On a day when many of the matchups nationally appeared to be, shall we call it less than marquee-worthy, many top teams had to fight and claw just to avoid an upset. The Big 12 was not immune to this survival Saturday many teams experienced. In fact, the wildest ending of the college football day could be found in Waco, Texas. But what did the other results mean in the grand scheme of the Big 12 week 12 takeaways?
Big 12 Week 12 Takeaways
Horned Frogs Will Not Flinch
When every eager teenager earns his/her driver’s license, there are many different aspects of driving they must first practice and later demonstrate. Some of those will include proper blinker usage, parallel parking, highway driving, etc. But there are aspects of driving that aren’t tested but do present themselves over time. One of which is a certain fire drill that which all passengers of the car run around the car and get back in the vehicle at a stoplight. The goal is to get back into the car and be ready to resume driving before the light turns green. Hand up here; I have been a part of said fire drill. It was fun and fortunately did not result in any issues with traffic. But when I and three other bumbling and giggling idiots ran around, the stakes were of minimal consequence.
When TCU head coach Sonny Dykes decided to essentially do the same thing on a football field with TCU’s playoff hopes in the balance, it was a moment of true high drama. And yet, as everyone witnessed what appeared to be sheer chaos, the Horned Frogs executed the field goal perfectly. Dykes said in the post-game interview that they practice that exact moment every Thursday in practice. Re-watch it and you will see he isn’t lying. TCU’s kicker Griffin Kell did not even walk off his steps before drilling a 40-yard field goal to keep the Horned Frogs undefeated. With their 29-28 victory over the Bears, it has become abundantly clear in these Big 12 week 12 takeaways. If anyone is going to take TCU down, they are going to have to do so by executing at a high level until that clock reads 0:00.
Kansas State Or Texas Will Get One More Shot At TCU
The only thing unknown for the Horned Frogs is who they will play for a Big 12 championship. We do know that the number of teams vying for this spot is officially down to Kansas State and Texas. Both the Wildcats and Longhorns handled their business against West Virginia and Kansas respectively. In fact, the combined scores of their games were 103-45. Kansas State handling West Virginia with lame-duck head coach Neal Brown was hardly a surprise. But the result out of Lawrence Kansas was a bit of a head-turner. Over the last decade and a half, a Texas victory over Kansas by 41-points wouldn’t be anything noteworthy. But this result is for a few reasons.
The first of which was Kansas got back its dynamic playmaking quarterback Jalon Daniels since getting injured against TCU in early October. Yet, the Jayhawks couldn’t mustard up any points until they were down 41-0. It was another sign of growth that Steve Sarkisian’s program is maturing. Don’t roll your eyes because of all the Big 12 week 12 takeaways, this one could ultimately decide the Big 12. Texas just missed its chance to take down TCU last week at home. Then, it had to travel to take on a team that has enough offensive firepower to give any team in the Big 12 fits.
And instead of turning in a letdown performance, the Longhorns quickly bounced back and thoroughly dominated Kansas. Now, they must turn around and root for those same Jayhawks. If Kansas State wins over its in-state rivals, they get a rematch with TCU. But if Kansas wins, and the Longhorns beat Baylor, Texas holds the head-to-head tiebreaker with Kansas State and would get to travel to Arlington.
Other Notable Big 12 Action
Texas Tech became the eighth Big 12 team to secure bowl eligibility this season after surviving the cold and one of the nation’s best defenses in a 14-10 victory over Iowa State. The Cyclones continue to be the 2022 version of Nebraska in one-possession games. In their seven losses, they have lost those games by a combined 38 points. An average margin defeat of 5.42 points has got to have head coach Matt Campbell wondering just how in the world his team can be this snake bitten. Meanwhile, Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire has done a tremendous job navigating a schedule that, by any measure, ranks as one of the ten hardest in the country. McGuire’s coaching job has also been quite impressive given the fact that three different quarterbacks have started multiple games for the Red Raiders in 11 games.
Bedlam was anything but. In fact, it was rather calm and boring. It started with a bit of a bang as Oklahoma was up 28-0 after the first quarter. But then, the Sooners went the last three quarters without a single point. The Cowboys have been devastated by the injury bug over the last month. But the way they moved the football, they stood a chance. And yet, they could not find ways to turn their 484 yards of total offense into a lot of points. Of course, four turnovers make that even harder. In the end, it was a 28-13 victory for the Sooners that head coach Brent Venables “needed” to have. After all, this will likely be the last time Bedlam will be played in Norman for the foreseeable future.
