Big XII Roundup: Week 12
There was a lot at stake in the Big XII over the weekend, title game hopes on the line, and through it all, we still have no idea of who will be playing in Dallas. But, things have gotten a bit clearer with four schools with legitimate chances to play in the title game. Let’s break it all down, starting with those non-purple teams that still have a shot at a championship game appearance.
Texas took care of business in Ames, taking out Iowa State 26-16 and putting themselves in the driver’s seat to play in the Big XII Championship game. Rocco Becht did his best to keep the Cyclones in the game, throwing for 323 yards and two touchdowns, but Iowa State’s nine net rushing yards ultimately did them in. That and Texas QB Quinn Ewers who threw for 281 yards and two touchdowns himself. Texas has now won ten games in a season for the first time since 2009 and play Texas Tech at home to make their spot in the title game official. Iowa State goes to Manhattan to take on K-State and try to assure themselves of a winning record while also dashing KSU’s hopes at a title game appearance.
Oklahoma escaped Provo with a 31-24 win over BYU. Oklahoma scored 21 points off of turnovers (sounds familiar) and it was the perfect time to come up huge as Sooners star QB Dillon Gabriel left the game in the first half with what is being described as an upper body injury. He had been playing well before the injury. On the other hand, BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff threw an interception and fumbled the ball four times, losing two of those. Oklahoma plays host to TCU next weekend in an attempt to play in Dallas while BYU finishes the regular season at Oklahoma State.
Speaking of Oklahoma State, the Cowboys took down Houston to keep their title game chances alive as well. They’re in the best position to get in as a win against BYU is all they need (they’ve beaten both Oklahoma and K-State) according to the tiebreaker rules. But they had to beat Houston first and after their no-show in Orlando last weekend, we didn’t know what we were going to get from the Cowboys. What we got was another heavy dose of Ollie Gordon, whose 162 yards rushing and three touchdowns propelled OSU to the 43-30 win. Houston plays away at UCF to finish their inaugural Big XII campaign.
And on to the games that had no title game implications...
Texas Tech became bowl eligible as they beat UCF 24-23. The Red Raiders blocked an extra point (sound familiar?) to maintain a one point lead and then managed to have a massive clock gobbling drive to see the game out. Tahj Brooks led the way, running the ball on 10 of 12 plays before Texas Tech could kneel and run the remaining clock to zeroes. Next up: Tech plays Texas and UCF finishes their first conference season looking for bowl eligibility against Houston.
In what used to be must see TV but is now a mid to bottom of the standings clash of private schools, TCU crushed Baylor 42-17. Horned Frogs quarterback Josh Hoover connected on 24 of 29 passes on the night for 412 yards and two touchdowns. TCU improved to 5-6 on the season and would become bowl eligible if they can spring the upset against Oklahoma while Baylor are pleading for the season to end at 3-8. They’ll get that wish next weekend against West Virginia.
Speaking of the Mountaineers, West Virginia doubled up Cincinnati 42-21 in WVU's final home game of the season. Jahiem White ran for 204 yards and a score as West Virginia took a 28-7 lead into halftime and cruised to the win. As mentioned, the Mountaineers take on Baylor in Waco next weekend while Cincinnati host the Kansas Jayhawks.
Big XII Standings:
- Texas, 10-1, 7-1
- Oklahoma State 8-3, 6-2
- Oklahoma 9-2, 6-2
- K-State, 8-3, 6-2
- West Virginia 7-4, 5-3
- Iowa State 6-5, 5-3
- Texas Tech 6-5, 5-3
- Kansas 7-4, 4-4
- TCU, 5-6, 3-5
- BYU 5-6, 2-6
- UCF 5-6, 2-6
- Houston 4-7, 2-6
- Baylor 3-8, 2-6
- Cincinnati 3-8, 1-7
