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Recapping Week 12 in the Big 12: OU Squeaks by TCU

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8 years ago

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The 12th week of the college football season has come and gone, and now only seven Big 12 games remain. In case you missed out on the action, let’s take a look at all of the winners and losers.

OU-TCU

Starting off down in Norman, the No. 7 Oklahoma Sooners hosted the No. 18 TCU Horned Frogs as Bob Stoops and his team hoped to continue their recent string of success. The Sooners found a way to hang on late as they defeated TCU by a score of 30-29 to improve to 10-1 overall and 7-1 in the Big 12. The Horned Frogs dropped to 9-2 overall and 6-2 in the conference.

The Sooners have won six consecutive games, and are now one of the front-runners to win the Big 12 championship. With a victory over Baylor already accomplished, a tough road trip to Oklahoma State is the only thing standing between Oklahoma and the title.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield completed nine of 20 pass attempts for 127 yards and two touchdowns, but left after the first half with an apparent head injury. Running back Samaje Perine rushed for 188 yards and one touchdown, and Sterling Shepard had eight receptions for 111 yards and one score.

The Horned Frogs were nowhere near full strength, playing without star quarterback Trevone Boykin and their star receiver Josh Doctson. Freshman Foster Sawyer replaced Boykin at the helm, and got off to a strong start. Sawyer completed seven of his first eight passes for 103 yards and one touchdown, putting his team up 7-0 early.

However, Sawyer quickly lost his touch, going just 1-of-10 on pass attempts and also throwing three interceptions. Sawyer was replaced in the third quarter with Bram Kohlhausen, who closed out the game at quarterback for TCU. The Horned Frogs turned the ball over four times on the day, which led to 24 points for OU.


After TCU took a 7-0 lead, the Sooners finished off the first half with a scoring onslaught. Two touchdowns and three field goals gave OU a 23-7 lead at half, but Kohlhausen and running back Aaron Green gave the Horned Frogs a late spark. Kohlhausen went 5-of-11 on pass attempts for 122 yards and two touchdowns, and Green rushed the ball 23 times for 126 yards and one score. 96 of Green’s 126 yards came in the second half.

With no Baker Mayfield in the second half, the Sooners did not have as much power at quarterback.

Mayfield was rattled after he took a direct helmet-to-helmet hit from lineback Ty Summers early in the second quarter. Summers was ejected from the game for targeting, and even though Mayfield finished the first half, he was unable to finish the game.

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Trevor Knight played the remainder of the game for OU, completing five of his 16 pass attempts for 76 yards and one interception. Early in the third, it looked as though the Sooners might have another player down, as Samaje Perine exited the game with an ankle sprain after catching a short pass from Knight. After being out for some time, Perine returned and broke out for a 72-yard run, the longest of his career. There were no questions about Perine’s health after the play.

As the fourth quarter winded down, TCU made its biggest push of the game to try and escape with the win. An 86-yard TD pass from Kohlhuasen to KaVontae Turpin made the score 30-20, and then a Jaden Oberkrom field goal pulled the Horned Frogs within one score.

With only 51 seconds remaining in the game, Kohlhausen connected with Emanuel Porter for a 14-yard touchdown that made the score 30-29. Suddenly, head coach Gary Patterson had a big decision to make—kick the extra point and go to overtime, over go for the two-point conversion and win the game.

Patterson decided to go for two points and the victory, and the game came down to that one final play. Steven Parker made the play of the day for OU, swatting away Kohlhausen’s pass that was intended for the back of the end zone. Patterson made it clear he didn’t regret his gutsy decision after the game, saying: “Our rule has always been to go get the win on the road.”

The Sooners will move on and head to Stillwater for Bedlam, which is set for a 7 p.m. kickoff with ESPN’s College GameDay in town for the big rivalry. The TCU Horned Frogs will head back home and host the Baylor Bears in another Big 12 showdown.

Iowa State-Kansas State

Up next, the Iowa State Cyclones went on the road to Bill Snyder Family Stadium for a matchup with the K-State Wildcats. Although head coach Bill Snyder and his team have been enduring the worst losing streak for the program since 1989, there was finally a different attitude after Saturday’s game.

The Wildcats enjoyed a crazy late rally after facing an early deficit and defeated the Cyclones 38-35, improving to 4-6 overall and 1-6 in the Big 12. Respectively, Iowa State fell to 3-8 and 2-6. This win keeps K-State’s bowl hopes alive, but certainly does not guarantee that sixth victory with two games left on the season.

K-State’s comeback ignited early during the second half, as Jones rushed for an 8-yard TD to pull his team back in the game. Early in the fourth quarter, Hubener connected with Kody Cook for a clutch TD pass on fourth down to make the score 35-28.

In the final seven minutes when it mattered the most, Iowa State couldn’t hold on to the football. Three lost fumbles for the Cyclones, two from Warren and one from Lanning, greatly helped K-State seal their comeback. Warren’s second fumble came with 1:31 left to play, when Iowa State was in a situation where taking a knee would’ve been advised. Charles Jones rushed for a 5-yard TD after K-State took over and suddenly the game was tied at 35-35 with 42 seconds left.

On the next possession, Marquel Bryant sacked Lanning and forced a fumble. The Cyclones recovered on their own 25, and set up the ensuing game-winning field goal.

Iowa State will move on and travel to Morgantown next to take on West Virginia, and Kansas State will seek a second consecutive win against Kansas.

West Virginia-Kansas

Over in Lawrence, Kansas, the West Virginia Mountaineers were in town to take on the Kansas Jayhawks, with not much on the line. The Mountaineers were hoping to become bowl eligible with its sixth win, and the Jayhawks were trying to win their first game of the season.
To no surprise, WVU came out on top, blanking Kansas by a score of 49-0. West Virginia improves to 6-4 overall and 3-4 in the Big 12, and will now be playing in a bowl game. Kansas, however, remains winless on the season and drops to 0-11 and 0-9.

WVU quarterback Skyler Howard threw for 133 yards and one touchdown, while also rushing for 129 yards and another TD. Wendell Smallwood had 18 carries for 115 yards and two TD’s, and Rushel Shell ran for another 108 yards and two more scores. For the first time since September 13, 1969, the Mountaineers had three players with over 100-yards on the ground.

The West Virginia defense also accomplished an impressive feat, as it recorded its shutout on the road since 2005. An argument could be made that it was done against the Kansas offense, but credit still goes to the defense. The Jayhawks only mustered 221 yards of offense, including just 94 on the ground.

The Jayhawks have now lost 14 consecutive games dating back to last season, and fan support is clearly at an all time low. Only a few thousand fans attended the game inside Memorial Stadium, and one count showed just over 400 students at the game. Clearly the students and fans were a part of the majority that expected Kansas to provide another lackluster performance.

West Virginia will move and host the Iowa State Cyclones coming up next on the schedule, and the Jayhawks will remain at home and host the K-State Wildcats.

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