2009 Big 12 ... Week 3
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Week 1
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2
GAME OF THE WEEK
at Texas 34 … Texas Tech 24
In a sluggish and sloppy game, Jordan Shipley sparked the Longhorns with a 46-yard punt return for a touchdown, and Tre Newton ran for a 19-yard score on the way to a 17-3 lead.
Cody Johnson and Tre Newton each ran for touchdowns in the third
quarter, and Colt McCoy connected with Dan Buckner for a three-yard
touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. Texas Tech kept battling back with three Taylor Potts touchdown passes, but three turnovers, including two late miscues, helped Texas put it away. Texas Tech ended up with -6 rushing yards.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Texas WR Jordan Shipley caught 11 passes for 73 yards and returned a punt 46 yards for a touchdown in the win over Texas Tech.
Instant Analysis - Texas 34 ... Texas Tech 24
Instant Analysis - Va Tech 16 ... Nebraska 15
CONFENCE ROUNDUP
Baylor… Connecticut 30 ... at Baylor 22
... This was a game the Bears had to win. It was at home against a good Big East team, but the defense couldn’t hold up against the power of UConn while the offense couldn’t do enough to open things up for the ground game. Outside of one big run from Jay Finley early on, the ground game did nothing the rest of the way and the passing attack couldn’t pick up the slack. As good as Robert Griffin is, he has to go from being an efficient short range passer to an effective midlevel thrower; he needs his receivers, at least outside of Kendall Wright, to start doing more.
Colorado … at Colorado 24 ... Wyoming 0 ... Colorado finally got a win thanks to a good defensive performance, a must after getting gouged by Toledo, and with the running game finally looking like the Colorado running game. Rodney Stewart showed once again why he’s the team’s best rushing option, especially with Darrell Scott out, carrying the workload and talking all the pressure off Cody Hawkins. Hawkins still has to prove he can produce again against a team with a decent defense, but he’ll have two weeks to prepare and improve before dealing with West Virginia. Colorado needs to take a deep breath and start to just play. This isn’t the best team in the Big 12, but it’ll come up with a few nice wins if the defense can be as aggressive as it was against the anemic Cowboy attack. But to have any real hope of getting to a bowl, Hawkins has to be better.
Iowa State … at Iowa State 34 ... Kent State 14 ... After getting benched against Iowa, QB Austen Arnaud came back with a decent game, but not a great one. He wasn’t quite sharp enough in the passing game, completing 13-of-21 passes, but he moved the offense in the easy win. Alexander Robinson is the star to work around, but he’ll be the main focal point of every defense the rest of the way. The success of the season rests on Arnaud, who has to be nearly perfect for the Cyclones to do much in the Big 12.
Kansas … at Kansas 44 ... Duke 16 ... The offense is humming. It might have only been against Duke, but once Todd Reesing got hot, he worked with his star targets, along with his backs out of the backfield, to keep the Blue Devils on their heels. Jake Sharp got a little bit or work, but the bigger, stronger runner, Toben Opurum, showed that he can carry the load if needed. With Southern Miss up next before Big 12 play starts, he’ll get more work to keep Sharp fresh.
Kansas State … at UCLA 23 ... Kansas State
9 ... When Kansas State was rocking and rolling, it had a back it could count on to crank out big yards no matter what, and there was always a decent running quarterback who could take off from time to time to scare an opposing linebacking corps. Carson Coffman is mobile, but he doesn’t make anyone worry, while Daniel Thomas hasn’t quite come through as a dangerous runner. The Wildcats need plenty of work, but they stayed alive against UCLA. To be better once Big 12 play kicks in, there can’t be any mistake, like the two interceptions Coffman threw.
Missouri … at Missouri 52 ... Furman 12 ... Furman kept the pressure on all game long by bombing away, but it didn’t matter. The Tiger offense was humming in the first half with Blaine Gabbert in perfect command and the running game taking over later. It was a good tune-up after a lousy performance against Bowling Green the week before, and with Nevada and its ground game coming up next, the Tiger D got to practice a bit by being more aggressive against a Furman offense that was never going to threaten. The one area that needs improving will be the penalties after committing nine for 75 yards.
Nebraska … at Virginia Tech 16 ... Nebraska 15 ... This isn’t a game Nebraska would lose twice, and it’s not a game the coaching staff would blow twice. Call it a learning experience for Bo Pelini. The offense couldn’t put the game away after being tentative late, and it blew the coverage leading to the 81-yard pass to finish the Tech drive with the game-winning touchdown. Roy Helu did a little of everything to carry the Husker offense, but to make any real noise in the Big 12, Zac Lee can’t go 11-of-30 with two interceptions.
Oklahoma …at Oklahoma 45 ... Tulsa 0 ... Landry Jones is starting to find his niche, but he’s also still making a few too many mistakes. He got time to work, and while he wasn’t always on and he threw two interceptions, he played well enough to not have to be hidden against the better teams. The rushing punch of Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray did a nice job, and the receivers took short to midrange passes for several huge plays, but Jones also kept cool under fire and he had the type of confidence-building game he needed to have going forward. If he’s the main man under center against Miami and Texas, which it’s looking more and more like he’ll be, he needs to be able to show he can consistently shine without making too many errors.
Oklahoma State … at Oklahoma State 41 ... Rice 24 ... Uh oh. It’s time to officially panic. Oklahoma State only gained 351 yards against a miserable Rice defense and needed to work far too hard to get the win. Zac Robinson was fine, but he continues to be underwhelming while Dez Bryant, even though he has been maligned by his coaching staff, has all but carried the tremendously disappointing attack. The defense should’ve been better and allowed Rice to bomb its way back into a game that should’ve been a far easier win. Is this a case of the team not being focused and waiting for the Big 12 season to kick in? The Cowboys had better be able to turn it on in a hurry.
Texas … at Texas 34 ... Texas Tech 24 ... It might not have been a pretty performance for the Longhorns, but Colt McCoy was able to use several of his receivers, he got help from RB Tre Newton, and he eventually found a little bit of a rhythm. The defense did a great job of getting continuous pressure on Texas Tech QB Taylor Potts, and after struggling to produce over the first few games, LB-turned-DE Sergio Kindle came up big. The team isn’t going to be happy with the overall performance and will want more consistency, but it’s still a nice Big 12 win over Texas Tech. It’s a plus to play poorly and beat a good team by ten.
Texas A&M … at Texas A&M 38 ... Utah State 30 ...On the plus side, the A&M offense was humming with Uzoma Nwachukwu emerging as a fantastic new playmaker who’ll need the ball in a variety of ways. Unfortunately, his emergence came as star RB Christine Michael suffered an injured calf and WR Jeff Fuller suffered a broken leg. The offense is going to put up big yards and plenty of points all season long, but the defense is going to give them up just as quickly. The other big problem are the penalties, committing 16. The defensive front generated pressure and made things happen in the backfield, but it struggled too much with QB Diondre Borel and RB Robert Turbin. There could have just as many problems with UAB QB Joe Webb next week.
Texas Tech… at Texas 34 ... Texas Tech 24 ... With a little more time and maturity, Texas Tech wins this game. Taylor Potts made a few bad decisions and was under a bit too much pressure, but in his first really big game, he handled himself extremely well. The team needs to find some semblance of a running game, even for Texas Tech, with -6 yards, and the penalties were a major problem with 14 for 108 yards. Tech needed to be perfect to beat the Longhorns, and wasn’t.
Friday, Sept. 25
Missouri at Nevada
Saturday, Sept. 26
Northwestern State at Baylor
Army at
Iowa State
Southern Miss at
Kansas
Tennessee Tech at
Kansas State
UL Lafayette at
Nebraska
Grambling State at
Oklahoma State
UTEP at
Texas
UAB at
Texas A&M
Texas Tech at Houston
Thursday, Oct. 1
Colorado at West Virginia
Saturday, Oct. 3
Kent State at Baylor
Kansas State vs.
Iowa State (in KC)
Oklahoma at Miami
Arkansas vs.
Texas A&M (in Dallas)
New Mexico at
Texas Tech
Thursday, Oct. 8
Nebraska at Missouri
Saturday, Oct. 10
Baylor at Oklahoma
Colorado at Texas
Iowa State at Kansas
Kansas State at Texas Tech
Oklahoma State at Texas A&M
Saturday, Oct. 17
Baylor at Iowa State
Kansas at
Colorado
Texas A&M at
Kansas State
Missouri at Oklahoma State
Texas Tech at
Nebraska
Oklahoma vs. Texas (in
Dallas)
Saturday, Oct. 24
Oklahoma State at Baylor
Colorado at Kansas State
Iowa State at Nebraska
Oklahoma at
Kansas
Texas at Missouri
Texas A&M at Texas Tech
Saturday, Oct. 31
Nebraska at Baylor
Missouri at
Colorado
Iowa State at Texas A&M
Kansas at Texas Tech
Kansas State at Oklahoma
Texas at
Oklahoma State
Saturday, Nov. 7
Baylor at Missouri
Texas A&M at
Colorado
Oklahoma State at
Iowa State
Kansas at Kansas State
Oklahoma at
Nebraska
UCF at
Texas
Saturday, Nov. 14
Texas at Baylor
Colorado at Iowa State
Nebraska at
Kansas
Missouri at
Kansas State
Texas A&M at
Oklahoma
Texas Tech at Oklahoma State
Thursday, Nov. 19
Colorado at Oklahoma State
Saturday, Nov. 21
Baylor at Texas A&M
Iowa State at Missouri
Kansas at Texas
Kansas State at Nebraska
Oklahoma at Texas Tech
Thursday, Nov. 26
Texas at
Texas A&M
Friday, Nov. 27
Nebraska at Colorado
Saturday, Nov. 28
Texas Tech at Baylor
Kansas vs. Missouri (in KC)
Oklahoma State at
Oklahoma
Saturday, Dec. 5
Big 12 Championship Game
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