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Recapping Week 11 in the Big 12: West Virginia Wins, Dana Crowdsurfs

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8 years ago

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What a weekend it was for the Big 12, as only one undefeated team now remains in the conference. The weekend featured an upset, a couple of nail biters, and some expected victories. Time to take a closer look at all of the Big 12 action that took place on Saturday.

Starting off in Waco, Texas, ESPN’s own College GameDay was in town for the big matchup between the undefeated No. 6 Baylor Bears and the No. 12 Oklahoma Sooners.

OU-Baylor

The Sooners played like a well-oiled machine, pulling off the mild upset against the Bears and winning by a score of 44-34. Baylor received its first loss of season and falls to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in the Big 12. Oklahoma has now won five straight since the loss to Texas, and moves up to 9-1 overall and 6-1 in the Big 12.

Baylor’s FBS-best home game winning streak of 20 has now come to an end, and their chances of making the playoff may be over. On the other hand, the Sooners now control their own destiny as they look ahead to their final games of the season against tough opponents.

Both teams exchanged scoring blows in the first quarter, showing off the offensive powers at disposal. Baylor running back Devin Chafin had a five-yard TD run to put his team up six, as the PAT missed. OU’s Samaje Perine quickly responded with his own six-yard scamper, and the Sooners went up 7-6.

Baylor’s freshman quarterback Jarrett Stidham made his second start of the season in replace of injured starter Seth Russell, throwing for 257 yards and two touchdowns along with the first two picks of his career. Two running backs stepped up for Baylor, as Shock Linwood rushed for 103 yards on the day and Devin Chafin rushed for 49 yards and three touchdowns. FBS receiving leader Corey Coleman, however, was limited to three catches for 51 yards and no touchdowns. This game ended Coleman’s streak of seven straight games with multiple touchdown grabs.

Sooner’s quarterback Baker Mayfield threw for 270 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 76 yards and another score, and Samaje Perine had 28 carries for 166 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Sterling Shepard also had a huge game for his team, hauling in 14 receptions for 177 yards and two scores.

The Sooners had lost the last two meetings against Baylor by a combined 63 points, and it was obvious the players and coaches wanted to win this game badly. Mayfield continued to play hard through some pain that was inflicted by the hard-hitting Baylor defense, and Bob and Mike Stoops nearly lost their heads after some costly OU penalties.

Mayfield wasn’t the only quarterback playing through some pain, as Stidham was clearly not 100 percent by the end of the game. Head coach Art Briles was quoted saying that his freshman quarterback is in pain, after taking a beating from the Sooners defensive front. Stidham hung in the game just like Mayfield though, and delivered a highlight TD pass to his 410-lb tight end LaQuan McGowan.

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Mayfield connected with Shepard for a 7-yard TD catch early in the third quarter to give the Sooners a 27-20 lead, and they would never trail again in the game. Baylor went three-and-out in their following possession, and then Samaje Perine broke out for a 55-yard TD run to put his team up 34-20. The Sooners became the first team to beat Baylor at home in the 11 games they have played in their new stadium on the Brazos River.

TCU-Kansas

Even though TCU found a way to win, it wasn’t pretty. The Horned Frogs managed to slip by Kansas, winning 23-17 as their star player went down early with an injury.

Trevone Boykin, the national leader in total offense, was playing well until he was sacked by the Kansas defense and suffered an unfortunate ankle injury. Kansas’ Joe Dineen Jr. made the tackle, and caused Boykin to awkwardly turn his right ankle. That was TCU’s final offensive play of the first quarter, and Boykin did not return to the game. Boykin’s school-record streak of 24 straight games with a touchdown pass ended against the Jayhawks.

The Horned Frogs improved to 9-1 overall and 6-1 in the Big 12, and dropped Kansas 0-10 and 0-7 on the year. This was the first game all season for Kansas that they did not trail at halftime, but still suffered a 35th straight loss on the road and 13th straight loss overall. This has become Kansas’ worst start since 1954, when they finished 0-10 that year.

With TCU facing two tough games to finish out their season, head coach Gary Patterson is not sure how his team will finish. Boykin will be hopeful to return against the Sooners this Saturday, but there is no guarantee he will be out on the field. Wide receiver Josh Doctson has also been slowed by injuries, as damage to his left arm and wrist has limited his play. Doctson finished with one catch for 12 yards against Kansas, marking a season low by far.

The Horned Frogs got just enough offensive power to win the game, as backup quarterback Foster Sawyer’s only completion of the day was a 42-yard TD pass to Shaun Nixon that put TCU up 10 points. KaVontae Turpin also went weaving through the Kansas special teams unit for a 49-yard punt return.

West Virginia-Texas

The Mountaineers defeated Texas by a score of 38-20 and improved to 5-4 overall and 2-4 in the Big 12, while the Longhorns dropped to 4-6 and 3-4 respectively. Texas falls to 0-4 on the road for the season, and now has no choice but to win their final two regulars season games to qualify for a bowl.

WVU quarterback Skyler Howard threw for 122 yards and two touchdowns, but his efficiency rating was his most impressive stat of the day. Howard was completing 43 percent of his passes in Big 12 play coming into this game, but went 10 of 12 against Texas. Running back Wendell Smallwood rushed for a career-high 165 yards and led the attack in what was a very dominant rushing attack for the Mountaineers.

Dana Holgorsen had some fun with his squad after the win too.

Charlie Strong said he wanted to slow West Virginia’s running game first, but his team was unsuccessful in doing so as the Mountaineers gained 257 yards. Nonetheless, Texas outgained WVU in total yards 439-379 but still couldn’t secure the win.

The West Virginia defense forced five turnovers on the day, which resulted in 24 points for them. Texas only had seven turnovers all season entering this game, and ended up only two shy of that amount in one game.

Quarterback Jerrod Heard threw for 162 yards and one touchdown, but also had two costly interceptions in the fourth quarter when he was trying to rally his team. Backup quarterback Tyrone Swoopes rushed for 35 yards and sophomore running back D’Onta Foreman gained 147 yards.

Texas Tech-Kansas State

Lastly, the Texas Tech Red Raiders played host to the reeling Kansas State Wildcats in Lubbock, aiming for its six win to become bowl eligible.  

After finishing 4-8 last season in head coach Kliff Kingsbury’s second year and failing to reach a bowl game, Tech has turned it around and will now be playing in a bowl after defeating Kansas State by a score of 59-44. Tech improves to 6-5 overall and 3-5 in the Big 12, while K-State falls to 3-6 and 0-6.

Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw for 384 yards and three touchdowns, and running back DeAndre Washington rushed for 248 yards on 27 carries and found the end zone three times. Wide receiver Justin Stockton caught two TD passes and rushed for another as well.

The win for the Red Raiders ended a three-game losing streak and extended K-State’s losing streak to six, which becomes the Wildcats longest skid since 1989.

After Texas Tech scored early with 12:08 still left in the first quarter, the Wildcats responded with a 93-yard kickoff return by Morgan Burns. However, Tech would go on the score three unanswered touchdowns, including a career-long 80-yard TD run from DeAndre Washington. That run was also the team’s longest of the season.

K-State quarterback Joe Hubener threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns, with both of his TD passes coming in the fourth quarter as he tried to rally his team late. Down 52-28 early in the final quarter, two scores and one field goal from the Wildcats clawed them back as close as 44-52. However, another rushing TD from Tech put the game away.

In order to go to a bowl game, K-State will have to win all of their remaining games and close out the season strong. The Wildcats will start off their final stretch of games against Iowa State this Saturday and Texas Tech will travel to Austin on Thanksgiving for a matchup with Texas.

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