Cyclones, TCU vaults to first place in the Big 12. Iowa State looked unable to generate offense in the game until the decision was well in hand. Mike Warren did accumulate 95 yards on 23 carries for the Cyclones. Iowa State also employed a two-quarterback strategy, rotating both Joel Lanning and Jacob Park every two series. For the Horned Frogs, Kevonte Turpin suffered what appears to be a possible season-ending leg injury.

Week 4: TCU @ SMU; Iowa State vs San Jose State

Memphis 43, Kansas 7 (1-2, 0-0)

The score doesn’t indicate it but the Jayhawks actually played valiantly in this disaster of a game. Kansas held Memphis to 3/14 on third downs and yielded four field goals. Kansas even got a defensive stop when Memphis missed a field goal attempt in the first quarter. However, starting quarterback Montell Cozart dropped the ball on an option play and threw a bad intercept near the end of the half. Kansas had 4 turnovers in the first half and added 2 more in the second half.

Week 4: Bye

Kansas State 63 (1-1, 0-0), Florida Atlantic 7

For Bill Snyder and the Kansas State faithful, this game had an old familiar feeling about it. The Wildcats showed up ready to play and the defense was opportunistic. In the first 16 minutes of play, the Wildcats scored 4 touchdowns thanks to an interception and kickoff fumble recovery. Kansas State gained nearly 500 yards of offense, including over 300 on the ground. The ground game helped hide the fact that Jesse Ertz is still very much a work in progress as a passer.

Week 4: vs Missouri State

Texas Tech 59 (2-1, 0-0) Louisiana Tech 45

Since the college football playoffs have become the new way of life, two trends have emerged in the Big 12: Baylor is hoping to cruise through non-con play and Texas Tech is hoping to outscore everyone. It worked on Saturday as Patrick Mahomes continues his assault on the single season passing record. With another 470 yards, Mahomes has 1,497 yards through three weeks and is on pace to shatter the single season record set by Texas Tech’s BJ Symmons in 2003. Until Texas Tech can fix their defense, Pat Mahomes is going to be the only thing worth watching in Lubbock.

Week 4: Bye

Oklahoma State 45 (2-1, 0-0) Pittsburgh 38

#ESP!! Mason Rudolph set an Oklahoma State single-game passing record with 540 yards against the Panthers, including 296 to James Washington. The game was a back and forth affair until a lightning strike near campus delayed the game for nearly 2 hours. The Cowboys still cannot run the ball well, averaging only 3.2 yards per carry on 32 carries while allowing the Panthers to gain nearly 300 yards on 54 carries. Cowboy fans should have their heads held high as they became just the second Big 12 team to beat a Power 5 team, Notre Dame not withstanding.

Week 4: @. Oklahoma State

#3 Ohio State 45, #14 Oklahoma 24 (1-2,0-0)

Well Oklahoma can just wave goodbye to their playoff hopes. Two losses in non-conference play is going to require the Sooners to run the table in the Big 12, something that hasn’t happened since the Big 12 moved to its current 10-team format. Ohio States JT Barret and Noah Brown shredded the Sooners defense. Joe Mixon got away with dropping the ball before crossing the goalline otherwise Oklahoma did not look like a playoff hopeful. Baker Mayfield only threw for 226 yards and does not look like the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.

Week 4: Bye

California 50, #11 Texas 43 (2-1, 0-0)

The officials in the 2016 season are just unable to get things right sometimes. Another player dropped the ball before crossing the goalline but because there was “no immediate continuing action” the officials blew the play dead. LOLWAT?! Texas’ inability to stop former Texas Tech quarterback Davis Webb. Webb threw for 396 yards and four touchdowns. For the Longhorns, freshman Shane Buechele looked pedestrian in throwing for 196 yards on 19 of 33 passing. The Longhorns racked up 307 yards rushing with both Devone Foreman and Chris Warren going over 100 yards.

Week 4: Bye

Power Rankings

1. Oklahoma State - #ESP
2. West Virginia - The bye week came on the right day for the Mountaineers who avoided any weird games that seem to plague the Big 12.
3. Baylor - they won by a convincing margin but still don’t look normal. But they are 3-0 so ....
4. TCU - Playing Iowa State made the TCU defense look better but there are still questions for Gary Patterson’s team this year.
5. Texas Tech - You wonder if Texas Tech would be better playing 7-on-7 instead of 11-on-11 football.
6. Kansas State - The Wildcats did what a typical Bill Snyder team does, slowly choke your entire reason for existence out.
7. Texas - They could easily be 1-2 or 3-0. Such is the Charlie Strong enigma.
8. Kansas - David Beatty has his work cut out for him and 6 turnovers don’t make it any easier.
9. Iowa State - Hey they scored 20 points!
10. Oklahoma - The preseason favorite and college football hopeful did not look the best team in the Big 12 and garner the bottom slot in this week’s ranking.