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Conference Games

Iowa State Cyclones (0-2, 0-0) vs. TCU Horned Frogs (1-1, 0-0)
What Happened Last Week for Iowa State: Iowa 42, Iowa State 3 (Box Score)
What Happened Last Week for TCU: Arkansas 41, TCU 38 (Box Score)
Location: Amon G. Carter Stadium | Ft. Worth, Texas
Date and Time: Saturday, September 17th at 11:00 am
Television: FS1
Line: TCU -23.5

Brian: Conference play officially starts in the Big 12 this weekend with Iowa State headed to the partially empty confines of Amon Carter Stadium. The Cyclones are coming off of a thrashing from Iowa bad enough to start the beginnings of a QB controversy, while the Horned Frogs  will be looking to take out their frustrations from an OT loss to Arkansas. Allen Lazard appears to be the only working part of the ISU offense, as an inept offensive line and questionable play calling tendencies have hampered Mike Warren and his fellow RB’s. TCU, while inconsistent at times in the first 2 games, has shown itself to be incredibly dangerous. Add Kavontae Turpin to your future nightmares list, as he’s been pulling down passes left and right & absolutely killing it in the return game. Kenny Hill isn’t Trevone Boykin, but has done an admirable job picking up Meachum & Cumbie’s offense. Strangely enough, it’s the Frog defense, who has given up 40+ points in back to back games, that seem to be the weak point early for TCU early this season. They should find more secure footing for the rest of the season after the game this Saturday.

Non-Conference Games

Baylor Bears (2-0, 0-0)
Opponent: Rice Owls
What Happened Last Week: Baylor 40, SMU 13 (Box Score)
Location: Rice Stadium | Houston, Texas
Date and Time: Friday, September 16th at 7:00 pm
Television: ESPN
Line: Baylor -27.5

Brian: Baylor continues it’s March to Redemption™* by facing the vaunted. . .  0-2 Rice Owls. Don’t let the score from last week fool you too much, as the Bears didn’t even score a touchdown until the second half. Seth Russell looked quite human, throwing for only 261 yards with 2 picks & 2 TD’s. The Bears defense preyed on redshirt freshman QB Ben Hicks (filling in for injured senior Matt Davis), notching 3 picks & a fumble recovery. Both the Baylor offense & defense should have no problem buffering their stats on Saturday, facing a Rice team that ranks below 112 (at best) in total offense, total defense, scoring offense, & scoring defense. I imagine Kendall Briles, peach that he is, will be pulling out all the stops to rectify the lethargic start from last weekend.

*Spoiler: they won’t be redeemed

Kansas Jayhawks (1-1, 0-0)
Opponent: Memphis Tigers
What Happened Last Week: Ohio 37, Kansas 21 (Box Score)
Location: Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium | Memphis, Tennessee
Date and Time: Saturday, September 17th at 11:00 am
Television: ESPNU
Line: Memphis -20

Brian: Well, it was fun while it lasted, Kansas (/solemnly resets “Weekends Without a Loss” counter back to 0). Ohio jumped up to a 25-0 lead on the Jayhawks to start the game, and more or less coasted the rest of regulation, racking up 329 yards rushing along the way. Montell Cozart seems to have one the starting QB job for KU, but suffered a slight injury in the 4th quarter and was held out the rest of the game; it’s unknown as of right now if he’ll be playing against Memphis, but I think you’ll probably end up seeing him. The Tigers are coming off of an early bye week, and have had plenty of time to work up a repeat drumming of the Jayhawks (they beat KU 55-23 in Lawerence in 2015). Memphis’ new head coach, Mike Norvell, was most recently the offensive coordinator at ASU, and runs a fast paced offense. The Tiger running game had problems getting traction in their opener and have a potentially spotty offensive line, so Kansas will have a shot to cause some real disruption or be picked apart with the short passing game.

Kansas State Wildcats (0-1, 0-0)
Opponent: Florida Atlantic Owls
What Happened Last Week: BYE
Location: Bill Snyder Family Stadium | Manhattan, Kansas
Date and Time: Saturday, September 17th at 1:30 pm
Television: FSN Affiliates
Line: Kansas State -19

Seth: Kansas State has got to be chomping at the bit to get back on the field. Playing Stanford on the road and losing and then taking a week off.  This is where I fail you a bit. I don’t know anything about Florida Atlantic. Like literally, I don’t know a thing.  Kansas State is favored by 19 initially and has moved up to 22.5 or so.  I think the Kansas State running game gets going here.

Oklahoma Sooners (1-1, 0-0)
Opponent: Ohio State Buckeyes
What Happened Last Week: Oklahoma 59, Louisiana Monroe 17 (Box Score)
Location: Memorial Stadium | Norman, Oklahoma
Date and Time: Saturday, September 17th at 6:30 pm
Television: FOX
Line: Ohio State -2.5

Seth: I have no idea what to think about Oklahoma, after getting knocked around by Houston, they did exactly what they were supposed to do against the nameless non-conference opponent.  Ohio State played Bowling Green and Tulsa and absolutely dominated both of them.  You would think that Oklahoma gets back on track, does what they do well, which is run the danged ball and not let Baker Mayfield either win or lose games. I think he should be complimentary to Perine and Mixon. The funny thing about Oklahoma is that they got hit in the mouth by Houston and they didn’t respond. That’s going to be the difference here, will OU punch Ohio State in the mouth and I just don’t know.  Also, I really thought the Oklahoma defense would shine against Houston and that didn’t happen. I’m keenly interested to see how the defense performs against Ohio State.

Oklahoma State Cowboys (1-1, 0-0)
Opponent: Pittsburgh Panthers
What Happened Last Week: Central Michigan 30, Oklahoma State 27 (Box Score)
Location: Boone Pickens Stadium | Stillwater, Oklahoma
Date and Time: Saturday, September 17th at 2:30 pm
Television: ESPN
Line: Oklahoma State -6

Brian: This one is my dark horse Big 12 game of the week. Oklahoma State lost in absolutely heartbreaking fashion last week, in a way that’s nearly impossible to empathize with. Imagine Aaron Green’s insane fluke catch last year. Now imagine it was done by a player for a Group of 5 team. Now imagine that that play should NEVER HAVE HAPPENED IN THE FIRST PLACE. That’s what happens when you let the mighty Chippewas hang around like that, Pokes. This week, OSU hosts the very intriguing Pitt Panthers, headlined by RB James Conner. Aside from an inspirational story, Conner is an absolute blast to watch. The Poke defense has a good chance to contain him, but their real liability seems to be through the air, which QB Nathan Peterman will have to try to take advantage of to loosen up the defensive front for Conner. Offensively, Rudolph wasn’t as his sharpest against the Chips, sailing passes over receivers’ heads more than a few times from my viewing. The running game was also lacking on Saturday, and freshman Justice Hill seems to be leading the RB by committee. Rudolph will absolutely have to step up against Pitt, as Pat Narduzzi’s defensive pedigree is not something to be trifled with (see: Michigan State defenses 2007-14). I think this game will be an absolute blast to watch, and a nice appetizer to Tech’s evening slot. Also, CMU should definitely not forfeit that OSU win because then that awesome Hail Mary lateral will be erased from CFB lore.

Texas Longhorns (2-0, 0-0)
Opponent: California Golden Bears
What Happened Last Week: Texas 41, UTEP 7 (Box Score)
Location: Memorial Stadium | Berkley, California
Date and Time: Saturday, September 17th at 9:30 pm
Television: ESPN/ESPN2
Line: Texas -6

Seth: The Longhorns are completely back! Actually, Texas has had the best performance of any Big 12 school thus far for two weeks, at least in my estimation. Meanwhile, Cal loses to San Diego State on Saturday night as well, despite a good performance from Davis Webb.  The Texas defenders have already said that Webb gets rattled when he gets pressure and that’s probably true. Webb threw for over 500 yards and 5 touchdowns, but he also threw 3 picks.  Texas should have back D’Onta Foreman, which means that Cal could be in for a long night with Chris Warren and Foreman running the ball.

West Virginia Mountaineers (2-0, 0-0)
Opponent: BYE
What Happened Last Week: West Virginia 38, Youngstown State 21 (Box Score)