West Virginia Overcomes Kansas State to Remain Undefeated
In a rare defensive Big 12 battle, West Virginia came back from down 13 points against Kansas State to win 17-16 in Morgantown. The Mountaineers went scoreless in the first half and only gained the lead with six minutes left in the fourth quarter on a passing touchdown from senior quarterback Skyler Howard. Kansas State, for their part, has continued to look impressive (they haven’t allowed more than 26 points in a game this season) but ultimately their offense sputtered.
Kansas State will put its defense to the test when it hosts Texas Tech next week, while West Virginia has a bye week.
Close Calls in Baylor, Oklahoma Games
Baylor remains with West Virginia as one of the two undefeated Big 12 teams left, but their record was nearly ruined in Ames, Iowa. Iowa State quickly shot off to a 14-0 lead early in the first and remained in the lead until the fourth quarter. Baylor scored 17 unanswered in the fourth while holding Iowa State’s offense, and kicked the game-winning field goal to end the game 45-42. Baylor’s rushing game proved to be the deciding factor, totaling 469 combined yards on the ground.
Oklahoma was on the flip side of this when they played TCU. The Sooners ended the third quarter with a 49-24 lead before the Horned Frogs mounted a would-be comeback with 22 unanswered points. Oklahoma managed to get a field goal and hold off TCU in the final minutes of the game to win 52-46. Oklahoma improved to 2-2 while TCU fell to 3-2.
Backup QB Shines for Tech
Texas Tech had a scare against Kansas Friday night when their star quarterback Patrick Mahomes suffered a shoulder injury and left in third quarter. However, backup quarterback Nic Shimonek controlled the offense just as well. Mahomes and Shimonek had four touchdowns each in Tech’s 55-19 rout of the Jayhawks.
Tech will head to Kansas State while Kansas will host TCU. The latter matchup will be interesting to watch due to the Jayhawks’ tendency to play the Horned Frogs closer than expected.
Oklahoma, West Virginia Enter AP Poll
After beating No. 22 TCU, Oklahoma re-entered the poll at the No. 20 spot, while TCU dropped out. In addition, West Virginia made their poll debut this season in the No. 22 spot, the first time they’ve been ranked in nearly a year. Baylor stayed put at No. 13, while, as expected, Texas fell from the poll.
