College football’s slate in week seven had huge matchups all day. The Big 12 had its own top-tier matchup that got overshadowed by another colossal game happening in Knoxville. Indeed, the Oklahoma State/TCU game will certainly dominate the Big 12 week seven takeaways. But make no mistake, the two biggest names in the conference made their own statements in different ways.
Big 12 Week Seven Takeaways
Cowboys Nipped By Horned Frogs
For the first three quarters in Fort Worth, it appeared Mike Gundy’s team was going to stomp out TCU. Oklahoma State controlled the game until it decided to simply stop playing football. With 13 minutes remaining in the game, the Cowboys led 30-16. Their final five possessions of the game went as follows: punt (three-and-out), interception, punt (three-and-out), punt (three-and-out), end of regulation. In between all of that bad football, Max Duggan was able to lead the necessary tieing touchdown drives to force overtime.
After both teams exchanged touchdowns in the first overtime period, TCU punched in the last touchdown that eluded Oklahoma State. It was very uncharacteristically to see this Oklahoma State team collapse down the stretch, especially by such a veteran team. But now, there is a purple haze to hovers at the top of the Big 12 standings. And as much as Kansas head coach Lance Leipold appears to be a shoo-in for coach of the year, if Sonny Dykes and his Horned Frogs make a Big 12 title appearance, it will be quite a debate.
Avoiding Rock Chalk Bottom
Turns out Oklahoma can still play football when it has its starting quarterback. Dillion Gabriel’s effort in Norman on Saturday will pull the Sooners out of the basement of the Big 12. No doubt Sooner head coach Brent Venables needs to build better depth at the quarterback position. After all, just across the other side of the field, Kansas’ backup quarterback Jason Bean still led a 42-point effort. So while Oklahoma did win 52-42 against college football’s darling team, it still was the fourth consecutive game the Sooner defense surrendered at least 40 points. Kansas still is chasing that elusive sixth win to earn bowl eligibility, and it won’t get any easier down the stretch as they have one of the hardest remaining schedules in the nation.
No Longhorn Let Down
It wasn’t pretty in Austin. We tried to warn everyone. But there was a big difference as Texas held on against Iowa State by a score of 24-21. At 10:58 in the fourth quarter, Iowa State took the lead 24-17. The Longhorns did not look explosive offensively for much of the game. The offense has only mustered a field goal in the second half. Iowa State had won the previous three, and this game script was going right in line with a fourth. Previous Texas teams would have simply continued to wilt. But not this time.
They responded with a touchdown drive of their own with less than five minutes remaining in the game. Sure, Iowa State missed a wide-open receiver for a walk-in touchdown at the two-minute mark. However, credit needs to be paid to Texas for making more plays than Iowa State and holding on for the victory. This Big 12 week seven takeaway won’t register nationally, but these are the games Texas has been losing for the last 12 years. It is a real sign of change in Austin that should be encouraging to Longhorn fans.
Other Notable Action
Baylor and West Virginia played a highly entertaining game on Thursday night. The Bears did not protect the football as they had three turnovers, one of which was a fumble recovery returned 65 yards by Mountainer defender Jasir Cox. West Virginia also blocked a PAT in the fourth quarter that they were able to run back for two points. And yet, with just under two minutes remaining, Baylor kicked a game-tying field goal to bring the score to 40-40.
However, JT Daniels and company were able to march down the field and kick the game-winning field goal as the Mountainers won 43-40. The biggest news out of this game, and possibly of all the Big 12 week seven takeaways, is the health of Baylor quarterback Blake Shapen. He suffered an injury in the third quarter when he slid and took a helmet-to-helmet hit by a Mountaineer defender. Head Coach coach Dave Aranda said Shapen will get examined on Friday “and we should have an idea after that” in terms of the extent of the injury.
