Big 12 Bookend: Alas Bradford, I hardly knew thee…
October 21st, 2009 by James Lawrence
Though I had predicted the Red River Shootout to be a low-to-mid scoring affair, this was a far uglier game than I expected. Eight total turnovers (won 5-3 by the Horns) and over 200 yards in penalties turned this into an monstrous affair that really dragged on. Sam Bradford was knocked out early and may be lost for the season. His replacement, Landry Jones, put up a decent number of total yards but had two costly picks late in the game. Colt McCoy fared worse, throwing a pick in the red zone and twice fumbling in Sooner territory, the second time after a long run to get inside the 10 yard line. Demarco Murray (pictured left, thanks Icon SMI) had a good day receiving, but the Sooners were held to negative rushing totals. Fozzy Whittaker picked up a similar amount of yardage, although his route-running was spotty at times. Overall this was a game dominated by the defenses.
Texas Tech got out to a quick 24-3 lead on Nebraska before coasting to victory in the second half. Almost amazingly, TT was held to 234 yards of passing offense and just one passing TD (QB Sheffield did sneak in two more). Roy Helu was neutralized by the combination of a solid play by the TT front seven and the Huskers falling behind early. Despite two early losses, the Red Raiders may be the second-best team in the Big 12.
Kansas State surprisingly blew out Texas A&M thanks to a 5-0 edge in turnovers. Daniel Thomas ran for just 91 yards but scored 4 times and backup Keithen Valentine scored twice in the third quarter. After going over 200 passes without throwing an interception, Jerrod Johnson was picked off 3 times.
The Kansas Jayhawks outgained Colorado by 101 yards and held a 3-2 edge in turnovers, but lost a close game nonetheless. Todd Reesing threw for 401 yards, with Briscoe (154) and Meier (103) each having big totals as well as scoring 1 TD apiece. Rodney Stewart broke 100 yards and scored his second TD of the game on a 13 yard scamper to give the Buffaloes the win.
Baylor continues to struggle post-Griffin, although nobody for Iowa State had a particularly noteworthy game.
Finally, the Oklahoma State Cowboys rode a shutout effort in the second half to beat Missouri, thanks also to a 4-0 edge in turnovers. Freshman Blaine Gabbert threw three interceptions, one of which was returned for a TD, to seal the Tigers’ fate despite passing for 325 yards. Keith Toston used 24 carries to get into the end zone once, and added 54 yards in receptions. The big game receiver was Missouri’s Danario Alexander, with 180 yards and a TD. Hubert Anyiam chipped in 119 yards and a TD for the Cowboys.
Big 12 teams rushing for negative yardage (Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Kansas) went 0-3 this weekend, a statistic that isn’t surprising except for the number of teams that did it.
Week 8 Preview
Oklahoma State players Zac Robinson and Keith Toston should be in for strong weeks against the Baylor Bears, as the BU offense continues to give the ball back to the opposition without Robert Griffin around to help sustain some drives. The Cowboys are still awaiting a response from the NCAA on Dez Bryant‘s appeal.
Nebraska will look to reassert their ground game against Iowa State, a team that has already lost two conference games.
Oklahoma-Kansas is a game that could define both teams’ seasons, as the Sooners look to avoid their fourth loss of the year and the Jayhawks look to rebound from a major blow at the hands of Colorado. Lacking much of a running game against CU, I cannot see the Jayhawks being successful on the ground against OU. Unfortunately for Reesing fans, Oklahoma just held Colt McCoy to his worst game in two years – an injury-riddled sophomore season – and the OU defense may be putting the clamps on yet another high-profile passer. Likewise, with the Sooners’ offensive line difficulties, their scoring may be held to mid-range totals. OU will move the ball, but I don’t know that any one player is going to put up guady stats for them.
On the other hand, gaudy stats are exactly what I expect from the Texas Tech offense against A&M. Steven Sheffield will be out 2-3 weeks with an injury, but Taylor Potts has been cleared to play, so look for big days from the usual suspects for the Red Raiders’ offense.
Lastly, we have Texas travelling to Missouri. This is a trap game for the Horns, coming off of an emotional win over rival Oklahoma. However, Missouri has flat-out played poorly in their last two games, particularly on offense. I cannot predict anyone on this Mizzou squad will have a good day against Will Muschamp’s defense, especially not on the ground as the Horns are giving up a paltry 37 ypg rush. The question is how well McCoy and Shipley will rebound after being all but completely neutralized against Oklahoma. I think both will have about an average week.
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