Kansas football: Big 12 games over the Jayhawks’ bye week
Kansas football has reached its first of two bye weeks of the season. There are still three Big 12 games this Saturday, including the annual Red River Rivalry game between Texas and Oklahoma.
It’s that time of the year, the dreaded bye week. That doesn’t mean it won’t be exciting though, as a matter of fact, Kansas football fans will have all kinds of great games to watch this week since the Jayhawks won’t be playing.
There are actually a total of four Big 12 teams on their bye week, including Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, and TCU. Despite 40% of the conference not having a game, there are still some really great games on, including the Red River Shootout.
READ MORE: The state of Jayhawk football: Examining the first half of the season
#22 Baylor @ Texas Tech
The top-25 Baylor Bears will head into Lubbock to take on the Red Raiders at 3:00 PM on FS1. Both teams are coming into this week having picked up big wins the previous week. Baylor is currently an 11 point favorite on the road against Texas Tech.
5-0 Baylor is looking to continue their undefeated season under head coach Matt Rhule. The Bears already have an impressive win over Iowa State to their name, in addition to a dominant 31-12 victory over Kansas State last week on the road.
Texas Tech had a big win last Saturday, beating then number 21 ranked Oklahoma State. Red Raider’s quarterback Jett Duffey threw for 424 yards including four touchdowns and no interceptions in the 45-35 win.
Kansas will end up facing both of these teams later this season, so this will be a good one to watch for fans of the Jayhawks. This will probably be a sneaky good game too, with both offenses displaying a lot of firepower in their previous games.
Iowa State @ West Virginia
Iowa State is currently a 10.5 point road favorite over West Virginia. The teams are set to face off at 3:00 PM on ESPN. Both teams are 3-2 and trying to establish themselves in the Big 12.
Iowa State picked up a solid 49-24 win last week over TCU at home. The Cyclones were picked by many to be one of the better teams in the Big 12 this season; however, the Cyclones have already dropped two games this season. There’s a catch though: in the two losses, Iowa State has lost by a combined total of three points.
West Virginia got beat at home by #11 Texas last week 42-31. Mountaineers quarterback Austin Kendall struggled last week throwing four interceptions, three of which led directly to a Longhorn touchdown.
Kansas football played West Virginia this season and lost to the Mountaineers 24-29 at home in the Jayhawks’ Big 12 opener. Iowa State will host Kansas towards the end of the season, so this could be a good game to gauge how well the Jayhawks will fare against the Cyclones.
#6 Oklahoma vs. #11 Texas
The Longhorns and Sooners will square off in the Cotton Bowl for the annual Red River Rivalry. The game will be broadcast on FOX and is set to kickoff at 11:00 AM. Oklahoma is a 10.5 point favorite over Texas as of Wednesday.
5-0 Oklahoma is coming off a win against Kansas football last week in Lawrence. The Sooners didn’t play perfect, but they still picked up the win 45-20. Jalen Hurts did his thing, picking up two touchdowns with his legs as well as throwing for two. The Texas game will undoubtedly have a large effect on Hurts’ Heisman chances, and he’ll have to play sharp against a Texas defense that forced four interceptions last week.
Texas defeated West Virginia last week on the road 42-31 to improve to 4-1 on the season. Sam Ehlinger didn’t look great throwing the ball, going 18/33 for 211 yards two touchdowns and an interception. Ehlinger will have to be more accurate this week if Texas wants to have a shot against Oklahoma.
As mentioned, Kansas has already played, and loss, to Oklahoma; however, Kansas will face Texas next week in Austin. Jayhawk fans will get a good idea of what their Kansas football team is in for next week by the outcome of the Red River rivalry game.
light. Related Story. Jayhawks promote new offensive coordinator
Kansas football really needed the bye week this week, especially since offensive coordinator Les Koenning was just replaced by Brent Dearmon. The time between now and the Texas game should give the Jayhawks a nice break, in addition to letting Dearmon do what he needs to do to get Kansas football’s offense going.