Game of the Week – Iowa State 21-28 #13 Oklahoma

The Big XII Week 12 Review starts as The Oklahoma Sooners took a step closer to the BIG XII championship game with a win against the Iowa State Cyclones in Norman, last Saturday.

Quarterback Caleb Williams’ clutch all-round performance and a big showing from the Sooners defence got them the win. Williams didn’t throw for many yards, (87-1-1) but he broke for a 74 yard touchdown run and threw into a tight sideline window for an important two-score lead touchdown.

Iowa State started strong, with quarterback Brock Purdy throwing a 25 yard back shoulder fade to Joe Scates to set up the Breece Hall 7-0 touchdown run. Unfortunately, it was uphill from then on and a big hit on Purdy leading to a Sooners scoop-and-score proved the turning point of the game.

Charlie Kolar had a huge game worth mentioning for the Cyclones, catching 12 passes for 152 yards and a score. For the Sooners, Kennedy Brooks did his part on the ground with 17 carries for 115 yards.

Matt Campbell will be disappointed to be fighting for a 7-5 season in his team’s last game against TCU. Iowa State went into the season as the favourite playoff dark-horse, but slip-ups against teams they should’ve beaten have resigned their season to a mediocre one.

The Sooners move to 10-1 but Lincoln Riley knows his team has to put this one in the rearview mirror quickly with Bedlam on the horizon. A loss next week and a Baylor win ends the championship and playoff hopes. If Oklahoma wins out it will be difficult for the Playoff Committee to keep them out. It’s all or nothing for the Sooners.

Big XII Week 12 Review – #9 Oklahoma State 23 – 0 Texas Tech

The Oklahoma State Cowboys pitched a shutout against Texas Tech on the road in Lubbock to secure their spot in the BIG XII championship game.

The Cowboys’ defence has become one of the best units in the country under Jim Knowles. Only Georgia looks like a superior unit to Knowles’ guys, and they are littered with five-star prospects.

It was too easy for the Oklahoma State offence who just had to not make any huge mistakes to get the win. Spencer Sanders threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score on a stat line of 19/37 for 239 yards, with 48 on the ground to boot.

The story really was the Oklahoma State defence. Not a single Texas Tech player rushed for more than 15 yards and no receiver managed more than 39 yards. Those are game totals, not single play stats.

Gundy’s Cowboys now wait to see if they play Oklahoma or Baylor in the title game. An outcome they can influence by beating the Sooners on Saturday in Bedlam. As for now, they are 10-1 (7-1 conf) whilst Tech slips to 6-5 (3-5 conf).

Big XII Week 12 Review – Texas 23 – 31 West Virginia

Morgantown, West Virginia played host to yet another Texas loss last Saturday as the Mountaineers took a step close to going bowling. Neal Brown’s team now just need to beat Kansas to get to six wins.

The story of the game were the performances by Jarret Doege and Leddie Brown. Quarterback Doege completed 27/43 for 290 yards and three touchdowns, arguably his best performance of the season. Running back Brown notched up 158 yards on 33 carries with one score.

Alabama transfer Keilan Robinson stepped in for Bijan Robinson and got himself 111 yards and a score on nine carries. Xavier Worthy also had another good performance, catching seven balls for 85 yards and a touchdown.

It seems like this Texas team has given up. Next week they face Kansas State, who played hard for Chris Kleiman every game. There’s no way six wins is guaranteed for this team. The Mountaineers on the other hand, have done the supposed hard work and now just need to finish the job against the Jayhawks. Texas is now 4-7 (2-6 conf) and West Virginia move to 5-6 (3-5 conf).

Big XII Week 12 Review – TCU 31-28 Kansas

The TCU Horned Frogs needed a last second field goal to beat the Kansas Jayhawks at home in Fort Worth last Saturday.
Kansas initially rallied from a 14 point deficit to get back into the game with the tying touchdown going to Jared Casey, the hero tight end the caught the winning pass last week I Austin.

Jalon Daniels outperformed TCU quarterback Max Duggan, who played in his first game since October. Daniels completed 22/30 for 255 yards, two scores and a pick. His featured weapon of the day was Kwamie Lassitter II who caught eight of nine passes for 101 yards.

The Jayhawks might be 2-9 (1-7 conf), but unlike previous seasons they have looked mightily competitive in almost every game. Lance Leipold has already transformed this team from warm bodies that show up to a team that can pull the upset if opponents aren’t careful, (see Texas for evidence).

TCU move to 5-6 (3-5 conf) and need to keep their focus on the Iowa State game to secure a bowl appearance. The Horned Frogs have only had a sub-five hundred record twice since entering the BIG XII in 2012.

Big XII Week 12 Review – Baylor 20-10 Kansas State

The Baylor Bears got a hugely important win to keep their BIG XII championship game hopes alive against the Kansas State Wildcats.

Gerry Bohannon went out with a first half hamstring injury, but red-shirt freshman Blake Shapen steered the team to the road win. Shapen completed 16/21 for 137 yards, nothing special but enough to keep the pressure on Oklahoma going into Bedlam.

Deuce Vaughn had another Deuce Vaughn type game with eleven carries for 128 yards and one score. He also added 37 yards through the air in an otherwise impotent performance from the Wildcats.

Aranda’s Bears move to 9-2 (6-2 conf) and just need to beat Texas Tech next week to potentially secure a championship game appearance. Their fate is out of their hands, all Baylor needs to do is win and hope. Kansas State has secured a bowl at 7-4 (4-4 conf), but they won’t be able to sleepwalk through a Kansas team fighting for every scrap.

Written by Jake @dyanstybrit