Big 12 Football Power Rankings, Week 1: Is Oklahoma untouchable?
By Dante Pryor
“The Man” Mike Gundy has made it look too easy to recruit in Stillwater. He finds guys that Oklahoma and Texas usually pass over, and puts together consistently good teams.
They were impressive in their first game against the Oregon State Beavers. If new starting quarterback Spencer Sanders plays as well as he did against the Beavers all season, he might be part of the best offensive trio in the Big 12, if not the entire country. It seems as if Gundy is going to a run-centered offense this year by starting the dual-threat quarterback from Denton, Texas. He and sophomore running back Chuba Hubbard combined for 330 rushing yards against Oregon State.
The Cowboys might not be good enough to win the Big 12 this season, but might be good enough to spoil it for someone else — unless that someone else is Oklahoma. The Cowboys have beaten the Sooners twice in the last decade. They won’t be pushed until the third weekend in September when they play the Texas Longhorns in Austin.
In a year where they’re not supposed to be super good, Gundy will find a way to win some he shouldn’t — again, except for Oklahoma.
It’s hard not to love what Matt Rhule is building in Waco, Texas, in light of how he got there. Charlie Brewer is one of the best young quarterbacks in all of college football, and he’s building a solid defense. The Bears cruised pass the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 56-17 in Week 1, but we didn’t really learn much about what the Bears will bring this season.
We’ll see how well he’s built that defense when they take on Iowa State at the end of September, but their run defense will get a pop quiz against Rice the week before. The Owls are a physical run team — ask Army — but they can’t do much else.
Baylor is in an interesting position this year. Last season, the Bears went 7-6 and won their bowl game. Can they take the next step and find another win or two? It’s easier to go from a one-win team to a seven-win team than it is to go from a seven-win team to a 10-win team. Time will tell which way the Bears go.
It always seems as if when no one is talking about the Horned Frogs, TCU has a great season. Well, no one is talking about the Horned Frogs so before we anoint them Big 12 champions, Gary Patterson and co-offensive coordinators Sonny Cumbie and Curtis Luper need to settle on a quarterback since both Max Duggan and Alex Delton played against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
However, the NCAA granted Ohio State transfer Matthew Baldwin his waiver and is immediately ready to play, so who knows which way this is going to turn.
One thing the Horned Frogs do well is bounce back from so-so seasons. They’ve followed 7-6 seasons with 10-2, 11-1 and 11-3 records, respectively. Expect this year to be no different.
Their secondary should be great again this year after giving up just 199 passing yards a game and no touchdown passes in their last three games of the season. They have a playmaker in Jalen Reagor; they just need to decide who’ll get him the ball. There just isn’t much buzz around the Horned Frogs program this year, and that’s just how Patterson likes it. Ignore them at your peril.