by Jim Buzzerd
Wild Big 12 Saturday
West Virginia University football fans have to be looking at the results of Saturday’s Big 12 Conference play and scratching their collective heads. Because WVU and Baylor were idle due to their impending Halloween matchup this Thursday on ESPN, there were just four conference games last Saturday. Each game featured a future West Virginia opponent, three of whom were underdogs and presumably, WVU will need to beat three of the four to make the post season, unless the Mountaineers can upset undefeated Baylor.
Maybe WVU can pull the upset. After all, all four underdogs did on Saturday and leading the way was Kansas State’s impressive 48-41 win over previously unbeaten Oklahoma in Manhattan. Oklahoma State went to Iowa State and beat the Cyclones 34-27 an upset. Perhaps a more impressive upset was the 37-27 win by home standing TCU over Texas. The only future opponent of WVU to not win was Texas Tech that lost 37-34 at Kansas in yet another upset, though this game had the craziest ending of the day.
With the score tied at 34, Kansas lined up for a game winning 40-yard field goal with 13 seconds remaining. The kick was blocked and the ball landed in the hands of a Tech defensive back that danced around with the ball a few seconds, but he seemed to be looking to lateral the ball to a teammate. Couldn’t tell if he pitched the ball or the defense knocked it loose, but the ball ended up on the ground and was recovered by Kansas with one second left. This time Kansas made the 32-yard field goal to pull the upset.
It’s probably going to take some time for the Tech player to live that one down. All he had to do was go to the ground to virtually assure the game gets to overtime. Of course there is no guarantee Kansas still doesn’t get the win.
Prior to Saturday, I thought getting three wins from Texas Tech, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and TCU was possible. That’s not to say WVU has no chance against Baylor this Thursday, only that the other four teams seemed to be playing at a level below Baylor. At least three of them stepped it up significantly last weekend.
Also, the Mountaineer basketball team will be in action in an exhibition game this Friday night when they host Duquesne at 7 p.m. The game will be televised by AT&T Sportsnet for those who can get it. There may also be a stream available from wvusports.com which will likely be subject to blackouts depending on geography.
