Stacked

It’s week six already. Remember three or four months ago when you couldn’t wait for that last week of August to get here? College football was coming and you could feel the excitement? It’s almost halfway over, so I hope you’re enjoying it.

This is the second week of conference play and should cast a little more light on what the Big 12 as a conference has to offer the rest of the year. As a slate of games goes, there are few weekends that will match it left in conference play. Whatever you do, plant yourself in front of the television away from the wife and babies, grab a cooler full of adult beverages of your choice and don’t move from noon to eleven. If you do, you will miss something you wish you hadn’t. I can promise you that.

I’ll start my day with Texas A&M’s trip to Lawrence. As many of you know, I’m not a fan of that maroon brigade and was quite pleased with the outcome of their game last week. I am gathering something of a soft spot for the Ags with each passing week however, mainly because I know there’s no way Fran will be there next year. Maybe he’ll get to seven wins and they’ll put another extension in front of him. I can only hope. This trip to Kansas is no joke. Kansas fought tooth and nail last week, taking the Huskers to overtime after leading late in the game. Once again they proved they just don’t have the ammo to pull one out against a better opponent on the road. This game, while likely ineffectual on the outcome of the conference, will still be a big game. Whereas most games are good because the teams perform at high levels, this is quite the opposite. Neither quarterback looked like they could find the broad side of a barn with a bazooka last week. Adam Barmann was 27 of 54 while Stephen McGee went 9 of 20. The running games for both teams are solid, but neither coach is willing to use it to win a game. In the end, it could go either way as both defenses are softer than that roll of Charmin you’ll need around 3:15.

When you’re done with the Charmin, sit back down and enjoy the main event of the day and focal point of the Big 12 football season, if not the nation. The winner of this game found itself in the national championship game the last three years and four of the last six. It’s the fiercest rivalry in the conference and always has huge national implications. Oklahoma’s defense will try to exploit young Colt McCoy. The Texas offensive line is far and away the best and deepest in the country, so if it happens, look up in the boxes, because somebody got out coached. Adrian Peterson will need to get started early and carry the load for the Sooners, because Paul Thompson will not win this game for OU. At 61.4% and 945 yards passing, he’s showing he can get some yards and not kill drives. But with only eight touchdowns and three interceptions, he’s displayed very little ability to put a team on his back and get them into the endzone. Both teams are a shell of their former powerhouse squads, but that doesn’t take anything away from each team’s ability to run the table after this contest. A win here could vault OU up into the top ten if the right people lose, and put Texas in the top five. As a little side not here, the moronic aggie governor of my fair state made a comment about Oklahoma’s trip across the Red River not being a waste because they could come and look at UT’s national championship trophy. Somebody let Rick Perry know getting one in 35 years is severely trumped by Oklahoma, who has seven, four since 1974.

Speaking of national championships, that moves us to the 6:30 game where neither team is being touted as even being close to one, and likely for good reason. That said, Texas Tech and Missouri are doing what they can to elevate from also ran status to contenders. Tech had to battle hard to get a win at Kyle field last week over a very mediocre Aggie squad. Misery has run through their opponents like gangbusters, partly because their schedule has a 5-15 record (not including Murray State) and two of their opponents’ losses come to IAA schools. Think Missouri might be out to prove their schedule isn’t a joke? They’ll have the opportunity to show it at Jones Stadium in Lubbock. The Jones will be rocking and rowdy as it ever was for a night game on TV between two ranked teams. Both offenses are high flying and led by two of Texas’s most highly touted quarterbacks over the last ten years. For high school enthusiasts, this is a matchup that never did take place. Chase Daniel’s Southlake-Carroll High School and Graham Harrell’s Ennis High School are just sixty miles apart in the Dallas area, but different classifications and graduation years separated the two from any relevant competition. Harrell and Daniel are averaging 311 and 254 yards per game respectively and both quarterbacks are in the mid-sixties in completion percentage. But in games where the offenses tend to equal out, it’ll fall on the defenses’ shoulders, and that’s where the Tigers have the edge. They are able to pressure the QB with a four man rush and are relentless in their pursuit. Tech’s defense is very vulnerable in the middle and has yet to stop a running game. It’s a good thing for the Raiders that Missouri doesn’t do too much of that. This one is a showdown of the new breed of offense in college football and represents a huge win for the two teams closest to reaching Big Boy status.

When I talk about Big Boys, I feel it’s necessary to mention that Nebraska is doing it’s best to give away their Big Boy card, but nobody in the North wants to take it. They tried to give it Colorado, and while they won the North a few times, they couldn’t cash that golden ticket. They did everything in their power to give away a game at home to Kansas, after Kansas humiliated them last year, and Kansas politely said, “No thank you.” Zac Taylor is holding up his end of the bargain. He’s reading defenses and hitting open men so the only responsibility passed on to the receiver is to run to the paint. If only the running game could get going. In two games against BCS competition, this once formidable rushing attack’s top two producers have amassed 146 yards on forty six carries for 3.17 ypc. They will need more than that when they travel to Iowa State. Did I forget to mention that’s who they were playing? That’s probably because with the exception of Colorado, there hasn’t been a less impressive team in the Big 12 this year. Sure you can tell me Baylor and Kansas State haven’t done anything. Did you really expect to be comparing Iowa State to those two before this season began? They beat Toledo in overtime. A win over UNLV came down to the closing seconds. Iowa reminded them that they are Iowa State by crowning them soundly and Northern Iowa almost forgot about their IAA status as they took the Clones to the wire. This is a team that was supposed to contend for the North and they scraped by to get to 2-2 through their first four. So at 8:30, sit back, relax and find out who wants it least, because that team will inevitably give this game away.

At the onset of this week, I wanted to only cover the TV games because they stack up so well. But so do the radio games. Baylor will try to hit for the Big 12 cycle week by beating the teams they should. Last week against Kansas State and this week against Colorado may be all they have to hope for, but at least CJ Wilson still thinks they’re in the national title hunt. Baylor’s offense just hasn’t taken off like they hoped it would, and Colorado seems to get better every game.

Oklahoma State continues their attempt to be the team in the Big 12 receiving the least publicity. I know three things about the Pokes right now: The first, Bobby Reid could wind up being one of the best players in the conference. The second, they lost to Houston (who is not the typical Houston) and third, they wear orange. They’re 3-1 right now and nobody outside of Oklahoma seems to know anything about them. They’ll likely beat Kansas State this week by some ambiguous two score deficit and we’ll still know nothing about where they stand. That's what Ron Prince hopes for, anyway. He's taken freshman Josh Freeman out of the can, tossed him in a dish and is calling the dogs to feed. Freeman doesn't look ready to lead this team, he lacks that freshman physicality you see in starting freshmen, and he is a target. If the Wildcats had an offensive line that could protect him, I might feel differently, but this almost equates to manslaughter and Freeman's as good as Alpo.

Either way, conference play is in full swing and I just hope you all enjoy it. We’ll look up in a month and a half and I’ll be writing bowl previews. So for one week, sit down and watch every TV team you can. They’re stacked perfectly. So much so that you’ll have enough time to go to the bathroom, the corner store, or maybe even take a shower for those of you that are into that. Remember, at least once a week whether you need it or not.

Good luck this weekend.