Big 12 Football: Week 13 Power Rankings
By VF Castro
3. West Virginia Mountaineers (Record: 9-2)
For Texas Tech, cold weather seemed to be an issue, but for West Virginia–a team that played in a “Snow Bowl” the week prior against Oklahoma–the weather was no problem in its 49-19 route over Iowa State in Ames.
Coming off a huge win against Texas Tech, pundits threw caution on West Virginia that Iowa State’s record wasn’t an exact indicator on just how good they were. West Virginia clearly paid attention and dialed up the game plan accordingly, despite closely matched stat lines.
The Mountaineers only allowed Iowa State to score a single touchdown on a 97 yard kickoff return by Kene Nwangwu. Otherwise, capitalizing on fumbles and mental errors by the Cyclones put West Virginia at a clear advantage throughout the game. As previously mentioned, quarterback Skyler Howard threw five touchdowns to tie his single game record, in addition to throwing for 330 yards.
West Virginia lost a shot at the Playoff or conference title against the Sooners at home two weeks ago, but thanks to losses by a few teams this weekend including Michigan, and Louisville, if the Mountaineers can close out the season at 10-2 with a win over Baylor this weekend, it could be looking at a prime bowl spot.
Next Game:
| Sat, Dec 03 | West Virginia | vs. | Baylor | Morgantown, W. Va. | FS1 |