Big 12 Conference Week 5 awards

By Staff     Sep 28, 2008

The Big 12’s chances of having a representative in the BCS National Championship Game received a mammoth boost over the weekend, thanks to some surprising upsets. **Sayonara USC, Florida and Georgia from the Top 5** (we’ll just call it upset weekend with the Chiefs beating the Broncos and the Redskins edging the Cowboys). OK, a quick glance at this poll; I’m thinking it could be a historical year for the Big 12:1. Oklahoma 2. Alabama 3. LSU 4. Missouri 5. Texas 6. Penn State 7. Texas Tech 16. Kansas 21. Oklahoma StateFirst time the conference has had three teams in the top five since 2001. Oklahoma, Mizzou, Texas and Texas Tech could all challenge for the national title.This season, much like 2007, is different than recent BCS years, where a team’s title chances were crushed with one poor outing. With the Pac-10 down this year, I honestly thought USC would have a relatively easy path to the title game. Oregon State’s victory over USC made me think: One loss in conference play is fine if you’re in the Big 12, considering the strength of the conference and other upsets taking place around the nation. Heck, LSU won the title last season with two losses (granted, the Tigers went to a combined six overtimes in those two losses).**Onto the Conference Chatter’s Week 5 awards**, without the fancy and glamorous red carpet.**Performer of the week: Manuel Johnson, Oklahoma** TCU’s appearance in the Top 25 didn’t last too long. Neither did its top-ranked defense, which surrendered five receptions for 206 yards and three touchdowns to Johnson. After their road trip to Norman, Okla., the Horned Frogs dropped to sixth in total defense.**Big 12 victory of the week: Texas 52, Arkansas 10** Sure, Texas is near the top of the Big 12, while Arkansas is at the bottom of the SEC, but Big 12 fans had to enjoy this classic beating. According to ESPN.com Big 12 blogger Tim Griffin, Arkansas fans chanted “SEC, SEC” following wins against Texas in two of the last three games of the series. Not so much this time.**I’m starting to think I was wrong about Texas**. I thought they’d be legit this year, but I had them finishing third in the Big 12 South, behind Oklahoma and Texas Tech. It could still happen. But the Longhorns, especially quarterback Colt McCoy, have looked nothing short of sensational this season. McCoy continues to be a dual threat (17-19 passing, 185 yards three TD’s; nine rushes, 84 yards, two more TD’s against Arkansas). Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford garners major attention in the Big 12 (as he should), but don’t forget about McCoy. He takes a totally different approach than Bradford, who extends the field more and launches the longball with regularity. Therefore, he’ll typically have more incompletions (19-of-34 against TCU).McCoy throws safer routes. Against Arkansas, McCoy threw mostly 10- 15-yard passes to Jordan Shipley and Quan Cosby. He’s as accurate as ever, evidenced by his 17-of-19 completion rate against Arkansas. The longest Texas pass play was 27 yards, but if you’re moving the chains with the precision that McCoy and Texas have been, who cares?**Surprise of the week: Texas A&M 21, Army 17** It was a victory, but when the Aggies were favored by 27 points at home, something went wrong. Army threw five passes the entire game. The Black Knights’ triple option kept the A&M defense off balance. Why not stack the box and blow up the line of scrimmage if you’re A&M? Is it more complicated than that? I’m no defensive X-and-O guy, but am I missing something? We’re talking about an Army team that lost to Temple, New Hampshire and Akron and averaged 6.7 points per game in those losses. I’ve been saying it for two weeks and I’ll continue to do so until it doesn’t make sense anymore: A&M is the worst team in the Big 12.**Now onto the Sorrentino Scale**, a quick-hit feature of conference rankings. The number that follows in parenthesis is what place the team was ranked last week.1 (1). Oklahoma (4-0): Most balanced team in conference and arguably in nation. 2 (2). Missouri (4-0): At Nebraska next weekend; tough conference opener. 3 (4). Texas (4-0): UT defense held Arkansas to 11 yards rushing. 4 (3). Texas Tech (4-0): Thanks to some upsets, Red Raiders in national title hunt. 5 (6). Oklahoma State (4-0): Doesn’t get more balanced than this against Troy, formerly 11th in the nation in total defense (Zac Robinson 16-21 passing, 254 yards, 3 TD’s; Kendall Hunter 24 rushes, 169 yards, 2 TD’s; Keith Toston 17 rushes, 114 yards, 2 TD’s; Dez Bryant 6 catches, 118 yards, 3 TD’s). 6 (5). Kansas (3-1): One of best WR corps in country; can RB’s produce enough? 7 (7). Colorado (3-1): Couldn’t get signature non-con win vs. Florida St. 8 (8). Nebraska (3-1): Ditto vs. Virginia Tech. 9 (10). Kansas State (3-1): Barely escaped La.-Lafayette. 10 (9). Baylor (2-2): Welcome to the conference schedule. First one next weekend in Norman. 11 (11). Iowa State (2-2): Austen Arnaud should be Cyclones full-time QB. 12 (12). Texas A&M (2-2): Last week’s scale comment on A&M: “If can’t beat Army (0-3) next week, I give up.” I nearly did. **Random shout-out of the week**: Mother Nature, for keeping the temperatures in the 80’s over the weekend, as we approach October. For some reason, I sense this won’t last much longer.That’s all for now, friends. As always, discuss.

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