Around the Big 12: Week 7

By Steve Lansdale

There was a pretty significant Bog 12 game Saturday in Dallas, when the Longhorns and Sooners clashed in the Cotton Bowl. The game did not solidify anything for the end of the season, but it did draw national attention and help form opinions about how the Big 12 will shake out at the end of the season.

Are Oklahoma and Texas the top two teams in the conference? It sure looks that way. Will they meet again in the Big 12 Championship game? Quite possibly.

As if to not overshadow the conference’s biggest game, only [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]two others were played Saturday.

But how did the rest of the conference do?

Iowa State 38, West Virginia 14
Freshman running back Breece Hall rushed 26 times for 132 yards and three touchdowns, and quarterback Brock Purdy completed 19 of 30 passes for 229 yards and another score to lead the Cyclones to a convincing road win in Morgantown.

Furthering the Mountaineers’ suffering was the fact that starting quarterback Austin Kendall absorbed a punishing hit on WVU’s first offensive series and did not return to the game.

Whether Hall is the answer to the Cyclones’ rushing game questions remains to be seen. He is the third player to lead ISU in rushing this season, and the first to eclipse 100 yards in a game.

Iowa State improved to 4-2 overall, and 2-1 against Big 12 teams. West Virginia slipped to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in conference games.

Kendall was replaced in the WVU lineup by Jack Allison, who completed 18 of 24 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown. The Mountaineers’ rushing game was equally anemic: Leddie Brown led the team with 10 carries for just 26 yards. The entire team only rushed for 41 yards in the loss.

Iowa State plays at Texas Tech next weekend, while West Virginia heads to Norman to take on the Oklahoma Sooners.

Baylor 33, Texas Tech 30
Quarterback Charlie Brewer engineered a 97-yard drive in the final two minutes to allow John Mayers to drill a tying field goal to force overtime, and the Bears kept alive their undefeated season by knocking off the Red Raiders in double overtime.

The victory improved Baylor’s record to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in Big 12 games to share the conference lead with Oklahoma, while Tech slipped to 3-3 overall, and 1-2 in conference games.

JaMycal Hasty scored the winning touchdown in overtime after Trey Wolfe put Tech ahead with a 35-yard field goal, but he actually was his team’s third-leading rusher on the day. John Lovett led the Baylor ground game with 17 carries for 77 yards.

Brewer had an unusual stat line: he completed 24 of 37 passes for 352 yards, but he failed to throw a scoring pass and coughed up three interceptions. But Brewer, known primarily as a passer, ran for three touchdowns in the victory.

In the No. 22 Bears, Tech faced a ranked opponent for the third consecutive week, and again was without starting quarterback Alan Bowman. In his place, Jett Duffey completed 31 of 42 passes for 362 yards and two interceptions.

The Longhorns’ next opponent, Kansas, will be rested when arriving in Austin for next week’s matchup with UT.
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