Big 12 Football Power Rankings, Week 3: Oklahoma can’t be stopped
By Dante Pryor
There’s a case to be made that West Virginia could be last after their game against Missouri. We know what Kansas is as a football program, and that’s why they are last. The Jayhawks being No. 10 is very much a cumulative grade they’ve earned over the course of years of futility. Oh, and there’s the lost to the Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina.
A couple of FYIs about both the university and their mascot in case you didn’t know:
- One, a Chanticleer is a mythical rooster from fairy tales.
- Coastal Carolina is in Conway, S.C. The only thing I’ve heard of in South Carolina is South Carolina.
Kansas has a long road to respectability. The fact that the Jayhawks only scored one touchdown against a team that gave up 30 points to Eastern Michigan lets you know they aren’t ready to compete in the Big 12.
Speaking of long roads, when you beat James Madison by 7 points — and JMU is a very good team in the FCS — you know that you might be in trouble this year. This might be a zero year for Neal Brown and the Mountaineers.
Everything in Morgantown is new. Brown is new, Oklahoma transfer quarterback Austin Kendall is new, and even the offense is new. The offensive line has some major questions, and even Kendall didn’t snatch the starting quarterback job away from Miami transfer Jack Allison. They looked like a team attempting to figure it out against Missouri. It didn’t help that the Tigers were ornery from let upset loss at Wyoming the previous week. Defensively they weren’t very good defending dual-threat quarterback Kelly Bryant.
It won’t get any easier this week when they face quarterback Matthew McKay and the North Carolina Wolfpack. We’ll definitely know how much talent is on the Mountaineer offensive line when they have to contend with the NC State pass rush. They weren’t great against Missouri, giving up three sacks and 13 tackles for loss.
The Wildcats travel to Starkville to play the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Chris Klieman has had time to install his system by playing what amounts to two preseason games against Nicholls and Bowling Green State. We’ll see his offense for the first time against real competition on the road in an SEC stadium. After this weekend, Klieman will know what he has on offense.
How they’re tested defensively depends on whether or not Penn State transfer Tommy Stevens plays for the Bulldogs. The offense might look a little different without him in the lineup. However, the Wildcats will have to defend Bulldogs running back Kylin Hill. A good showing might move the Wildcats up the rankings.
If Hawaii quarterback Cole McDonald lit up Arizona for 378 yards and four touchdowns, Alan Bowman might have a record evening against the Wildcats. Look at these defensive numbers through two games for the Wildcats: 518.5 yards allowed per game (they’ve played Hawaii and Northern Arizona) 404.5 passing yards allowed and 43 points per game. This Arizona defense has to defend Alan Bowman and the high-powered Red Raider attack.
This might sound like hyperbole, but Texas Tech might just get the over by themselves.
In all seriousness, this should be a fun game with a lot of points scored. For what it’s worth, Texas Tech has given up 6.5 points per game, but they’ve not seen anything close to Khalil Tate and J.J. Taylor. They’ve been stout against Montana State and UTEP, so we’ll see what they are after this shootout in Tuscon.