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A rough weekend for the Big Twelve conference got underway on Friday evening when defending champion Kansas State fell at home to North Dakota State. The Wildcats showed two glaring issues that could end up haunting them for the remainder of the season. They couldn't stop the Bison on the ground and they couldn't get a rushing attack of their own going. The Wildcats were out gained on the ground by a count of 215 yards to 41.
The feel good story of the weekend belongs to Texas Tech walk-on freshman quarterback Baker Mayfield who led the Red Raiders to a 41-23 win at SMU on Friday. Mayfield completed 43/60 passes for 413 yards and four touchdowns. He also had a rushing score to make him responsible for five total touchdowns on the evening. Subbing for an injured Michael Brewer, Mayfield may have created a quarterback controversy in West Texas.
Week One Big 12 Football Scores
Texas Tech 41 - SMU 23
NDSU 24 - Kansas State 21
West Virginia 24 - William & Mary 17
Oklahoma State 21 - Mississippi State 3
Oklahoma 34 - ULM 0
Baylor 69 - Wofford 3
Northern Iowa 28 - Iowa State 20
Texas 56 - New Mexico State 7
LSU 37 - TCU 27
West Virginia scored an unimpressive 24-17 victory over William & Mary and spared the Big Twelve another upset home loss to an FCS school. However, the Mountaineers may have more questions than answers as their high-powered offense struggled to put points on the board and was an abysmal 2-10 on third down.
Oklahoma State starting quarterback Clint Choo-Choo Chelf got railroaded to the bench by head coach Mike Gundy after just a couple of offensives possessions. J.W. Walsh was inserted into the game and directed the Cowboys to three scoring drives by passing for 135 yards and rushing for 125 more. Former OSU receiver Colton Chelf (brother to Clint Chelf) wasn't real happy about the quarterback switch and made no bones about it. Could there be a quarterback controversy in Stillwater?
As much as we hate giving Oklahoma State credit for anything, we have to give them props for scoring the Big Twelve's most significant win of the weekend.
Oklahoma's new quarterback received mixed reviews as Sooner fans are hoping that it was nerves that contributed to a rough start for Trevor Knight. The redshirt freshman ended up throwing three touchdown passes and rushing for over a hundred yards in OU's 34-0 win but also showed that he's got plenty of room for improvement. The story here was the Sooner defense which pitched a shutout for the first time since 2010.
Baylor beat Wofford 69-3 and that's pretty much all that needs to be said about that...other than to reiterate that it was Wofford.
Iowa State's bowl chances took a hit on Saturday evening when the Cyclones dropped their season opener to Northern Iowa. ISU had to settle for field goals twice in the second half and that ended up being the difference maker in the game. This loss may be more costly to the Big Twelve than was Kansas State's when you consider bowl eligibility and conference power rankings.
Texas quarterback David Ash threw four touchdown passes in leading his team to a 56-7 victory. Before anyone gets too carried away, it should be noted that it was against a New Mexico St team that has now lost twelve consecutive games in a row. More than being excited about his four touchdown passes, I would be concerned about the two interceptions that Ash threw against one of the worst defenses in college football.
The game of the day for the Big Twelve was TCU going up against SEC power LSU. While you have to applaud the Frogs effort, they were just a step behind Les Miles and company all day.