Big 12 Football: OU bounces back, puts more pressure on Texas, OK State
A pivotal day for the Big 12 Football conference arrived on Oct. 24, with multiple teams needing wins to keep on near the top of the standings.
The Big 12 football conference had a lot of important games on tap for the weekend, coming off an Oct. 17 slate that featured just one game among the 10 teams. All 10 Big 12 teams are in action this weekend, with a plethora of key games taking place on the mid-afternoon slate at 2:30 p.m. CT.
The three most crucial games around the Big 12 this weekend are Oklahoma State-Iowa State, Texas-Baylor, and Oklahoma-TCU. The Texas football program taking on the Baylor Bears was a key game among .500 teams that needed to get an edge for the remainder of the Big 12 schedule. Texas needs a win over Baylor to take a lot of the pressure off of the shoulders of head coach Tom Herman.
Entering this matchup with Baylor on one of the hotter seats in the entire country, Herman needed his team to come up big. Baylor is a very winnable game for the Longhorns, who entered the game as a double-digit point favorite.
And with head coach Lincoln Riley and his Sooners coming through in a big way knocking off the TCU Horned Frogs on the road in Fort Worth in the first slate of games today, the pressure ratcheted up a bit on teams like Oklahoma State, Kansas State, and Texas. Oklahoma got the best of TCU by the final score of 33-14.
That was a big response from the Sooners after they nearly were upset by the Longhorns in the Red River Rivalry game back on Oct. 10.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Spencer Rattler had a solid bounce back game, with more than 330 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and no interceptions. Most of the passing production from Rattler in the win over TCU went to standout wide receiver Marvin Mims (132 receiving yards and two scores).
Moreover, Oklahoma State came into their matchup with Iowa State as the lone remaining undefeated team in the Big 12. They held the No. 6 ranking in the latest AP Poll heading into the weekend. Oklahoma State is also the best College Football Playoff hope for the Big 12 at this point of the season.
One more loss for the Longhorns in Big 12 play and they might be effectively eliminated in the race to land a spot in the conference championship game on Dec. 19. Texas has already lost to Oklahoma and TCU in the Big 12 this season.
dark. Next. 3 bold predictions for Texas vs. Baylor
Texas and Baylor are tied at 3 in the first half, and Oklahoma State and Iowa State are tied at 7 around the same point in their game. Neither has clear separation or a better looking side. But Oklahoma State and Texas (two of the Big 12’s three preseason favorites along with the Sooners) need to have a bit more urgency in their game before they meet next weekend in Stillwater.