Weekend in Review

Welcome to week two of the weekend in review. Let's get to it...

Oklahoma
As I mentioned last week, OU faced a Cincinnati team that went 10-3 last year in the Big East. And as predicted, OU beat the hell out of them. A new star emerged in Ryan Broyles, a Freshman receiver who caught seven passes for 141 yards and a touchdown. OU travels to Washington this week, who's 0-2 after an excessive celebration penalty led to an extra-long extra point which led to an extra-blocked extra point that led to a lot of whimpering Huskies.

Ranking (via Sports Illustrated*)
Last week: 2
This week: 2

Texas
Apparently I went to the wrong school. UTEP girls know how to watch football.

UT won, blahblahblah...This week they face Arkansas, which may be the most confusing and unbalanced team in the history of the game. Their offense is 116th in the NCAA (third to last) and their defense is 2nd (uhh...second to first). How is this possible? Have their games been a series of three-and-outs for four quarters?

It should be a good weekend in Austin. An old Southwest Conference rivalry is renewed and Hailey talks a lot of shit, getting Matt pummeled by a crowd of fed-up Longhorn fans.

Ranking
Last week: 10
This week: 8

Texas Tech
So we beat Nevada last week in a 35-19 stinker. My main concern is that our "much improved" defense still sucks, giving up 488 yards, including 224 on the ground. We've given up 426 yards a game over the first two, which is good for 97th in that category. Bang up job, Ruffin. Really.

To put that in perspective, the team above us in the AP poll, Alabama, is giving up 253 yards a game (good for 26th) and the team behind us in the AP poll, Kansas, is giving up 203 a game (good for 15th). Meanwhile, in terms of defensive rankings, we're sandwiched between Navy and Rice. Dynamite.

Well, I know what you're saying. "Tech is an offensive team anyway!" Which is true. We're 14th in overall offense so far. However. Graham Harrell (297 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT) completed a paltry 19 of his 46 passes against Nevada, which is awful considering our offense relies mostly on quick short routes. Apparently there were some NFL scouts in the stands, which may have given him the jitters? Okay Graham, congratulations, you've successfully murdered any chances of being drafted. Can you please start playing football now?

Now, I'm no mathematician, but a 14th ranked offense and a 97th ranked defense does not a #12 team make. This is typical though. We don't really start playing well until our chances of a breakthrough season have been shot to shit anyway. So just let's go ahead and squeak by SMU and UMass and lose to Kansas State so we can start playing again.

Ranking
Last week: 8
This week: 17

Oklahoma State
Another stellar prediction by Mattradamus (though he underestimated the Cowboys a bit), in a shootout against Houston. Their offense racked up 700 yards, which offset nicely the 483 their defense gave up. This week they take on the mighty Bears of Missouri State, a team that lost in a heartbreaker last week to powerhouse Washburn. I'll let Mattradamus do the predicting, but I'm gonna guess it won't be pretty.

Ranking
Last week: 45
This week: N/A

Texas A&M

I have to admit, I didn't watch one second of this game, so I'm gonna base my entire write-up here on the box score...

124 passing yards for Johnson (who?). Nine yards running for Goodson. Jeez, not much to work with here. Ah, the coach referred to the game as "raggedy." Way to instill confidence in your team, coach. Ugh. Let's move on...

So A&M got a win last week, which is a start. They've got the weekend off to lick their wounds and go to Northgate to get in fights and...uhh...fuck goats, or whatever you do in College Station. The following week, the U is coming to town. That's pretty exciting. Granted, they're not the U of old, but still. A&M could make a statement next week? I guess?

Miami lost 26-3 last week to Florida in a game that was apparently a lot closer than the score indicates. We'll see if they can ride the momentum of a close loss. Jeez, I'm having a hard time coming up with anything positive to say here. Moving on...

Ranking
Last week: 71
This week: N/A

Baylor
A nice win for Baylor pasting Northwestern State 51-6. I don't care who you're playing, that's a nice score. This week they welcome Washington State with a chance to prove...something. That they're better than we think? That Washington State stinks? Who knows.

Ranking
Last week: 89
This week: N/A

This week’s games:
A much heartier slate of games compared to last week, though the Big XII went 12-0 for the first time in its history. A couple notes here -- first off, how is UT favored by that much? I mean, they're better than Arkansas, but...I don't know. Old rivals? An SEC team? That seems a little high. Also, considering the first two games of the season, there's no way in hell Tech is gonna cover a 37 point spread against SMU. They couldn't outscore Lubbock Christian by 37 right now.

Oklahoma (-20) at Washington
Arkansas at Texas (-24)
SMU at Texas Tech (-37)
Missouri State at Oklahoma State (no line)
Texas A&M (off)
Washington State (-2.5) at Baylor

* Again, I’m using the Sports Illustrated rankings because they’re the only ones who rank all 119 teams each week. If you Longhorns can find another one, please share. Although, since you've jumped Tech, I'm assuming this poll is fine now. Rankings for teams outside the top 25 coming soon (as soon as they're available).