Winners and losers Cowboys earn top performance in Big 12 Wednesday, November 10, 2021
By the looks of the game, the Ashton Slaughter Cowboys were the team that had nothStaff Reporter ing to lose, as they came out and stomped any hopes of an upset victory The month of November is among into the ground. The Mountaineers us, which is one of the most pivotal came out with energy, as their opentimes in the college football season. ing possession was an 11-play, 64-yard With the first College Football drive resulting in a field goal with a Playoff rankings coming out this past little over nine minutes remaining in week, these “resume building” games the first quarter. After this, the Mounare now more important than ever. taineers would be held scoreless for the 8: West Virginia – Lost 24-3 rest of the game, as they were unable to against Oklahoma State move the ball on the prolific Cowboy Talk about getting absolutely shut defense. down. Although quarterback Jarret Morgantown, West Virginia, is Dodge and the passing unit had a rough known for being a hectic environment afternoon, no unit may have had it for opponents. With the Mountaineers worse than the running backs. Led by sitting at a 4-4 record coming into this Leddie Brown, one of the top Big 12 game, college football fans figured this running backs, the rushing attack was game could be close. completely eliminated from the offense,
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as their 33 carries resulted in a mere 17 yards. The Mountaineers haven’t been dominated like this all season, as the Cowboys came in and handled their business. 7: Kansas – Lost 35-10 against Kansas State Two weeks removed from nearly pulling off the biggest upset this year, the Jayhawks have plummeted to reality very quickly. After being beaten down by Oklahoma State, the Jayhawks traveled back home to face off against their rival, Kansas State. The Wildcats, although entering with a 5-3 record, have had their ups and downs throughout the season as well, so the window wasn’t completely closed for a Jayhawks upset. From the first offensive possession
for the Jayhawks, they already looked outmatched. The Jayhawks first offensive possession was a seven-play drive that lasted over four and a half minutes... but they still only moved 15 yards. From there, it was all Wildcats, as on the ensuing possession they scored a touchdown and proceeded to outscore the Jayhawks 21-3 throughout the first half. Where the Jayhawks really struggled was converting on third downs, as they continued to not keep possessions alive. They were 3-13 on third downs, compared to the Wildcats 6-9. Another area of struggle was the running game, as the Jayhawks only averaged 2.9 yards per carry.
Strengths and weaknesses See Winners on 3
TCU’s run defense, wide receivers holding
also given up 20 rushing touchdowns. Kaleb Tadpole With OSU’s solid run game, the Staff Reporter TCU defense will struggle against OSU senior running back Jaylen Warren and Following an impressive 30-28 the OSU offense Saturday. win over Baylor, TCU heads to StillwaStrength: Chandler Morris ter to play Oklahoma State. Freshman quarterback Chandler The Horned Frogs will look to Morris has only played in two games ride that momentum into this game. this year, one being in TCU’s 31-12 loss Weakness: Run defense to Kansas State, but this past Saturday TCU’s defense has had little to no Morris showed what he is capable of. resistance against the run game. They He completed 29 passes on 41 atare allowing 201 yards rushing per tempts, and threw for 461 yards and two game, ranking them 116th in the FBS. touchdowns against Baylor. The Horned Frogs defense has In the KSU loss, Morris entered allowed a 100-yard rusher every game the game in the third quarter, completsince their third game of the season ing nine passes for 111 yards. He has against SMU. This includes three times yet to turn the ball over, something the opposing running backs have gone over Horned Frogs have had problems with 150 yards against Texas, SMU and this year. Oklahoma. In nine games, they have With having played in only two
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games this season, there is not much tape on Morris for opposing teams to look at. With a strong Cowboy defense, it will be interesting to see how Morris plays Saturday against the many different defensive looks from defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. Weakness: Inconsistency at wide receiver Sophomore wide receiver Quentin Johnston has hauled in 31 receptions for 615 yards and six touchdowns. Following Johnston are senior wide receivers Taye Barber and Derius Davis who both have 25 receptions on the season. After those three the Horned Frogs don’t have much at the receiver position. Even TCU’s best wide receivers have been inconsistent this year and not showed up in keys games. In their loss against Kansas State, Barber and
Johnston combined for just four catches for 20 yards. TCU will need the best versions of its wide receivers against OSU to come away with the victory against a veteran Cowboy defense. Strength: Converting on third down The Horned Frogs offense has been consistent so far this year at converting when it matters most. TCU ranks No. 10 in the nation when it comes to converting on third down, converting 61 times on 125 attempts. The Cowboy defense ranks No. 2 in the nation on third down defense. It is a matchup that could have a lot of impact on the game come Saturday. sports.ed@ocolly.com