Big 12 Roundup and Power Rankings: TCU and the Field

#8 TCU 38, #17 Kansas State 28

The #8 TCU Horned Frogs simply have no quit. After falling behind by 18 points in the second quarter Saturday night, the TCU Defense shut out the #17 Kansas State Wildcats over the final 38 minutes of game time and the Max Duggan-led offense produced four unanswered touchdowns. It was the third straight week TCU has completed a 2nd Half comeback over a Top-20 team and 4th straight win over a ranked opponent.

Injuries — be they cramps or otherwise — devastated Kansas State on Saturday night, with seven starters leaving the game at one point or another. The result was the obliteration of a huge first-half lead for the Wildcats and an agonizing 38-28 loss to TCU at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth. Adrian Martinez left the game with a leg issue after the opening series, Daniel Green and Julius Brents missed the second half, Deuce Vaughn and Felix Anudike-Uzomah fought through nagging infirmities, and even Will Howard missed two series after coming on in relief.

#11 Oklahoma State 41, #20 Texas 34

Texas completely collapsed. Again. There was a point when the Horns held a somewhat commanding 31-17 lead, but from that point on, it was all Oklahoma State. The Cowboys finished on a 24-3 run, including a 17-3 stretch in the second half and 14-0 in the fourth quarter as the offense got put on a milk carton and the defense slowly started breaking again after a strong start to the second half.

Baylor 35, Kansas 23

Nothing like a homecoming win to make things feel a bit better and hopefully get our Bears back on track. This was a big win as KU isn’t your KU of yesteryear. They are well coached, have some talent, and on any given day can throw a loss on their opponent. Just last week they took undefeated TCU (yuck) to the wire before falling in overtime. Even though we let them back into the game the second half, we were in control from start to finish. Although it was the final was a comfortable 35-23 victory, we could have just as easily won 49-16.

Well, it didn’t turn out nearly as ugly as it looked like it would. Early on, it looked like Kansas was badly outmached by their opponents in Waco. The offense under Jason Bean simply looked incapable of getting anything done against Baylor while the defense continued their brutal stretch of recent play. The Bears never punted the entire first half, and if not for a pair of turnovers, they might have put this one away early. The Jayhawks got an early field goal but otherwise accomplished virtually nothing on the offensive side of the ball, and it looked more like a 2010s Kansas game with the Jayhawks down 28-3 at the half.

POWER RANKINGS

Reminder - power rankings are fluid and based off of numerous factors, one of which is how much I’ve drank before I put these together. Don’t take them too seriously.

1. TCU Horned Frogs (LW: 1) - They remain unbeaten and travel to Morgantown this week.
2. Oklahoma State Cowboys (LW: 2) - Tough gritty win against Texas.
3. Kansas State Wildcats (LW: 6) - I know they lost but they held a 28-17 lead at half.
4. Texas Longhorns (LW: 3) - If they could win games where they held a double digit lead, they’d be undefeated....
5. Texas Tech Red Raiders (LW: 7) - Looked like monsters against the hapless Mountaineers
6. Baylor Bears (LW: 9) - Home win against Kansas.
7. Kansas Jayhawks (LW: 5) - Slowly moving down the rankings but only need 1 more win to get bowl eligible
8. Oklahoma Sooners (LW: 4) - Bye week.
9. Iowa State Cyclones (LW: 10) - Bye week
10. West Virginia Mountaineers (LW: 8) - If I could put them lower, I would.