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Baylor (3-3) at Oklahoma State
(6-0),
3:00 EST
Why to watch: All of a
sudden, this is a really fun,
really interesting game.
Oklahoma State went from being
non-existent on a national
scale, despite a tremendous
start, and now it has, arguably,
the second best win of the
season after Alabama’s win at
Georgia with its stunning upset
at Missouri. With the big South
games ahead against Texas, Texas
Tech and Oklahoma, the Cowboys
can’t look past a suddenly
dangerous Baylor team that
ripped up Iowa State 38-10 last
week. With a good offensive line
and good special teams, along
with a burgeoning star in QB
Robert Griffin, the program is
on the uptick. If the Bears can
come up with a win this week, it
would officially announce the
arrival of the program as a
player in the Big 12 South, even
if it’s nowhere near ready to
win the title.
Why Baylor might win:
Griffin and the running game.
The only way the Bears can keep
up with the high octane Cowboys
is if they’re able to control
the clock and keep OSU off the
field. That means Griffin has to
go ballistic. Against Iowa
State, the freshman didn’t get
the ground game going, netting
-15 yards, with a touchdown,
thanks to a slew of stops behind
the line, but he completed
21-of-24 passes for 278 yards
and two touchdowns. If he does
that again, BU has a shot.
Why Oklahoma State might win:
Who’s going to stop this offense
on a big drive? Missouri
couldn’t do it. Troy and its
great defense couldn’t do it. No
one’s been able to do it. The
nation’s No. 2 scoring offense
was held to 28 points by the
Tigers last week, but every time
they needed a key play, they
came up with one. This team is
on a cool, calm, dead even keel,
and isn’t going to panic if
Baylor gets up early.
Who to watch: It’s time
to start putting Oklahoma State
QB Zac Robinson in the same
discussion with Chase Daniel,
Sam Bradford and Graham Harrell
as one of the Big 12’s best
quarterbacks. Outside of his
four interceptions, he has been
nearly flawless completing 71%
of his passes for 1,250 yards
and 12 touchdowns while running
for 192 yards and five scores.
Most importantly, he’s leading
the way to wins. Big wins.
What will happen: Baylor
will put up big yards and lots
of points, and it won’t matter.
The Cowboys will hang half a
hundy up for the fifth time in
six games.
CFN Prediction: Oklahoma
State 52 … Baylor 27 … Line:
Oklahoma State -
Must See Rating: (5 The
Real Housewives of Atlanta
– 1 Celebrity Rehab With Dr.
Drew) … 3
-
Click here to receive ATS
Consultants FREE selections
Kansas (5-1) at Oklahoma (5-1),
3:30 EST ABC
Why to watch: While the
Big 12 world will be focusing on
the Missouri – Texas showdown,
this has the potential to be a
preview of the Big 12 title
game. Oklahoma has a lot of work
to do, needing to win out and
needing Texas to lose twice, but
that’s not all that far-fetched
considering the remaining
Longhorn schedule. After last
week’s 45-35 loss, OU has to
prove it belongs back among the
elite of the elite with a big
win over a good KU team that has
to play a real, live Big 12
South schedule after missing all
the big boys last year. The
Jayhawks have been fine, but
nothing too special as they’ve
struggled to beat mediocre Iowa
State and Colorado teams. A win
over Oklahoma would change
around the entire season. The
offense has been throwing well
thanks to yet another decent
year from Todd Reesing, but the
defense has been average and the
running game is struggling to
find a steady back. OU has won
four straight over KU with the
last Jayhawk win coming in 1997.
Why Kansas might win:
Reesing has to be amazing. He
doesn’t have the players around
him that Colt McCoy enjoys, but
he has enough weapons to work
with that he can be McCoy-like
and keep up in a shootout. KU
has a good punt return game, and
efficient passing attack, and it
doesn’t make a whole slew of
mistakes, the South Florida loss
aside. If Oklahoma is down in
any way after the loss to Texas,
KU has the type of offense that
can go on a 21-point run to make
this very interesting. No one
buckles when things are going
south like the Sooners.
Why Oklahoma might win:
The Kansas secondary isn’t all
that great. It hasn’t exactly
faced a slew of good passing
games, but the pass defense is
allowing 214 yards per game.
Granted, that’s because most
teams are in comeback mode, but
OU’s passing game should be able
to produce without too much of a
problem. For the first time
since the South Florida loss,
Reesing will be under pressure
for a full sixty minutes. He
threw for 381 yards against the
Bulls, but that was on 51
attempts.
Who to watch: Has Jake
Sharp finally found a home in
the KU backfield? He was
supposed to be the starter last
year, but he was quickly reduced
into a role player. He was
supposed to be the main man
coming into this year, but he
struggled to get a few carries
here and there. Finally, the
coaching staff adjusted to its
quick back and threw out the
power game with a strong payoff.
Sharp ran 31 times for 118 yards
nd three touchdowns against
Colorado, and along with 79
rushing yards caught three
passes for 79 yards and three
touchdowns in the win over Iowa
State two weeks ago.
What will happen: There
won’t be any pouting here.
Oklahoma will come out roaring
as Sam Bradford will throw for
350 yards and four touchdowns on
the way to a big lead. Reesing
will help mount a little bit of
a comeback, but the Jayhawk
defense won’t be able to come up
with enough key stops.
CFN Prediction: Oklahoma
44 … Kansas 23 … Line:
Oklahoma -19
Must See Rating: (5 The
Real Housewives of Atlanta
– 1 Celebrity Rehab With Dr.
Drew) … 4
-
Click here to receive ATS
Consultants FREE selections
Kansas State (4-2) at Colorado
(3-3),
7:00 EST
Why to watch: Both teams
are still in the hunt for a bowl
game and there’s still a shot at
finishing among the top three in
the North. While that’s not
exactly what either team was
hoping for, that’s all that’s
left for Colorado after losing
three straight thanks to a lousy
attack and a mediocre defense
that can’t stop anyone from
running the ball lately. Kansas
State bounded back from a
thumping from Texas Tech to win
a shootout over Texas A&M, but
the Wildcat defense has gone
bye-bye. Basically, Ron Prince,
a defensive coach, has the Big
12’s worst defense, and Dan
Hawkins, an offensive coach, has
the Big 12’s worst offense. This
is part of an ugly stretch of
four road games in five weeks
for Kansas State, while the
Buffs have to go on the road to
deal with Missouri and Texas A&M
after this.
Why Kansas State might win:
Colorado has decided to stop
scoring. It’s not working.
There’s no running game, the
passing attack is awful and the
scoring has stopped. Even the
scoring numbers, last in the Big
12, are misleading with 31 of
the points coming against
Eastern Washington and the
special teams helping the cause
in the 38-17 win over Colorado
State. Kansas State could simply
bomb its way to a win. However …
Why Colorado might win: …
if the attack was ever going to
break out, this would be the
week. The Texas A&M offense was
battling Colorado for the honor
of being the most ineffective in
the Big 12, and then it exploded
last week on the woeful
Wildcats. The secondary is
abysmal despite the help of a
steady pass rush, and the run
defense is allowing 181 yards
per game. That’s why the
spotlight will be on …
Who to watch: … Colorado
QB Cody Hawkins. The problems on
offense haven’t been all his
fault, his line stinks and he
isn’t getting much help, but he
was benched against Kansas last
week with Matt Ballenger getting
a little bit of time. Hawkins is
still the starter, and he needs
to blow up considering Texas
A&M’s Jerrod Johnson went gonzo
last week throwing for a
school-record 419 yards and two
touchdowns.
What will happen: Kansas
State QB Josh Freeman will be
better than Hawkins, and the
Wildcat defense will be better
than the Buffalo offense.
However, CU will stay alive by
running for over 200 yards and
will pull it out late on a big
special teams play.
CFN Prediction: Colorado
34 … Kansas State 30 … Line:
Colorado -3
Must See Rating: (5 The
Real Housewives of Atlanta
– 1 Celebrity Rehab With Dr.
Drew) … 3
-
Click here to receive ATS
Consultants FREE selections
-
Big 12 Predictions, Oct.18, Part
1 |