| Baylor defensive tackle Jamal Palmer celebrates with fans after the game against Kansas State on Saturday night. The Bears upset the Wildcats 52-24. (US Presswire) |
Big 12 scoreboard:
Baylor 52, No. 2 Kansas State 24: So long BCS title game. Time to rethink the Heisman. The storybook season of the Bill Snyder resurgence took an unexpected turn in Waco. This wasn't the Kansas State Wildcats we had watched for 10 games. Baylor's speed overwhelmed K-State's defense, Baylor's defenseless defense -- the one that was giving up 520 yards per game -- actually showed up and Collin Klein could not do what he does best playing from behind. Klein, who had thrown one interception in seven Big 12 games, was picked off three times and had to throw 50 times to try to keep up. Saturday it was the Bears who were balanced. Lache Seastrunk ran for 185 yards and a touchdown, Glasco Martin added 113 rushing yards and three TDs and Nick Florence threw for 238 yards and two TDs. Baylor (5-5, 2-5 Big 12) has two chances to make a bowl game and save what was looking like a lost season. The Wildcats (10-1, 7-1) can still win the Big 12 with a victory over Texas, but they will no longer be in the hunt for the BCS title game. (For more on the game, check out CBSSports.com's Eye on College Football blog)
No. 12 Oklahoma 50, West Virginia 49: Oklahoma survived West Virginia RB Tavon Austin. In a back-and-forth battle of the offenses that rivaled the West Virginia-Baylor shootout, Landry Jones threw a 5-yard touchdown on fourth-and-3 with 24 seconds left to give OU the win. That capped a career-best 554 yards and six touchdowns from Jones. It was an equally remarkable performance by Austin, who played his first career game at running back and set a school record with 344 rushing yards, averaging 16.4 yards per carry. Austin added 82 receiving yards. Geno Smith looked like himself again, throwing for 320 yards and four touchdowns, which all went to Stedman Bailey. For the Mountaineers (5-5, 2-5 Big 12), it was the same old defense and they lost their fifth straight. Oklahoma (8-2, 6-1) kept hope alive for a Big 12 title and BCS bowl game. (For more on the game, check out CBSSports.com's Eye on College Football blog)
Oklahoma State 59, No. 23 Texas Tech 21: Expected to be one of the Big 12's closest games this week, this was never close. The Cowboys (7-3, 5-2 Big 12) used the quarterback combination of Clint Chelf and J.W. Walsh to march up and down the field with a balanced attack. Chelf threw for 229 yards and three touchdowns -- all to Isaiah Anderson -- and the Cowboys ran for 256 yards, led by 91 yards from Joseph Randle. Texas Tech (7-4, 4-4) turned the ball over three times and has lost three of the last four. (For more on the game, check out CBSSports.com's Eye on College Football blog)
Iowa State 51, Kansas 23: The Cyclones found what they had been looking for all season: an accurate quarterback. Sam Richardson replaced Steele Jantz with the Cyclones trailing 14-10 and ISU's offense became unstoppable. Richardson threw for 250 yards and four touchdowns playing for only the second time all season. His first action was mop-up duty against Western Illinois when he didn't attempt a pass. Iowa State (6-5, 3-5 Big 12) became bowl eligible for the third time in five years under Paul Rhoads. The Jayhawks (1-10, 0-8) lost their 20th straight Big 12 game.
| Baylor RB Lache Seastrunk, who ran for 185 yards and a touchdown, celebrates after the Bears stunned Kansas State 52-24. (US Presswire) |
Play of the day: Seastrunk put the finish touches on the biggest upset of the year with an 80-yard touchdown run. Seastrunk broke several tackles and then shot out of a cannon once he got to the secondary, blowing past K-State's defensive backs on his way to the end zone.
He said what? Kansas State coach Bill Snyder after his team was upset by Baylor on Saturday night: "I don't know if I would call it getting smacked in the mouth, but they took it to us. I really thought we prepared well, but as we found out, we didn't. I don't think we handled the situation as well as we should have been able to."
RapidReports defensive star of the day: CB Joe Williams, Baylor. Williams picked off Klein twice, his second and third interceptions of the season. The Bears had only four interceptions in Big 12 games coming into Saturday.
Co-RapidReports offensive star of the day: Jones and Austin. It's impossible to pick one over the other. What the West Virginia offense has been missing during its losing streak was a rushing attack and Austin fixed that with style. There is not a guy who is more fun to watch with the ball in college football. As for Jones, he had all the answers and his clutch throw to Stills should become one of the signature moments of his career.
Runner-up: Oklahoma State's Anderson. The senior receiver had two catches for 18 yards in the previous seven games before Saturday against Texas Tech. Anderson filled in for Charlie Moore and had 174 receiving yards and three touchdowns on four catches. Anderson also had a run for 26 yards.
Why you care about these three stats:
- Klein had one interception in seven Big 12 games. Klein's three interceptions were costly for the Wildcats and they weren't flukes either. Klein made some rare bad decisions, mostly out of desperation.
- West Virginia's opponents are averaging 49.6 points per game over the last five games. Oklahoma became the fourth team to put up at least 50 points this season on the Mountaineers.
- Iowa State quarterbacks had completed 58 percent of their passes coming into the Kansas game. Richardson, who had been the third-stringer all season, completed 23 of 27 passes for an 85 percent completion percentage and 211.8 QB rating.
Key number: 646. The number of rushing yards Texas Tech's defense has given up the last two weeks, reminding us that the Red Raiders had the worst run defense in the country last year.
For more up-to-the-minute news and analysis from Big 12 bloggers C.J. Moore and Patrick Southern, follow @CBSSportsBig12 on Twitter. You can also follow C.J. (@cjmoore4) and Patrick (@patricksouthern).