Quick thoughts and takes on every Week 9 Big 12 game.
Kansas State 48, Oklahoma 41
Kansas State lined up and blasted away. That’s the argument against the Oklahoma defense – who can get physical against it? The Wildcats ran or 213 yards and six touchdowns, Skylar Thompson threw for 213 yards and ran for four scores, and they did what they’re supposed to do? Kansas State went Kansas State … over 38 minutes with the ball, +2 in turnover margin, won third downs, won the penalty battle. That’s how this program wins, even against Oklahoma.
Jalen Hurts was still brilliant. Kansas State shut down the Oklahoma running backs – the non-Hurts Sooners ran for seven yards. Hurts ran 19 times for 96 yards and three scores, hit 19-of-26 passes for 395 yards and a score and no picks, and he would’ve made it very, vey, very interesting had the final onside kick not been flipped the other way after the illegal touching call.
It’s not the end of the College Football Playoff dream for Oklahoma, but now the matter might be out of its hands. Oregon is really good – its one loss was in the final seconds of the opener against Oregon. Utah is really good – it’s one loss was at USC, but it’s ripping up everyone. Another SEC team is more in play now, and …
Just go 12-1, Oklahoma, with a Big 12 championship, and everything should be fine. The Sooners have Iowa State, at Baylor, TCU and at Oklahoma State to close. It’s not going to be easy.
Is Kansas State really good enough to get into the Big 12 Championship picture? It has losses to Oklahoma State and Baylor, but if it wins out – at Kansas, at Texas, West Virginia, at Texas Tech, Iowa State, it can be close. That’s asking for way too much.
TCU 37, Texas 27
Big 12, get used to the Max Duggan experience. The TCU freshman quarterback just outplayed Sam Ehlinger as he helped pull off a special win by making big play after big play to keep pushing the Longhorns. He hit 19-of-27 passes for 273 yards and two scores with a. pick, ran for a team-high 72 yards and a touchdown, and he kept everything moving.
Ehlinger? He threw for 321 yards and two scores, but he gave up four picks to kill several big chances to take over. Collin Johnson caught 101 yards worth of passes, Devin Duvernay caught eight passes for 173 yards and a touchdown, and it all got blown off because the TCU defense kept coming up with stops. The D didn’t get a whole lot of pressure on Ehlinger, but it got off the field and kept giving the ball back to Duggan.
TCU can breathe a wee bit easier now in the bowl hunt. It’s still only 4-3, and it has three road games in the next four – around a home date against Baylor – before closing out against West Virginia. A loss would’ve been devastating for the shot at getting to six wins.
Texas will go bowling – Kansas State, at Iowa State, at Baylor and Texas Tech to go – but now it doesn’t control its destiny to get to the Big 12 Championship. This is a killer, though, to hopes of going to a New Year’s Six bowl.
NEXT: Oklahoma State 34, Iowa State 27; Kansas 37, Texas Tech 34
Oklahoma State 34, Iowa State 27
Wait … Oklahoma State came up with a little bit of D? Sort of. The Cowboys allowed 468 yards and were bombed on by Brock Purdy, but they forced three takeaways including a pick six from Malcolm Rodriguez late in the fourth. Iowa State had one more shot, and … another interception to seal the win. And that’s what the OSU D has to do – just hold serve once in a while so the defense can do its thing.
Spencer Sanders had an effective 16-of-24 day for 249 yards and two scores with a pick, Chuba Hubbard did his part with 116 yards and a score – even though he was bottled up for most of the game, and there was this from Tylan Wallace to make a massive statement on the road.
Purdy had the three picks – two late – but he also threw 62 times and got the team back in the game. Breece Hall ran for two scores and caught six passes for 42 yards, but the game was Purdy’s to take over. The Cyclone defense didn’t do anything to generate any pressure behind the line – Sanders wasn’t bothered enough.
Iowa State will get another win to get to six and go bowling, but it’s still hoping for more. The Big 12 Championship isn’t out of the picture, but with a trip to Oklahoma up next, followed up by Texas, there’s a problem. Oklahoma State just got its fifth win, and with three games at home in the final four – and TCU and Kansas up next – now a bowl went from questionable to probable.
Kansas 37, Texas Tech 34
Kansas couldn’t pull off the win against Texas last week in crunch time, but it got the job done in the final moments against Texas Tech with a 32-yard walk-off field goal in a blast of a battle. It was tied late, and there was this …
Which led to this …
Carter Stanley threw for 415 yards and three scores, Texas Tech had shocking offensive balance, and this turned into what makes the Big 12 so much fun. These two kept trading punches.
Jeff Duffey threw for 271 yards and three scores and ran for 40 yards, but the Texas Tech D couldn’t hold up in the fourth quarter. Credit Stanley for making the big plays late, Andrew Parchment caught a 70-yard touchdown pass, and Stephon Robinson caught six passes for 186 yards and two scores for the game. The Red Raider O was good, but the Kansas O was stronger when it had to be.
And that’s that for any realistic bowl hopes for Texas Tech. It has to win three of its last four games with at West Virginia, TCU, Kansas State, and at Texas to go. Can Kansas go bowling? It’s not going to win three of its last four against Kansas State, at Oklahoma State, at Iowa State and Baylor, but it’ll be a fly in the Big 12 ointment.
