Predicting the Big 12 Season: Week 7

A massive upset along with two very competitive games highlight a wild week in the Big 12.

Previous Weeks: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6

Week 7

Baylor 30 at West Virginia 31 (Thursday)

A late-night trip to Morgantown on a Thursday night typically does not bode well for the road team but the No. 3 team in the nation is going to try to keep its undefeated hopes alive. Blake Shapen guides Baylor down the field but misses Ben Sims which leads to a field goal. JT Daniels finds Bryce Ford-Wheaton for a 25-yard touchdown to put them up 7-3. The Bears add another field goal but once again Daniels finds Kaden Prather on a deep ball down the sideline for a touchdown to go up 14-6. Blake Shapen gets sacked by Dante Stills and fumbles the ball. The Mountaineers add a field goal as they extend the lead to 17-6. Swirl Williams breaks free for a 40-yard touchdown but that is answered with a Sam James 99-yard kick-off return for a touchdown as the score is 24-13 at halftime. The Bears make major adjustments in the second half Shapen guides them to two straight scoring drives one is a touchdown to Ben Sims and the other is a field goal as the lead is cut to 24-23 going to the 4th. Baylor gets the ball back as the Mountaineers are reeling offensively. Shapen throws a short route to the sideline to Josh Cameron but Charles Woods jumps it and takes it back for a touchdown. The offenses stall for a possession after that but Baylor gets the ball back with six minutes left. Shapen drives the offense down the field and finds Hal Presley for a touchdown with 30 seconds left in the game. Dave Aranda and Jeff Grimes roll the dice and go for two and for the win. Shapen gives Josh Cameron a chance but the pass is broken up by Charles Woods as the Mountaineers get a huge upset win.

Kansas 17 at Oklahoma 41

Too much Oklahoma. The Sooners rumble for over 300 yards rushing behind Eric Gray and Jovantae Burns to go along with some explosive plays in the passing game from Marvin Mims and Jayden Gibson. On the offensive side, the Jayhawks turn the ball over four times and simply can’t get anything going as they complete only three 3rd downs for the game. The Kansas offense and defense struggle a ton in this one as they get blown out in Norman.

Oklahoma State 29 at TCU 23

This is one of the weirder games you will see as both teams put up tons of yards but neither team can put the ball in the end zone consistently. Each team hits three field goals in the red zone. Chandler Morris and Spencer Sanders each throw two touchdowns as Quentin Johnston and Brennan Presley both have great games at wide receiver. TCU struggles to run the football and have to rely on Morris’ arm which leads to six sacks and two interceptions. On the other side Spencer Sanders takes care of the football in this one (rare I know) and his legs win the day as he rushes for 80 yards which ends up being the difference in the game. Kendal Daniels gets a pick-six to start the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 26-16 and the Frogs can’t come back from that.

Iowa State 21 at Texas 20

The Longhorns look to hold serve at home but this Iowa State team has other ideas, especially the defense. This is a slugfest as the Cyclones' defense forces three turnovers, Texas runs for less than 100 yards, and the Longhorns convert just three third downs. They simply cannot figure out this defense but they are able to make two 45+ yard field goals, D’Shawn Jamison returns a punt for a touchdown, and Quinn Ewers hits on one deep shot to Xavier Worthy. Will McDonald piles up 3.5 sacks as he completely disrupts Texas’ offense. On the flip side, the Cyclones win the time of possession battle 40 minutes to 20 minutes as they maintain ball control throughout and salt the game away. Iowa State leads throughout the game but can’t pull away due to a lack of explosive plays. The Longhorns get the ball back with two minutes left but two sacks and two near interceptions later end that drive in a hurry. Cyclones get a huge road win.

Big 12 Standings

1. Oklahoma — 7-0 (4-0)

2. Baylor — 5-1 (2-1)

2. Kansas State — 5-1 (2-1)

2. West Virginia — 4-2 (2-1)

2. Oklahoma State — 5-1 (2-1)

6. Texas — 4-3 (2-2)

6. Iowa State — 4-3 (2-2)

8. TCU — 3-3 (1-2)

9. Texas Tech — 1-5 (0-3)

10. Kansas — 2-5 (0-4)