10 Big Thoughts on the Big 12: Week 4
By Brian Spaen
1. Give it up for Kansas State. Bill Snyder is simply an amazing head coach, having the Midas touch no matter the situation. Collin Klein is also becoming a Heisman contender doing all he could against a stingy Oklahoma defense.
Sep 1, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Geno Smith (12) reacts after a touchdown in the first quarter against the Marshall Thundering Herd at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-US PRESSWIRE
2. On the flip side, the Sooners did what they seem to normally do each season – drop a game they shouldn’t. This defense was able to put the team in position to win, but that offensive line isn’t holding up as expected.
3. Kansas was up 23-13 in the fourth quarter, only to give up 17 unanswered points to Northern Illinois and lose 30-23. The Jayhawks had a chance to win the game and couldn’t finish, and that will likely be a problem throughout the rest of the season.
4. Geno Smith should be on everybody’s Heisman list. Tack on three more touchdowns, and he currently sits at 12 touchdowns and zero picks with an 81.4 percent completion rate.
5. However, there is a slight concern with the defense. Maryland quarterback Perry Hillis threw for over 300 yards and three touchdowns. As long as Smith doesn’t turn the ball over and put his team in a bad position defensively, they can outscore anybody. Those games against Oklahoma and Texas will be fun.
6. That Baylor vs. Louisiana-Monroe game was fun as hell. Loved the creativity on offense by the Warhawks with dual-quarterbacks and going for it on fourth down multiple times. Problem was, they went 1-3 on fourth down; Baylor went a perfect 4-4.
7. The Bears defense struggled with the run against LAMO, giving up 262 yards on the ground. The more I look at the matchup against Iowa State, the more I think it will be a very high-scoring affair.
8. I still don’t know what to think of TCU. How good are they really? But one thing they will have when hosting the Cyclones will be confidence. Beating Virginia was their 11th straight victory, and that defense held them to just 3-16 on third down.
9. ESPN still lists the Big 12 as the best conference in the nation, although the SEC closes the gap after Oklahoma fell to KSU. I wonder why this isn’t talked about more on TV, people that believe the SEC is the best overall conference are oblivious to the fact that the bottom of the conference isn’t good at all.
10. And with that, here are the power rankings for the conference:
- West Virginia (3-0)
- Kansas State (1-0, 3-0)
- Texas (3-0)
- TCU (1-0, 3-0)
- Oklahoma (0-1, 2-1)
- Iowa State (3-0)
- Baylor (3-0)
- Oklahoma State (2-1)
- Texas Tech (3-0)
- Kansas (0-1, 1-3)
Brian Spaen is the lead editor for Clones Confidential. Keep up with the latest sports fails and disdain toward the Big Ten by following him on Twitter.
Read his other work on the Oregon Ducks blog, Autzen Zoo, and Lacrosse the Web.