Oklahoma State Has Pistols Firing in Stillwater and Other Big 12 Thoughts

By Big12-Fans Writer Josh Cline

First of all, I’d like to congratulate Oklahoma State and Mike Gundy for their impressive 24-17 win over Texas Tech on Saturday. They ran the ball effectively, outgained the usually yard-happy Red Raider attack, and held Taurean Henderson in check to negative yards rushing. It was simply a great performance from a team that needed it the most. Now, this doesn’t mean I think that Mike Gundy is all of the sudden a great head coach, for one game does not make a great coach. I’m not convinced that he’s a good head coach deserving of the job, but perhaps I’m more willing to give him a little more time as Oklahoma State fans surely are after the game. Kudos to the Pokes.

Second of all, it has become apparent that the Buffaloes can thank Baylor for their likely Big 12 Championship game appearance next month. Colorado will likely beat a struggling Nebraska team in two weeks to clinch their fourth appearance in the Big 12 game in the past five seasons. However, with Iowa State’s convincing 30-16 win over the Buffs on Saturday, it is easy to see who is the better football team now. The Cyclones jumped out early on offense and then closed the door with two defensive touchdowns in the second half. Baylor comes into the picture by winning their only Big 12 game of the year in Ames (their first Big 12 road victory ever). Turn that game, or the double overtime loss to Nebraska, around and you will see this Iowa State team in Houston instead of Colorado. One could wonder that if Stevie Hicks were playing in either of those games, could the ‘Clones have pulled off one of them. Just another example of how injuries play a large part in the success of a college football season.

Vince Young announced that he would be coming back for his fifth year as part of the Longhorn football team in the 2006 season, all before routing Kansas 66-14 in Austin on Saturday. I don’t think dollar signs played a role in this outcome, Mark Mangino, it was just a pure whooping put on the Jayhawks. As for Young, I’m not surprised he’s coming back for another year. First off, Mack Brown never loses players to the draft early. He does a good job at keeping players who could have probably left early, such as Cedric Benson and Roy Williams. So, to keep a player of Vince Young’s caliber is nothing new for Brown. Secondly, people keep making noise about how he probably can’t improve his draft status. Now, I’m no scout, but before the year people were grumbling about his passing form and even now will admit it’s not improved, just his accuracy. I attribute Young’s improved passing to a few things, for one, he is improved at limiting mistakes and finding the open receiver before just taking off and running. I also believe that Texas has one of the best offensive lines in the nation and that allows him the time to make his reads and lob the ball into the holes in the defense. I know that the Michael Vick-type QB is all the rage in the NFL, but Young is no Michael Vick yet, and needs the extra year to prove his worth for a second year to the scouts in the NFL. If he can repeat this year in 2006 he will be making big bucks in the NFL…maybe even as a quarterback. If he left this year, I don’t see him getting the same kind of look as a quarterback.

Oklahoma is quietly improving its season this year, improving to 6-3 (5-1) after its 36-30 win over Texas A&M in Norman. For a team that started 2-3, with their best player injured, this is no small feat. To me, the injury of Adrian Peterson was a blessing in disguise for the Sooners. They would have lost against Texas regardless of whether Peterson was at full strength or not and they didn’t lose another game without him. The injury forced Bomar to step up his play and rely on his arm to throw the ball, not just extend it to hand it off to AD. Bomar has improved, he was nearly flawless in the first half against the Aggies, and finished 20/28 for 298 yards in the game. Peterson is now back and Oklahoma won back to back games against Nebraska and Texas A&M, where he rolled up over 130 yards in each. Oklahoma has a realistic shot at finishing 8-3 now with a Cotton Bowl birth…who would have expected that in early October, when even making a bowl was a good question to ponder. Expect Oklahoma to come out firing with Texas Tech this weekend.

This weekend is a short slate for the conference, with only three games in conference. The highlight is Oklahoma @ Texas Tech which can be seen on Fox Sports Net at 11 AM, CT. Other games include Oklahoma State @ Baylor and Missouri @ Kansas State. The Sooners and the Red Raiders will be jockeying for a Cotton Bowl invite while Oklahoma State needs to win this game to keep its bowl chances alive. Meanwhile, Missouri has an outside shot at the Big 12 North title, needing an Iowa State win and a Colorado loss, with a win over Kansas State to have a shot in the three-way tie. It might not be the most attractive weekend of games, but at least they all have postseason implications. Enjoy the weekend of action.

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