Big 12: Quarterbacks rewrite passing records

The Year of the Quarterback in the Big 12?

Pretty good weekend.

And two of the best – Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford and Oklahoma State’s Zac Robinson – didn’t even play.

No conference in the country matches the firepower the Big 12 can line up under center. That was never clearer than Saturday, when records fell and passer ratings and point totals rocketed.

* At Missouri, Chase Daniel set a Big 12 record with 20 straight completions against Buffalo. Overall, Daniel hit 36 of 43 passes for a career-high 439 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-21 rout. He fell three completions shy of the NCAA record of 23 in a row.

“He made some outstanding plays,” said Tigers coach Gary Pinkel. “That guy brings his ‘A’ game every time he plays.”

* At Texas, where the Longhorns routed Rice 52-10, Colt McCoy threw for four touchdowns, giving him a school-record 62 for his career. McCoy hit on 19 of his 23 throws for the game, good for 329 yards. He also led the Longhorns with 83 rushing yards and a touchdown.

“He’s just taken over,” said Texas coach Mack Brown. “This is his team. He’s having fun.”

* At Kansas, Todd Reesing passed for 356 yards and two touchdowns, becoming KU’s all-time leader in passing touchdowns with 53 – in his second season as a starter. But he also dazzled with his legs, firing one scoring pass while on a scrambling roll and also running for a touchdown to lead the Jayhawks’ 38-14 win over Sam Houston State.

“I don’t even know what to say about that,” Reesing said. “I guess I just pulled a rabbit out of a hat there.”

* And at Texas Tech, Graham Harrell was back at it, tossing four touchdown passes to go with his 322 yards in a 55-14 pasting of Massachusetts. Harrell hit 10 different receivers by halftime. He was gone from the game with 11 minutes to play.

Scoreboard

Louisville 38, Kansas State 29
Colorado 17, West Virginia 14, OT
Connecticut 31, Baylor 28
Missouri 42, Buffalo 21
Texas 52, Rice 10
Texas Tech 55, Massachusetts 14
Kansas 38, Sam Houston State 14
Miami 41, Texas A&M 23
UNLV 34, Iowa State 31, OT

Team of the Week: Colorado

Is it time to accelerate talk of the Buffaloes’ return to prominence in the Big 12? A 17-14 overtime upset of West Virginia should at least send warning shots across the conference.

The national pollsters remained hesitant, failing to elevate the Buffs into the Top 25. Still, Thursday night’s win was quite impressive, as much for a young Colorado squad’s ability to stay in the scrap despite a scoring drought against a veteran and potentially explosive West Virginia.

The Buffs led 14-0 in the first quarter, then went 10 straight possessions without points. Still, they hung in with defense, holding down Pat White and Noel Devine enough to get into overtime, where walk-on Aric Goodman booted the game-winner.

Call it a money kick. Afterward, CU coach Dan Hawkins rewarded his kicker with a scholarship.

“Aric Goodman is having the best day of his life,” Buffs defensive tackle George Hypolite pronounced.

And at 3-0, Colorado has its best start to a season since 2004.

“I think we’re still building,” Hawkins told reporters after the game. “Nobody likes to say they’re close, but I think we’re a lot closer than a lot of people think.

“We’re definitely going in the right direction, and I think we’re getting really, really, really close.”

Disappointment of the Week: Kansas State

Louisville got a boost from a visit from Muhammad Ali. Then the Cardinals delivered a gut shot to the Wildcats, whose first test of this season revealed issues that can’t bode well in an improving Big 12 North division.

Yeah, it was a road game. But this wasn’t one of those recent Louisville juggernauts. This was a Cardinals squad that had already been humbled at home by Kentucky, 27-2. And this was a K-State team sold out on making a move in the Big 12.

Instead, the Cats were out-gained 577-343 and managed but 303-30 on the ground. Victor Anderson, Louisville’s third-team running back, went for 176 yards and three touchdowns.

“We got dominated on both lines of scrimmage,” said K-State coach Ron Prince. “We were the bug and they were the windshield.

“We got splattered.”

Player of the Week: Chase Daniel, QB, Missouri

Daniel’s near-perfect performance just elevated his stock even more.

Digest those numbers a bit further – 36 of 43 passing; a string of 20 straight completions at one point; two touchdowns. Lends new meaning to the phrase “The Chase is On.”

Daniel was already tied for the Missouri record of consecutive completions, matching former Tigers quarterback Kent Kiefer’s mark of 15 earlier this season. He broke the Big 12 record of 18 straight, set by Iowa State’s Seneca Wallace in 2001 and tied by Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford last season. The NCAA record is 23, shared by Tennessee’s Tee Martin (1998) and Cal’s Aaron Rodgers (2004).

Freshman of the Week: Rodney Stewart, RB, Colorado

Turns out the Buffs may have two dynamic freshmen running backs.

For all the attention on mega-recruit Darrell Scott, it was Stewart who churned out 166 yards on 28 carries to help pave the upset over the Mountaineers.

Another true freshman from Ohio, Stewart – dubbed “Speedy” – had gained 76 yards on just 13 carries through CU’s opening two games. Given more of a workload against West Virginia, he responded, darting and shooting through holes.

“I was figuring out where the holes were and luckily I was getting yards,” Stewart said.

Lucky for CU, which dared to sign Stewart even when neighboring Ohio State didn’t even offer Stewart a sniff of interest. For that matter, neither did any of the other major-college programs in the area, all unsure about his 5-foot-6, 175-pound frame.

Wrecked crew

It may be a while before anything resembling the old Wrecking Crew defenses starts showing up in Texas A&M uniforms. Miami pounded that point home Saturday – on its first six snaps. That’s all it took for the Hurricanes to roll 121 yards, in a rout in College Station.

The cracks revealed in earlier games against the likes of Arkansas State and New Mexico only widened with the Canes in town. So this season could only get uglier with all the high-powered Big 12 offenses lying ahead. And it’s pretty ugly already. Saturday’s loss was the worst non-conference home loss since 1988. The Aggies stand 0-2 at Kyle Field for the first time since 1972.

“I think this is a key point in our season, where even though (we are) only three games into this thing, that we hang together,” said first-year coach Mike Sherman. “I have complete confidence that we will.”

Bear-ly off

Baylor freshman Robert Griffin may not turn around two decades of program disappointment in one season. But he sure might make it easier to forget – and to look forward, with optimism.

The Bears lost at UConn, but only after Griffin thrilled again and had the Bears believing they could pull off the road upset. And only after Griffin’s fourth-down pass in Huskies territory fell incomplete in the final minute.

Baylor doesn’t win road games, much less compete as an underdog. It didn’t use to, anyway. Now, with Griffin running the show, these Bears suddenly have bite.

Griffin threw for 208 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score. And he had the Bears in the lead, 28-24, with 11:13 remaining, if only the Baylor defense could have dug in.

“I thought he had tremendous poise throwing the ball,” said UConn coach Randy Edsall told reporters after the game. “We got him running around, and we didn’t contain him as much as I would have liked. But that’s his athleticism.

“He is going to be very good and we are going to have to go down there and play next year, and I’m not looking forward to that.”

Sins of the city

If only Iowa State could leave what happened in Vegas, in Vegas. Instead, they’ll have to lug around the memory of an emotional overtime loss.

The Cyclones had rallied to tie the game, 28-28, with a 98-yard drive at the end of regulation after they’d trailed 21-0 at the half. Then they went ahead in the overtime on a 37-yard field goal by Grant Mahoney. But the Rebels rallied last, with a 25-yard scoring pass to end it.

Gone: a chance to move to 3-1 and an opportunity to end a road losing streak that extended to 13 games. Here: even bigger battles in the Big 12. Kansas visits in two weeks.

“If we play the way we played in the first half, we’re going to get stomped in the Big 12,” said ISU quarterback Austin Arnaud. “And if we play like we did in the second half, we’re going to have a real good shot of being great in the Big 12.”

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