The slate of games this week was huge for the Big 12. 7 of the 9 teams played Power 5 schools and exceeded expectations. Putting the rest of the country on notice that the Big 12 may be deeper than people expected.
The bottom of the conference looked like completely different teams after demoralizing Week 2’s. Kansas shocked the world and throttled Boston College. It was Kansas’ first Non-Conference Power 5 win since 2008.
West Virginia bounced back and beat North Carolina State at home. Although, I do not think NC State will be that good, it’s a huge win for Neal Brown. Gaining confidence for next week’s matchup in Lawrence.
Big 12 defenses came to play
The go to knock on the Big 12 is the “No Defense Conference”. In this case, the Big 12 stepped up and played well defensively.
The conference as a whole went 7-2 and not one team gave up more than 28 points. Purdue was held by TCU to a seldom 13. UCLA was able to only get 14 on Oklahoma.
This also brings into another discussion on how well The Big 12 has played against the SEC. The SEC is considered by many to be the anonymous best conference. The Big 12 has faired well against them over the past few years
They improved that record to 10-9 over the past 3 years with the Kansas State win over Mississippi State.
There will be points given up in conference play. However, limiting other conferences show these defenses are built to succeed against other conferences.
Chuba Hubbard explodes in a road win
The offense did look out of sync for parts of the game, but Hubbard was locked in. After sharing carries from Justice Hill, he has made an impact in the short few weeks.
On 32 carries, Hubbard rushed for 256 yards and 3 touchdowns against Tulsa. In 3 games, Hubbard has matched his touchdown total from last year.
With all of that being said however, the competition is taken up a notch. Texas has a much better defense than any of the 3 Okie State has played. Hubbard has played well, but the chances those numbers stay consistent are highly unlikely.
Kansas & West Virginia shock the country
It is crazy how much can change in a week. Kansas and West Virginia looked like two of the worst Power 5 teams. Combining for 14 points and embarrassing losses. Now, they combined for 92 points and snagged huge wins and momentum for next week.
Kansas was able to establish a 1-2 punch at Running Back. Herbert and Williams combined for over 300 yards and each had a touchdown. Carter Stanley had his best night in Jayhawk uniform and they shut out BC in the 2nd half.
For West Virginia, Austin Kendall woke up and played great. He finished with 272 yards, to go along with 3 passing touchdowns. Sam James emerged and an inexperienced NC State team came out of Morgantown with a loss.
The Irony in all of this is that Kansas and West Virginia will play each other next week. I don’t have high expectations for either, but this makes next week’s matchup very interesting.
Darius Anderson is hitting his stride
Anderson had so much hype surrounding him after his Sophomore season. His Junior year was filled with injuries, sharing carries, and a depleted offense.
He ran for 179 yards and 2 touchdowns against TCU and ripped up Purdue’s defense. Although Sewo is still in the backfield, Anderson will get his fair share of opportunities.
The QB play was atrocious on Saturday, so Darius might be relied on more often as the season goes along. Max Duggan and Alex Delton combined for a mere 75 passing yards. Most teams aren’t going to have worse run defenses than Purdue.
How this works out is still left to be seen, but with more chances, this performance might not be a fluke.
Power Rankings:
Oklahoma (3-0)
Texas (3-0)
Baylor (2-0)
TCU (2-0)
Oklahoma State (3-0)
Kansas State (3-0)
Iowa State (1-1)
Texas Tech (2-1)
West Virginia (2-1)
Kansas (2-1)
Image Credit: https://thecomeback.com/ncaa/jalen-hurts-put-up-almost-350-first-half-yards-against-ucla.html
