Big 12 Football Recap – Week Three

After each weekend of Big 12 play we’ll look at how things turned out for the Big 12 conference.

This week was jam packed with Big 12 football action. TCU got its first Big 12 Conference win, Oklahoma State bounced back last losing to Arizona last week, and the Texas Longhorns defeated Ole Miss in a Big 12/SEC game.

Sept 15, 2012; Stillwater OK, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys spirit rider and mascot Bullet during the first quarter against the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns at Boone Pickens Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Saturday, September 15th

TCU (2-0, 1-0) 20 @ Kansas (1-2, 0-1) 6 – The Horned Frogs opened up conference play with a game against the Jayhawks in Lawrence. Casey Pachall threw for 335 yards and two touchdowns, both to wide receiver, Brandon Carter. The Jayhawk defense came to play as they forced four turnovers in the game. However, the Kansas offense could not back them up. For example, Kansas’ defense forced a fumble in the first half and Dayne Crist threw an interception on the next play.

Louisiana-Lafayette (2-1) 24 @ Oklahoma State (2-1) 65 – Oklahoma State suffered a huge injury early in the game after starting quarterback, Wes Lunt, dislocated his knee cap. J.W. Walsh came in for the injured Lunt and threw 347 yards and four touchdowns. Joseph Randle also had a big game for the Cowboys as he carried the ball 21 times and ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns.

James Madison (2-1) 12 @ West Virginia (2-0) 42 – Geno Smith had another insane passing game for the Mountaineers in their victory over the Dukes. He went 34-for-39 and threw for 411 yards and five touchdowns. This marked the second straight year that a Big 12 quarterback has as many incompletions as TD passes after two games. The last quarterback to achieve this stat was Robert Griffin III, the 2011 Heisman Trophy Winner. Smith’s main target was Stedman Bailey who had 13 receptions for 173 yards and three touchdowns.

North Texas (2-1) 21 @ Kansas State (3-0) 35 – Do not let the score fool you, the Wildcats were pretty sloppy against the Mean Green. If it wasn’t for Colin Klein’s performance and a 94-yard kick return touchdown by Tyler Locket, KSU could have been 2-1 before their Week 4 game at Oklahoma. Klein threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns, but he also ran for 85 yards and one touchdown.

New Mexico (1-2) 14 @ Texas Tech (3-0) 49 – If David Ash wasn’t enough last week for New Mexico, Seth Doege gave them more throwing power in their game this week. Doege threw for 340 yards and six touchdowns. The rushing attack for the Red Raiders was also working on all cylinders. Texas Tech had two running backs with over 100-yards in the game. Eric Stephens Jr. had 118 yards with one touchdowns on 12 carries while Kenny Williams had 105 yards on 14 carries.

Sam Houston State (1-1) 23 @ Baylor (2-0) 48 – Baylor found themselves in a similar position as Kansas State this week. The Bears trailed Sam Houston State 20-10 at halftime. However, Baylor rallied in the second half to avoid an upset. Nick Florence was the centerpiece of this rally as he threw two touchdowns in the second half. He finished the day with 312 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions.

Western Illinois (2-1) 3 @ Iowa State (3-0) 37 – Iowa State did not play their best football on Saturday, but they still blew out Western Illinois. Despite turnovers and penalties by the Cyclones, Steele Jantz still had a heck of a game. He threw for 209 yards and three touchdowns with two of them being to Chris Young. The Cyclones will now get a week off before playing Texas Tech.

Texas (3-0) 66 @ Ole Miss (2-1) 31 – Texas looked to have everything working against its SEC foe in Week 3. The Longhorns started off the night running the ball against Ole Miss. Malcolm Brown carried the load for Texas on the ground as he had 128 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries. After that got boring, they let David Ash get in on the fun. Ash threw for 326 yards and four touchdowns. Despite winning the game, Texas’ defense did get torched in a way as Ole Miss’ Donte Moncrief had 144 receiving yards and one touchdown.

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