October 24th Weekend Games

Big 12 This Week

Saturday October 24th

(4-3) Iowa State @ (4-2) Nebraska
Freshman Cody Green (A Houston Native) could make his 1st collegiate start for Nebraska on Saturday. Green came off the bench during the 4th quarter of the Huskers 31-10 loss to Texas Tech. Outside of a wild fourth quarter against Missouri, the offense hasn’t produced against a BCS team this year. It couldn't’t get into the end zone against Virginia Tech, it struggled for most of the game against Mizzou, and it was a disaster against Texas Tech and its pass rush. The Husker defense did its job against Tech keeping the Red Raiders to just 259 yards, but the offense did not pick up the slack with no big pass plays down the field.
Iowa State could easily be 3-0 in the conference. The Cyclones lost in the last two minutes to both Kansas State and Kansas.

(5-1) #15 Oklahoma State @ (3-3) Baylor

With Dez Bryant missing his third straight game and Kendall Hunter sidelined for his fourth game in a row with a sprained right ankle, Oklahoma State (5-1) defeated Missouri 33-17 on Saturday. The Cowboys are averaging 41.5 points during their four-game winning streak and eighth among Football Bowl Subdivision teams at 37.5 points per game overall. Baylor has not been able to get much going offensively without star QB Robert Griffin. Griffin’s replacement, Blake Szymanski, completed 23 of 38 for 223 yards and was intercepted three times in Saturday's 24-10 loss at Iowa State. Baylor, though, has lost 19 straight to ranked foes since a 35-34 overtime win over then-No. 16 Texas A&M on Oct. 30, 2004. Oklahoma State leads the all-time series with Baylor 15-12, winning 12 of the last 13.

(2-4) Colorado @ (3-3) Kansas State
The Buffalo offense appears reborn after Coach Dan Hawkins replaced his son Cody with Tyler Hansen. Hanson, a more mobile signal-caller can get on the perimeter on bootleg plays which makes the Buffs between the tackles running game more effective. The Colorado defense also had a decent outing sacking Kansas QB Todd Reesing six times.

Kansas State is coming off its most impressive performance of the season, a 62-14 win over Texas A&M. The Kansas State defense came up with six sacks, forced five turnovers, and ended Jerrod Johnson’s Big 12-record streak of 242 passes without throwing an interception, but it was the offense that made it a blowout. Daniel Thomas ran for four first half scores on the way to a 38-0 lead, and Brandon Banks kept the scoring going by taking the second half kickoff 97 yards for a score. With Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri all coming to Manhattan, it’s not insane to think that KSU can be a major player in the North race.

(3-3) Oklahoma @ (5-1) Kansas

Oklahoma’s running game was non-existent against Texas totaling -16 yards. Now the Sooners will likely play the remainder of the season without QB Sam Bradford. Sooners DL Jeremy Beal leads a group of pass rushers that have made OU No. 1 in the Big 12 and fourth in the nation in sacks and tackles for loss. Their run defense is just as good. OU has only allowed 410 yards on the ground through the 1st 6 games of the season.

(3-3) Texas A&M @ (5-2) Texas Tech

This is a tale of two teams heading in opposite directions. Tech is coming off its most impressive victory of the season, a 31-10 win in Lincoln over then-No. 15 Nebraska. The Red Raiders unsung defense held the Cornhuskers to their lowest point total since 2007. Senior defensive end Brandon Sharpe had four of Texas Tech's five sacks -- increasing his season total to eight -- and also batted down a pass.

The Aggies may have hit bottom last Saturday, turning the ball over five times and falling behind 59-0 en route to a 62-14 defeat at Kansas State, their worst loss since a 77-0 rout by then-No. 1 Oklahoma in 2003. Jerrod Johnson threw his first 3 INT’s of the season while the Aggie defense was gouged for 232 yards on the ground by the Wildcats.
The Red Raiders will start Taylor Potts at QB this week for the injured Steven Sheffield who will sit with a foot injury. Potts has not played since suffering a concussion on October 3rd at New Mexico.

Texas Tech has won 12 straight games at Jones Stadium. That is one short of setting a new school record which has stood since 1939-41. The Red Raiders have also won seven in a row in Lubbock against A&M and four straight overall over the Aggies.

(6-0) #3 Texas @ (4-2) Missouri

Cold Weather is expected in Columbia where the Longhorns hope to complete the second third of a challenging October schedule. Game time temperature is predicted around 38 degrees. Missouri has lost two straight games. The Tiger offensive line has struggled to block for QB Blaine Gabbert which is a huge reason why the QB is no walking around with a sprained ankle. Texas has thrived in October and especially after playing the Sooners. The Longhorns are 21-1 in the month since beating the Tigers on Oct. 16, 2004, and haven't lost the week after playing the Sooners since 1997, when they fell 37-29 at Missouri in former coach John Mackovic's final season. The Longhorns have won five straight over the Tigers since then and 14 of 15.

Navy This Week

(4-3) Wake Forest @ (5-2) Navy

The Midshipmen are two wins away from writing their ticket for Houston, Texas. Behind Ricky Dobbs and its powerful ground game, Navy scored on four straight possessions and rushed for 247 yards after halftime to overcome a 21-7 halftime deficit to SMU. These two teams played twice last season with Wake Forest winning both games. Wake Forest has a tendency to turn the ball over, so Navy definitely has a shot to win this game.