Every team in the Big 12 North has already lost a conference game. The early division leader is Kansas State, which went from giving up 66 points one week to scoring 62 the next.
Missouri (4-2, 0-2 Big 12), the two-time defending North champion, is the only division team that hasn’t won a league game. Kansas (5-1, 1-1) and Nebraska (4-2, 1-1), considered the preseason favorites, are both coming off losses.
“It certainly looks like it’s going to be a wild, wild race, no question,” Kansas coach Mark Mangino said Monday during the Big 12 coaches’ weekly teleconference. “I don’t think you can discount anybody in the conference. … For us, we’ve got to win as they come and let that stuff figure itself out at the end.”
Right now, it’s certainly hard to figure out what might happen.
M.
“It probably tells us we’re a little goofy and that we have no idea of where we are and who we are,” K-State coach Bill Snyder said.
e Wildcats leading the Big 12 North, or even thought about it when he came out of a three-year retirement last summer.
“It was just trying to piece things together day by day,” Snyder said. “More than I’ve ever done before, we’ve just taken it a day at a time. … I never gave any thought where we might be at this point.”
The Wildcats now go to Colorado (2-4, 1-1), which upset Kansas 34-30 last weekend to end the 24th-ranked Jayhawks’ eight-game winning streak.
Missouri, which lost 33-17 at No. 14 Oklahoma State, gets no break this weekend at home against No. 3 Texas.
“We knew going into this it was going to be tough,” Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. “There’s a lot left in the season, a lot of things are going to happen. It will be interesting to see how all that works out.”
Even Iowa State (4-3, 1-2) has won a conference game, breaking its 11-game Big 12 losing streak with a 24-10 victory over Baylor. The Cyclones now go to Nebraska, which is still stinging from a 31-10 loss at Texas Tech.
“They’re going to look angry,” first-year Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads said.
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YELLOW FLAGS: The yellow flags are flying at Oklahoma State – and across the Big 12.
Oklahoma State is tied with Troy as the most penalized FBS team, averaging 9.83 penalties a game. Of the 120 BCS teams, the Big 12 has seven teams among the 22 most-penalized.
M and Baylor are also in that group.
“It does seem like there’s more penalties called this year than there ever have been,” Cowboys coach Mike Gundy said. “I’m not sure if it’s a plan for the officials to tighten the game or if they’re just seeing more calls this year.”
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PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Colorado running back Rodney Stewart (108 yards, two touchdowns) and Oklahoma State receiver Hubert Anyiam (10 catches, 119 yards, two touchdowns) were named co-offensive players of the week in the Big 12.
Texas safety Earl Thomas (seven tackles, three pass breakups) and Texas Tech end Brandon Sharpe (four sacks) shared the defensive award. Kansas State kick returner Brandon Banks (97-yard kickoff return for touchdown) was the special teams player of the week.
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QUOTABLE: “We might be forcing the issue a little instead of just relaxing and playing and taking care of our responsibilities.” – Baylor coach Art Briles, on how his team has played since losing QB Robert Griffin to a season-ending knee injury last month.
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EXTRA POINTS: Earl Thomas also was named Texas’ defensive player of the week, and won part of another weekly award given out by the Longhorns. RB Fozzy Whitaker got the hard hat award for the “best hit” in the Oklahoma game, a play when he went out of bounds and knocked Thomas down . “We’re thankful everyone was OK. … All of us had a nice laugh at the meeting,” coach Mack Brown said. … With his next victory, coach Mike Leach will match Spike Dykes’ 82 for the most at Texas Tech.
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