The last conference we will review before the second Saturday of the college football season is the Big-12, who went undefeated last week. TCU was the only member of the now 10 team conference that didn’t get a victory, and that was because they didn’t have a game to play. Let’s take a look at the conference’s success.
The score that jumps off the page is the one put up by #18 Oklahoma State, who registered a video game like 84-0 victory over Savannah State. The Cowboys were first in line behind LSU and Alabama last year, and just missed out on a national championship shot. Based on this performance, it looks like OK State won’t be missing a beat this year.
There were a handful of blowout victories in addition to that thumping. Baylor scorched SMU 59-24, #21 Kansas State mangled Missouri State 51-9, Texas Tech nailed Northwestern State 44-6, #9 West Virginia throttled the Thundering Herd of Marshall, and #17 Texas waxed Wyoming 37-17.
Iowa State and Kansas both registered pedestrian two possession wins over subpar programs, so there’s not much we learned from that.
Lastly, there was without question the most confusing result of the weekend, which was #5 Oklahoma struggling against lowly UTEP. The 24-7 final score was deceiving, as this was a 10-7 ballgame heading into the 4th quarter. There are two ways to look at this if you are a Sooner fan. You can focus on the offense, who didn’t get anything done until the final 15 minutes against a UTEP defense that figures to pale in comparison to most Big-12 D’s. Or you could look at the defense, which was dominant, as UTEP’s only score came off a blocked up. Either way, this wasn’t the start Bob Stoops had envisioned for his team.
It’s still early in the season, so most teams are getting their easy non-conference games out of the way. However, there are a few notable matchups against other power conference schools. Kansas State will play host to the ACC’s Miami FL, who registered a 41-32 win over Boston College last week. Iowa State will continue their in-state rivalry with Iowa, and lastly, Oklahoma State will bring their high powered offense to the Pac-12, as they travel to Arizona.
What did you think of the first week of the Big-12? Will Oklahoma continue to struggle offensively? Can Oklahoma State keep up their ridiculous offensive production? Let us know what you think in the comments!
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