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Big 12's Week Four Top Performers, Surprises And Down Right Disasters

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The fourth week of the college football season brought us our first taste of conference action along with a second serving of a Big 12/ACC match-up. Can we just pause for a second and say that after OU beat Florida State and then Kansas State beat Miami the Big 12 owns the ACC? Yeah, that won't start an argument at all.

The Big 12 may be a bit watered down with the absence of Nebraska and Colorado this year but the offenses are just as potent as ever. If you thought that conference play would slow down the offensive machines then you were absolutely, positively wrong. The epic battle of Oklahoma State and Texas A&M produced 59 total points and 955 total yards of offense while the shootout between Oklahoma and Missouri yielded 66 points and 1,124 yards. Then there's the massive onslaught that Baylor continues to pour on out of conference, which included a 56 point 673 yard performance against Rice. 

Top Offenses 

Team Total Points Total Yards
Baylor 56 673
Oklahoma 38 592
Missouri 28 532

Of course high powered offenses yield gaudy stats for quarterbacks and the Big 12 is quickly earning the reputation of producing some of the best college quarterbacks in the nation. 

Top QB Performances 

Quarterback Yards Completion% TDs INTs
Robert Griffin 338 87.9% 5 0
Brandon Weeden 438 78.3% 2 0
Landry Jones 448 72.9% 3 2

Baylor's Robert Griffin III has established himself as the Big 12's premier quarterback through the first month of the season. Through the first three games of the season he's completed 85.4% of his passes for 962 yards with 13 touchdowns and no interceptions. He's also rushed for 158 yards and a score. Be afraid defensive coordinators...be very afraid!

QB Surprises

Quarterback Yards Completion% TDs INTs
Ryan Tannehill 309 59.6% 2 3

There's no denying that this was the biggest game of the season for the Aggies. Their season was derailed last year with a loss in Stillwater and ironically it was turnovers by quarterback Jerrod Johnson that opened the door to defeat. Texas A&M was bent on leaving the Big 12 with a conference championship and playing the role of a BCS contender. Tannehill was just one of two Big 12 quarterbacks to complete less than 60% of his passes and his three interceptions were a crucial part of the Aggies seeing their dreams flushed away. 

Top RB Performances 

Running Back Yards Average Per Carry TDs
John Hubert 166 9.2 1
Eric Stephens 134 5.2 2
Henry Josey 133 9.5 1

The Kansas State Wildcats rode the legs of John Hubert to victory over the Miami Hurricanes, Texas Tech needed every inch of Eric Stephens 134 rushing yards and the Missouri Tigers have got to find a way to get the ball into the hands of Henry Josey more often. 

RB Surprises 

Running Back Yards Average Per Carry TDs
Christine Michael 62 10.3 0

So...just to be clear...A&M has a 20-3 lead at the half and a running back who averaged 10.3 yards per carry for the game. Yet the squandered their lead and the back who averaged double digit yards per carry only touched the ball six times. Anyone else surprised by that?

RB Disasters

Running Back Yards Average Per Carry TDs
Cyrus Gray 35 2.7 0

Gray got more than half the carries of Michael and just barely over half the yards. I had the Aggies with the best running back duo in the conference but its going to take a lot more than this to prove me right. A whole lot more!

Top Receiving Performances 

Receiver Receptions Yards Average TDs
Ryan Broyles 13 154 11.8 3
Justin Blackmon 11 121 11 1
Josh Cooper 11 123 11.2 0

What else can you say about Ryan Broyles that hasn't already been said. Simply put, he's the best in the business. It also says a lot that the top three receivers of week four are from the state of Oklahoma. 

Top Defensive Performances 

Team Points Allowed Yards Allowed
Kansas State 28 411
Baylor  31 416
Oklahoma State 29 484

You don't think the conference season is going to be fun? The top three defenses for the week each surrendered over 400 yards of offense and an average of 29 points with only one of them playing against a Big 12 offense. 

Defensive Disasters

Team Points Allowed Yards Allowed
Texas Tech 34 562

That was what the Red Raiders gave up against Nevada. Just imagine what conference teams like Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M can do.