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| Wednesday, October 11 The South is rising in the Big 12 By Todd Cooper Special to ESPN.com | |||||
| At times this season, the Big 12 has mirrored the movie "Remember the Titans" -- a cinematic smash powered by proven performers.
In fact, with three teams currently in the top 10, the conference seems to be asking: Do you remember the titans? Nebraska in the north? Oklahoma in the south? Kansas State close behind?
At other times, the conference simply has looked like "Titans" -- a prime time drama that's more fluff than substance.
But at the halfway point of the season, it's time to break from this B movie and hand out the conference's midterm reviews.
Biggest surprise Oklahoma and Kansas State, who meet Saturday in Manhattan. While Kansas State has grown into a perennial power, few expected the Wildcats to be so efficient on offense and defense -- no matter the opponent. After Saturday's 52-13 pasting of Kansas, K-State ranks first in the nation in scoring offense and seventh in total offense.
While two of the Big 12's best rumble in Manhattan on Saturday, Texas and Colorado stumble into Boulder. Just months after he was branded a genius for his recruiting classes, the eyes of Texas are glaring at coach Mack Brown. In the offseason, he lowered expectations and continually questioned whether his team deserved to be among the nation's elite despite its Texas-sized talent. In turn, the team lowered its performance. While the media focused on Brown's decision to rotate proven winner Major Applewhite with unproven-but-talented Chris Simms, Brown apparently forgot to focus on little things like running the football and controlling the line of scrimmage. Here's how low the 3-2 Longhorns are: 104th in rushing offense, 62nd in scoring offense, 62nd against the pass, 47th in scoring defense and a generous 23rd and 25th in the polls. All of that comes after Texas was ranked as high as sixth in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll early in the year. Adding insult to injury, the Longhorns' once-dependable pass defense was riddled by Josh Heupel in Oklahoma's 63-14 victory. "It's an embarrassment to the team and to myself as head coach," Brown said. Texas will ride its wounded pride into Boulder to take on another desperate team. For all the big names and tough games Colorado has had, it took a threat by Colorado coach Gary Barnett that he would rip the decals off of his players' helmets before they finally began to play tough. Alas, the Buffaloes remained on the helmets and CU bulled past Texas A&M for its first win of the season Saturday. Barnett called Texas "probably the most talented team we'll play all year." And the Longhorns' egos are as wounded as Colorado's were. "(On Sunday), when I was talking about Texas with our team, I said, 'How would you like to be in that meeting room today?' " Barnett said. "They said, 'Coach we were in that meeting a week ago.' So we know how Texas will handle it." Other nominee: Nebraska's defense. While the Blackshirts lost some key linebackers and members of the defensive line, no one expected them to give up record- or near-record passing performances to the likes of Iowa, Missouri and Iowa State. What's next The south could rise again. With Nebraska and Kansas State atop the national polls, the conference's compass seems to be pointing north. But the Sooners will be the south's salvation if they win their next two games -- at Kansas State on Saturday and against Nebraska at home Oct. 28. Even if they don't win those games, the Sooners could get a rematch with either one of those teams in the Big 12 championship. Having to face the Sooners' high-powered offense twice in one season? Now, that would be drama. Other potential spoilers: Texas Tech and Texas A&M. The Red Raiders get cracks at the Big Three -- Nebraska, Kansas State and Oklahoma. The Aggies, meanwhile, will be hungry to restore their home-field dominance when they play both Kansas State and Oklahoma at Kyle Field. Around the Big 12 Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops and assistants Mike Stoops, Brent Venables and Mark Mangino all spent at least five seasons under Kansas State coach Bill Snyder. Their moves to Oklahoma led to charges that Stoops had raided Snyder's staff. Not so, said Stoops. "Coaches leave and go places every year," he said. "I hired coaches I know and have worked with. My job is to get the very best coaches to coach with me if they want to. If it causes hard feelings that they don't want to spend the rest of their life there (at K-State), that's the way it goes. A lot of them left the place better than when they first arrived there." ... Linebacker Rocky Calmus earned Big 12 defensive player of the week honors for the second time in 2000. He had four tackles, one sack, two pass deflections and a 41-yard interception return for a touchdown in OU's drubbing of Texas. ... Meanwhile, J.T. Thatcher captured his third player of the week honors both defensively and as a special teams' player. He had three punt returns for 65 yards, one pass interception, two pass deflections and two tackles. The senior is second nationally with 1.2 interceptions per game. ... He may not have the star quality of Billy Sims but Quentin Griffin did something no OU back has ever done. The diminutive sophomore, at 5-foot-6 and 190 pounds, scored a school record six times last Saturday. Kansas State As the Sooners head into Manhattan on Saturday, the person in the best position to predict a winner might be Kansas coach Terry Allen, who lost 34-16 to Oklahoma and 52-13 to Kansas State. Allen said he would give the nod to Kansas State because of its consistency on offense and dominance on defense. "Right now, because of the way Kansas State took us out of our game, I'd lean towards the Wildcats," he said. ... For his part, Kansas quarterback Dylen Smith said the Wildcats are better than Oklahoma on defense. In fact, Smith said, K-State safety Jarrod Cooper was calling out KU's plays as the Jayhawks came to the line of scrimmage. . . . .Talk about dominating a state. The Wildcats have won eight consecutive against KU. The past three have been by a margin of 156-28. Texas In addition to beating himself up for the 63-14 shellacking at the hands of OU, coach Mack Brown is going to test his team's toughness. "We weren't very tough," he said. "It's an embarrassment to the team and to myself as head coach." ... Brown said his team's pass defense was especially troubling. "We didn't make any plays," he said. "It was like throwing against air." ... Once again, Texas started off slowly offensively. By the time the Sooners led 35-0 in the second quarter, the Longhorns had netted all of one first down. ... The Longhorns continued their running malaise, netting minus-7 yards on the ground. Brown said the 'Horns have suffered in part on the ground from an early season focus on the pass and from establishing timing between the quarterbacks and the young receivers. Colorado Barnett's threats to remove the Buffaloes decals was a ploy designed to get players fired up for last Saturday's game at Texas A&M. It worked. . .True freshman Craig Ochs' performance didn't hurt either. Both Barnett and Aggie Coach R.C. Slocum raved about the freshman's performance in the 26-19 victory. Slocum said he even sought out Ochs, whom he recruited, after the game. "I thought he played exceptional," Slocum said. "I thought that was one of the better performances I had seen of a young quarterback." Barnett said the only time he he has seen Ochs nervous was during the Thursday practice before the K-State game when he told the true freshman that he was going to see action. "He fumbled about three snaps in a row," Barnett said. Otherwise, the coach said, "he's cool all the way." Nebraska In the early 1990s, Nebraska switched from its bend-don't-break defense to a breakneck, attacking 4-3 formation. But as the Huskers get ready to try to contain explosive Texas Tech in Lubbock, Nebraska's coaches are talking about containing big plays, rather than making them. Nebraska has given up record or near-record passing days to Iowa, Missouri and Iowa State quarterbacks, including Sage Rosenfels' 346 yards Saturday. Coach Frank Solich said the Nebraska's opponents have had "the type of players who are going to make big plays. You just don't want them to make too many of them." ... Eric Crouch continues to be Nebraska's crutch on offense. Crouch was named Big 12 player of the week after setting a personal best for total offense with 302 yards against Iowa State. A junior, Crouch is on pace to break Tommie Frazier's career total-offense record -- this year. He also is on pace to break Jerry Tagge's single-season total yardage record this year. But the most significant stat in the Heisman race might be how Crouch compares with Virginia Tech's Michael Vick through five games. Vick has accounted for 1,119 yards (484 rushing and 635 passing) and 12 touchdowns. Crouch has 1,144 yards (478 rushing and 666 passing) and 16 touchdowns in the same span. Texas Tech The Blackshirts might face their toughest test offensively against the Red Raiders' defense, which is second nationally in total defense, fourth in scoring defense and 30th in defending the rush. "The biggest thing the defense has done is bring some energy and enthusiasm to this team," coach Mike Leach said. "They're flying around to the ball, and they've done a tremendous job to this point. What they've been able to do has helped boost the offense by coming up with turnovers and stops." ... The Red Raiders continue to have problems scoring in the red zone. Leach said the short field limits the angles and schemes but shouldn't prevent Tech from scoring. ... Baylor coach Kevin Steele, whose team blitzed Tech on 43 plays in Saturday's 28-0 loss, said the best way to defend Tech is to rush four and drop seven. For its part, Nebraska's front four hasn't created much of a pass rush this season, which could mean good things for QB Kliff Kingsbury. Kansas As the Jayhawks head to Missouri for the border war Saturday, the 2-3 Jayhawks are reeling more than a fisherman in a trout stream. Coach Terry Allen needs to net a big win -- quickly. To do that, the Jayhawks must get better up front. The offensive line gave up six sacks, including one that forced a fumble on KU's third offensive play. ... Despite the chasm on the scoreboard, Allen said he still believes he has closed the gap between KU and K-State in terms of the athleticism of his players. ... Breaking with custom, Allen didn't name any players of the week after Saturday's 52-13 pounding by Kansas State. Instead, Allen rewarded his team with a grueling two-a-day style practice Monday. Missouri Coach Larry Smith benched tailback Zack Abron Saturday because of several key fumbles in the Tigers' close losses. His replacement, Zain Gilmore, hung onto the ball and likely will hang onto the starting spot after having lost it to Abron in spring practice. Gilmore rushed for 169 yards on 28 carries against Oklahoma State Saturday. Smith said Gilmore did a great job of exploding through holes, including a 45- and 48-yard scamper. ... Despite the victory against Oklahoma State, Smith said, several of his players, including the offensive line, didn't grade out as well as they did in the loss to Nebraska. ... Darius Outlaw was impressive in his debut but Smith said he wants more consistency from the redshirt freshman. Outlaw needs to keep his focus late in games, he said. Iowa State Cyclone coach Dan McCarney said his players' spirits and bodies were sore as usual after a Nebraska loss. While his team played Nebraska tough, he said, it needs to complete the mission. "Usually, it's a four quarter mismatch," McCarney said. "Saturday, it was a one quarter mismatch. (But) three quarters ain't going to win you any games in this conference." ... While Sage Rosenfels completed 22 of 42 passes for 346 yards, Iowa State could do nothing on the run. The Cyclones netted just 37 yards on 25 carries. "We were one dimensional," McCarney said. "I don't like that, but they just would not let us run the football." ... The Cyclones know they have to shake the loss quickly as they head to Stillwater. Iowa State lost a similarly emotional game to K-State last year and went on to lose five of its next seven games, spoiling a 4-0 start. If Iowa State can rebound, they'll be bowl bound. Oklahoma State Entering Saturday's homecoming against Iowa State, the Cowboys are 74th in the nation in total offense and 82nd in passing offense. "Offensively we're still looking for continuity," coach Bob Simmons said. ... Simmons will try to find some consistency from either fifth-year senior Tony Lindsay or freshman Aso Pogi. Simmons said Lindsay has been suffering from an injury to his right shoulder that was aggravated this fall. Curiously, while many quarterbacks don't take hits in practice, Lindsay apparently reinjured his shoulder making a tackle of his own in an August scrimmage. "Tony has been playing with a lot of pain," Simmons said. "Since he made that tackle he's not really been the same." Baylor Coach Kevin Steele desperately wants more consistency at quarterback after redshirt freshman Guy Tomcheck completed just one of his first seven passes. Steele said he hasn't decided on a starter at quarterback but it could be Tomcheck, true freshman Kerry Dixon or junior Michael Odom. "I don't want to create a quarterback derby," Steele said, "but we've got to get some stability in there and create some plays." ... The 2-3 Bears were in the red zone four times Saturday but walked away with no points. ... Offensive lineman Joe Jackson will return Saturday after spraining an ankle, Steele said. Texas A&M As the Aggies prepare for Baylor, coach R.C. Slocum said he would take a few things back that happened in A&M's loss to Colorado. In hindsight, Slocum said he would probably try Ja'Mar Toombs near the goal line more often. In the fourth quarter, on third and two from the Buffs' 4-yard line, the Aggies tried a gimmick play involving two quarterbacks in the shotgun formation -- Mark Farris and backup Colby Freeman. Freeman bobbled the snap and was sacked, forcing A&M to settle for a field goal. ... But Slocum said the biggest frustration was watching his team's chances against Colorado disappear in two snaps -- from two different centers. Slocum said the two bad long snaps on punts -- one sailed out of the end zone for a safety and a low snap led to a blocked punt and a subsequent touchdown -- were inexplicable. "If we snap the ball right and handle the football, we win that game," Slocum said. ... On the encouraging side, A&M continued to move the ball through the air effectively as quarterback Mark Farris completed 27 of 44 passes for 281 yards and one touchdown. Receiver Bethel Johnson torched CU for 101 yards on eight catches. Johnson also blocked a field goal. | AUDIO/VIDEO   Oklahoma's Josh Heupel lays it in nicely for Andre Woolfolk.avi: 836 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Oklahoma's Curtis Fagan races to the corner on the end-around.avi: 796 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Oklahoma's Rocky Calmus picks off Chris Simms and returns it 41 yards for a touchdown.avi: 735 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Hodges Mitchell puts Texas on the board.avi: 677 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | ||||
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