Finally, the chalkiness of the season finally broke. That’s because Rock Chalk demanded to be taken seriously on Saturday. However, did the Big 12’s playoff chances go into the same lake that the Kansas goalposts were thrust into? One thing is for certain, the week nine takeaways from the Big 12 tees up an “elimination” group of games next week.
Week Nine Takeaways From The Big 12
Kansas Takes Down Oklahoma
Where else could the week nine takeaways begin but Lawrence, Kansas? Last Word warned the public about this pending upset, and Sooner Nation did not listen. Coming into this game, Oklahoma had beaten Kansas 18 straight times. But just like the rest of the Lance Leipold build of the last three years, the Jayhawks had played Oklahoma tough in the last two losses. Hist team finally broke through with a thrilling 38-33 victory over the sixth-ranked Sooners. Both offenses moved the ball as Kansas only had three more yards of total offense than Oklahoma (443-44o). And while the Jayhawk defense has not been good this year, they were very timely in this game
Kansas held Oklahoma’s offense to 2-for-10 on third-down conversations. Both teams did turn the ball over three times. However, the Jayhawk defense rose up when it mattered the most to get off the field with the opportunity presented itself. And how’s this for a statistic? In a game that featured 71 combined points, both quarterbacks combined to throw exactly zero touchdown passes. With this win, the Jayhawks very much find themselves in the race to get to the Big 12 championship game. As the week nine takeaways will discuss, with the rest of the teams in the Big 12 avoiding upsets, there are now six teams who have a realistic shot to earn one of two spots in Arlington to play for a conference championship.
Everyone Else Took Care Of Business
As exciting as the Kansas vs. Oklahoma game was, the rest of the Big 12 games were very one-sided affairs. Look at the rest of the scores from the other Big 12 teams that were in action on Saturday:
- Kansas State 41, Houston 0
- West Virginia 41, UCF 28
- Texas 35, BYU 6
- Iowa State 30, Baylor 18
- Oklahoma State 45, Cincinnati 13
It’s very clear at this point in the season that all four of the new Big 12 teams are not a serious threat to the top half of the league. Even though both West Virginia/UCF and Iowa State/Baylor had a final score within two scores, neither game was ever in doubt. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian had to be pleased with how the Longhorns played with backup quarterback Maalik Murphy starting as Quinn Ewers is recovering from a shoulder injury. Kansas State’s rushing attack continues to be dominant as seven different players had at least two rushing attempts against Houston. Speaking of rushing attacks, Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy is watching his star running back Ollie Gordon II sprinting into some Heisman talk with his second consecutive game rushing for over 270 yards.
Sets Up Major Matchups In Week 10
With only one month remaining in the regular season, the upcoming slate of Big 12 action very well might serve as a knock-out round for the contenders. All six of the teams at the top of the Big 12 standings are playing another team in the top six. Brent Venables and his Oklahoma team travel to Stillwater for what is the last Bedlam game for the foreseeable future. Kansas State travels to Austin for an 11 a.m. local kickoff time against Texas. Kansas, fresh off their exciting win, has to travel to Ames where Matt Campbell will have his surging Iowa State team ready to go.
There is the possibility that November will turn into pure anarchy. The Big 12 could end up pulling a very Pac-12 move. Have one/two teams capable of making the playoffs, but have enough quality teams to take them down. This, in turn, leads to no team being a dominant force. Which then leaves the conference unable to claim one of the four coveted spots in the playoff. One thing is for certain, the Big 12 race just became a lot more fun thanks to the Jayhawks.
