Kenny Hill Jr. might play against Baylor

Lots of Big 12 teams have dealt with quarterback injuries this season. Texas. Iowa State. Kansas State. Baylor. West Virginia.

Put TCU on the list, and the Horned Frogs came through well last Saturday. True freshman Shawn Robinson started in place of senior Kenny Hill Jr., who suffered a concussion late in TCU’s Nov. 11 loss at OU, and Robinson was excellent in the Horned Frogs’ 27-3 victory.

Robinson’s numbers weren’t outstanding — he completed just six of 17 passes for 85 yards and one touchdown; he rushed for 84 yards on 10 carries — but Robinson’s poise and control was superb.

“He managed the game,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said. “It’s hard to go on the road. It’s hard to play in Lubbock. There’s a lot of senior quarterbacks that don’t win in Lubbock.”

But TCU controlled the game. Robinson, from DeSoto, Texas, showed himself to be a very capable runner and executor of the offense.

“He got us in the right plays to run the football,” Patterson said. “It’s hard to do. He threw the ball well. He overthrew some guys. But down the field, he threw the ball well. Because of that ballgame, he’ll be a better player, not only the rest of this season, but also next year.”

Before next year, there’s a Friday game against Baylor. A victory would send TCU into the Big 12 Championship Game against OU. The Frogs might get there anyway, but a win over the 1-10 Bears would clinch a berth. And Patterson says Hill has a chance to play. He calls Hill “questionable” or “probable ... I’d probably say closer to probable now. I don’t know. We’ll see. I think he’s got a chance to be back.”

Williams boosts Texas

Texas offensive tackle Connor Williams missed seven games — and the Longhorn running game went splat. In those seven games, the ‘Horns averaged 112 yards a game and 3.0 yards per carry.

But Williams returned from a knee injury Saturday at West Virginia — and Texas rolled to a 28-14 victory, with 233 yards and 5.5 yards per carry.

“Obviously, him being back in the lineup helps us run the football,” UT coach Tom Herman said. “To be able to look at a defense and say, ‘OK, structurally these are the runs we like’ and not have to worry about, can this guy block that guy? Yeah, our guy can block that guy and he’s going to win more times than he doesn’t, is what the best offenses are built around.”

Herman called OU’s offense the Big 12’s best and pointed out how it’s built, “a veteran, big, strong offensive line with a veteran quarterback. They can kind of plug and play the running backs, plug and play a lot of the other positions.”

Some speculated that Williams, a junior, might just sit out the rest of the season and not risk injury before the NFL Draft, for which Williams is expected to declare.

“It proves to everybody what kind of competitor, what kind of teammate, how tough of a player he really is,” Herman said.

The Longhorns have scratched above 6-5 and are 5-3 in the Big 12. If Texas beats Texas Tech on Friday, the Longhorns do no worse than a tie for third place in the league.

“We’re improving,” Herman said. “We’re getting better. I think Connor being there was a shot in the arm, certainly, but we’re improving and we’re getting better.”

Thompson pleases Snyder

On Kansas State’s first possession against OSU, quarterback Skylar Thompson ran six times for 65 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown run. Then Thompson proceeded to complete 10 of 13 passes for 204 yards and three long touchdown throws as the Wildcats upset the Cowboys 45-40.

Good runner. Effective passer. Sounds like the perfect K-State quarterback.

“That’s why he’s here,” KSU coach Bill Snyder said. “That’s the feeling we have about him. He’s a young man that can execute all the things we do in our program, from a knowledge standpoint and leadership standpoint. He seems to do all those things quite well. I’ve been pleased with him.”

Thompson, a redshirt freshman from Fort Osage High School in the Kansas City, Missouri, suburbs, was making his second college start. Thompson suffered an injury while losing a fumble with 4:42 left in the game. On KSU’s next possession, Snyder used direct snaps to tailback Alex Barnes. To run out the final 1:59 of the game, Thompson returned but obviously was severely hampered.

However, Snyder said Thompson is fine and is expected to play Saturday against Iowa State.

“He was in some pain when he was on the field for the last three snaps, but he wasn’t in jeopardy,” Snyder said. Overall, “I thought he did quite well. He had one bad play in the ballgame. A few that were a little iffy. But you put the collective body of work together, he did quite well. Played the game with poise. Threw the ball well. Ran well. Did all of it.”

Kingsbury in jeopardy

Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury could be coaching his final game Friday when the Red Raiders play at Texas. Tech is 5-6 and won’t be bowl eligible, barring a victory over the Longhorns.

“Comes with the territory,” Kingsbury said of the constant talk about his job status. “You focus on what you can control and you focus on making sure your players are having a great experience.”

Kingsbury said Tech’s offensive problems the second half of the season stem from being “really poor in the red zone. We gotta get better. Have a better plan. Have a better scheme. Put the ball in the end zone. That’s really our biggest problem.”

Kingsbury’s job might be safe with a little better fieldgoal kicking. The Red Raiders have made just eight of 18 field-goal tries, spread over three kickers.

Last Saturday in the third quarter, Tech recovered a TCU fumble at the Horned Frog 6-yard line, trailing 10-3. On 4th-and-goal from the 2-yard line, Kingsbury ordered a field goal, and Clayton Hatfield hooked it wildly left.

Kingsbury has admitted thinking about disdaining field goals.

“We thought he would make it 10-6,” Kingsbury said. “Didn’t work out. We have confidence in our kicker. He’s been very good for us throughout his career. We’ll just see how it goes and take it play by play.”