Longhorns resilient in victory over Trojans
Texas whipped Southern Cal 37-14 Saturday night, a huge win for a program struggling to find its footing and for a team that had played poorly in its first two games.
Maybe these Longhorns get up for big games. Speaking of which, another looms Saturday, when Texas hosts 15th-ranked TCU. That’s potential good news for the 2-1 ‘Horns, who shouldn’t be distracted by the old news of USC, since the Horned Frogs have won four straight against Texas, by a combined score of 153-33.
“I think a case can be made for that,” said Texas coach Tom Herman. “This is a big meat-grinder that we’re going through, starting with SC, the four- or five-week stretch.”
After TCU, the Longhorns play at Kansas State, where UT has lost five straight and has won just once ever, and then plays OU in Dallas. If Texas had lost to the Trojans, a 1-5 start was not out of the question.
“There’s so much parity in the Big 12, I don’t know if there would be any team I feel like we could relax against,” Herman said. “But you’re also dealing with human nature. And anytime TCU comes into town, I think our guys are gonna be fired up.”
USC took a 14-3 lead on Texas, but from there, the Longhorns dominated the game.
“The psychology of our team is in a really good place right now,” Herman said. “We went down 14-3 and nobody blinked, nobody flinched. Nobody batted an eye. We went down to Maryland and I think a lot of guys tensed up and got nervous. Our players and coaches have done a nice job of playing free, playing relaxed.”
Baylor QB job undecided
One Big 12 quarterback battle appears to have ended. Kansas State’s Skylar Thompson was quite effective in a 41-17 victory over Texas-San Antonio, apparently relegating Alex Delton to the bench.
But another Big 12 quarterback battle, at Baylor, shows no signs of ending. And at Iowa State, who knows if Zeb Noland will keep making the most of his opportunity?
In a 37-20 loss to Duke, Baylor again used quarterbacks Charlie Brewer and Jalan McClendon in both halves. The Bears were shut out in the first half before the offense found some rhythm. Will the platoon continue?
“We’re debating that as we sit here right now,” Baylor coach Matt Rhule said. “We feel good about both guys. Both guys made big plays. It’s not an easy decision to say, let’s settle on one guy. That’s a day by day process for us. As it stands today, we’d probably play both” against Kansas on Saturday.
Brewer completed 15 of 27 passes for 175 yards, with no touchdowns or interceptions. McClendon had one of each, to go with 10-of-16 passing for 95 yards.
Meanwhile, Noland was impressive in Iowa State’s 37-27 loss to OU. Starting in place of the injured Kyle Kempt, Noland completed 25 of 36 passes for 360 yards and two touchdowns, with his only interception a desperation toss in the final two minutes of the game.
“What was impressive was his ability to adjust in the middle of the game,” Cyclone coach Matt Campbell said of Noland. “The constant improvement for him is his ability to be consistent.”
KU tops in turnover margin
Kansas’ 2017 football team had nine takeaways and 26 turnovers. That’s a minus-17 turnover ratio that ranked the Jayhawks 127th out of 129 major-college teams.
Through three games of 2018, Kansas has 13 takeaways and one turnover. That’s a plus-12 turnover margin that ranks first in the nation. And no coincidence, the Jayhawks are 2-1, having routed Central Michigan 31-7 and Rutgers 55-14.
Kansas coach David Beaty said takeaways and ball security are a constant focus for the Jayhawks, and “I think it’s like anything else. Once you see the fruits of your labor, it makes it even more evident that that focus was worth it. Just like anything in life, when you have a plan and you’ve got a means by which you go about improving in an area, it’s something each individual can build off and feed off each other. It becomes a contagious deal.”
KU’s Bryce Torneden returned an interception 39 yards for a touchdown on Rutgers’ second series Saturday, and the romp was on. The Jayhawks have six fumble recoveries and seven interceptions so far.
Mountaineers scrimmage
West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen was bummed out when the Mountaineers’ game at North Carolina State, scheduled for last Saturday, was canceled because of Hurricane Florence.
“It was a game everybody wanted to play,” Holgorsen said. “Such an outstanding week in the Big 12, and that matchup was going to add to that. Whole bunch of people wanted that game to be played, but at the end of the day, you can’t play.”
So Holgorsen changed West Virginia’s practice schedule. The Mountaineers scrimmaged — a lot
— in preparation for a home game against Kansas State this Saturday.
“We scrimmaged every day, got our guys ready to be physical,” Holgorsen said. “Kansas State is a tough outfit. No better way of preparing to play football than playing football.”
The Mountaineers then got the weekend off.
“I don’t think it’s going to hurt our football team,” Holgorsen said of the cancellation, which will leave WVU with 11 regular-season games. “We’ve already had a marquee Game 1 matchup against an SEC school (Tennessee). There’s going to be plenty of opportunities for us to play as much ball as we possibly can.”