Yes, I am completely aware that the college football season has started. But previews are such a devilish thing, especially in college athletics. Teams constantly change every year, so while it is possible to have a general idea of how a team will perform, it's very hard having never seen that specific group of players take the field together. So let's take a look at the Big 12, now that everyone has begun their seasons.
Baylor (def. Sam Houston St. 34-3): Took care of business against a middling FCS school. A healthy Robert Griffin III led the team in passing and rushing, but heralded receiver Kendall Wright only caught three passes for negative one yards. Don't expect that to be a trend throughout the year, especially as Baylor plays against tougher competition and is forced to air it out. Expect Baylor to be more competitive with Griffin back, but don't expect much improvement in the standings. Fourth in the Big 12 South and a bowl game would be a win.
Colorado (def. Colorado State 24-3): Colorado is not relevant. They have what is assumed to be a lame-duck head coach and are stuck behind Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas State in the Big 12 North pecking order. It's even conceivable that an on-the-rise Iowa State program can overtake them in the standings. The only reason to care about Colorado is if they are the next opponent on your team's schedule, you are making fun of Dan Hawkins, or you want to see a real buffalo.
Iowa State (def. Northern Illinois 27-10): Iowa State was a cool story last year, what with Paul Rhoads' speech after that Nebraska win and making it to a bowl game. They are definitely a better team now than they were many of the past years. Austin Arnaud is a solid quarterback and Alexander Robinson is one of the better running backs in a conference with many good ones. However, their schedule will require them to probably pull of at least two upsets in order to have a shot at a bowl game. They have to travel to Norman and Austin in back-to-back weeks. Pray for the Cyclones.
Kansas (lost to North Dakota State 6-3): The ugliest scoreline in FBS. At least Ole Miss' letdown against an FCS opponent was high scoring and went to double overtime. Turner Gill and the Jayhawks are in for a long season. At least the defense only allowed two field goals, right? Kansas' best chance for a win comes against New Mexico State, anything other than that will require some major improvements in a short period of time. Remember when they were in contention for the BCS National Championship and ended up at the Orange Bowl? Yeah, me neither.
Kansas State (def. UCLA 31-22): A good win for a good Kansas State team. Able to come from behind against a legitimate Pac10 opponent, this team definitely has the running game to compete in the North, as they amassed 313 yards on the ground, versus 64 through the air. Bowl game for sure, but the Wildcats may just be able to make a run at Nebraska for the division title. Maybe.
Missouri (def. Illinois 23-13): Missouri shut out the Fighting Illini in the second half to earn the win, but if Mizzou wants a shot at the North title, they need to come to play the entire game, especially against an inferior opponent in a rivalry game. Blaine Gabbert is well-suited for this offense, but question marks still surround this team with top running back Derrick Washington suspended. The Tigers shouldn't be tested again until conference play starts.
Nebraska (def. Western Kentucky 49-10): I'm still not sold on Nebraska. Good defense, but I don't expect Jared Crick to take the place of Ndamakung Suh. I expect him to be Jared Crick, but probably less numbers this year. They need to prove that as an offense they can move the ball consistently. That 33-0 win against Arizona at the Holiday Bowl means nothing to me in the context of this year. They still don't have a set quarterback, although Tyler Martinez certainly made his case against one of the worst teams in FBS. But given the rest of the North, they are still the frontrunners to return to the Big 12 Championship Game in their final year.
Oklahoma (def. Utah State 31-24): Before the season started, I thought Oklahoma was the team to beat in the Big 12. Now, I still think that, but I'm a little more confused. Utah State is a good mid-major, but they should have no business hanging around the Sooners like they did. Oklahoma better shore up those defensive problems before this week's showdown with Florida State, and my guess is they will. They don't have to face Nebraska or Kansas State this year, so right now that puts them in the lead in the Big 12 South.
Oklahoma State (def. Washington State 65-17): I don't really expect the Cowboys to be that good this year, but they came out against a bad Washington State team as if trying to prove me wrong. Kendall Hunter is back and healthy, rushing for 257 yards and 4 touchdowns in the rout. He alone makes this Oklahoma State team difficult, but again given the rest of the teams in the South I don't see them playing at the level of previous years.
Texas (def. Rice 34-17): Honest assessment here, Texas was unimpressive in their win against (rival?) Rice. The defense, as expected, was solid even though the secondary, thought to be one of the best in the nation, missed more than a few times. Their new running game was lacking, with the running backs rushing for barely 4 yards per carry. It was revealed later that starter Cody Johnson had apparently played much of the first half on a sprained ankle, but newly named starter Tre' Newton, injury free as far as we know, still only rushed for 61 yards on 18 carries (3.4 avg). Garret Gilbert was nothing to write home about either, putting up average numbers but struggling on some of his throws, especially out wide near the sidelines. Texas will be good as always, but they need to get their act together before they face stauncher competition or else some upsets are on their way.
Texas A&M (def. Stephen F. Austin 48-7): Texas A&M put it together against an FCS team that should compete for its conference title. A&M's highly anticipated new defense was strong against a pretty good passing attack, limiting the first team to 171 yards passing and a 51% completion percentage, along with only 31 rushing yards total. Regardless of competition, they looked much better than last year, and it will be interesting to see their results once they start bringing more blitz packages. On the offensive side of the ball, Jerrod Johnson was efficient in a very conservative gameplan. He threw for a 67% completion percentage and 322 yards, but many of those were swing passes to Ryan Swope and short check-down throws. It seems that he is still not 100% recovered from off-season shoulder surgery, but the coaches are easing him back to full game speed. The running backs had a solid game, with the starting tandem of Christine Michael and Cyrus Gray rushing 171 yards on 38 rushes for a 4.5 yard average. The offensive line was decent, missing a couple of noticeable but otherwise showing no ill effects of the influx of new starters. Most importantly in direct contrast to last year, they suffered only one false start penalty. On the night the Aggies were only penalized three times for twelve yards, and won the turnover battle by a +2 margin. The Aggies are a tantalizing pick this year, especially if Texas can't find an offensive identity and Oklahoma's game against Utah State isn't a fluke. The stretch of games against Oklahoma State, Arkansas, and Missouri I think will really gauge how this year will go. Wins against those teams will keep the Aggie spirit riding high into November when three of their last four games are against Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Texas Tech (def. Southern Methodist 35-27): Tommy Tuberville isn't going to change the philosophy at Texas Tech just quite yet. Against SMU, Tech still passed the ball over 60% of the time. Those are the type of players that are on this team at the moment, so that is the brand of football that they will continue to play. I thought this game had the potential to put Tech on upset alert, and the Mustangs did have the ball at the end of the game with the chance to tie with a touchdown and two-point conversion before losing possession on downs. But watching the game, it shouldn't have been close. SMU has made huge strides in returning to respectability, but talent-wise they were not close to Texas Tech. Yet still Tech somehow allowed SMU to come back on them, despite holding a +3 turnover margin. That should be slightly worrisome, especially with their conference play opening early against Texas. Another winning season should be in the books for Tech, though.
I disagree, respectively of course, on your assessment of Texas in their first game. There is no debating that they have some work to do. However, I thought they performed much better than people are giving them credit for. It's a new offense, and they rushed for over 200 yards against a Rice team who is returning 8 defensive starters. Not the OU defense but still nothing to slouch at. Also, Gilbert did struggle initially to make that throw to the sideline, but he made several great throws all of the way across the field later in the game. Defensively, they were very solid. 131 yards against in the air is pretty solid (especially since 47 of which came on a tipped ball that was thrown into triple coverage). I think the Horns are going to do very well this season. ( This may be a bit biased, but hey, so is your view on A&M. What can you do huh?)
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