Week 2 action gets under way

Big 12 report: Time for the Texas statement

Cody Stoots
Sep 5, 2019, 1:09 am
@TexasFootball

The Big 12 is the only undefeated conference in football. There are some solid games to pay attention to this week but before we do that let's take a look back at last week in Big 12 action.

Wins that matter

Iowa State 29 Northern Iowa 26

The news clippings almost got the Cyclones! They had to struggle to take down the Panthers after coming in ranked for the first time basically ever. The absence of David Montgomery and Hakeem Butler were apparent. Deshaunte Jones was amazing but the wideouts outside of him didn't bring a ton. The Cyclones have a lot of improvement ahead of them if they want to be taken serious behind the Longhorns and the Sooners.

Oklahoma 49 Houston 31

The Sooners looked like they didn't miss a beat with new quarterback Jalen Hurts under center. They're nasty when it comes to pass catchers and the defense had some early bright spots before they started breaking more than the bent. Lincoln Riley is one of the best coaches in football and the Sooners seem ready to roll again.

Texas 45 Louisiana Tech 14

The Longhorns rolled. They allowed a few yards but made the plays they needed to keep the Bulldogs out of the end zone. The offense rolled despite limitation at running back in the game. Tom Herman and company had a good warm up before the biggest game of the early Big 12 schedule.

Three studs

Oklahoma State RB Chuba Hubbard

You can see the video above. He was a freak against the Beavers and Oklahoma State has a dynamic offense with him and quarterback Spencer Sanders leading the way. Hubbard is already to a third of his production from last season.

Texas Tech RB Armand Shyne

A Texas Tech running back? You're damn right. The Red Raiders played a FCS team but almost 700 yards is nothing to sneeze at ever. The ground game rattled off 255 with Shyne accounting for 125 yards on his 11 carries.

Oklahoma QB Jalen Hurts

What a debut for the former Alabama quarterback. He accounted for over 500 yards of offense and six touchdowns and my word he looked better than just about ever. He won the "Week One Heisman" is all you need to know.

Must-watch game

6 LSU at 9 Texas

What a contest. What a matchup. Just an incredible early schedule game for all of us to consume. Texas has the ability to defeat LSU and hand the Tigers a huge blow to a hopeful season. LSU probably has the offense capable of downing the Horns in Austin, but I don't trust Joe Burrow.

Last year Burrow tossed 16 touchdowns. The above mentioned Sam Ehlinger rushed for 16 touchdowns on top of his 25 passing scores. Burrow accounted for just 23 total scores. Yes, Burrow and the Tigers torched their week one opponent. Let's see if they can do it against Texas. I am worried about the injuries to the Longhorns running backs but if Ehlinger's legs hold up Texas is winning this one.

Who better ball

Texas RB Keaontay Ingram

He's one of the few healthy running backs that is actually a running back and not transitioned there off another position. He will have to be solid and durable for the Longhorns if they're going to win.

West Virginia's Running Backs. All of them.

Awful performance for them against James Madison last week. They rushed for a whopping 34 yards. That has to be better if they'd like to add to Missouri's horrid start.

Big 12 Rankings

1. Oklahoma

2. Texas

3. Oklahoma State

4. Texas Tech

5. Baylor

6. TCU

7. Iowa State

8. Kansas State

9. West Virginia

10. Kansas

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FLIP THE SCRIPT

Here’s why Houston Texans team strategy is becoming increasingly divisive

The Houston Texans approach to the offseason has caused quite a bit of controversy among Texans fans and media. Some really like what the team is doing in free agency, while others are underwhelmed.

But the argument that keeps getting thrown around is whether the Texans are ready to win this season, or if the team will have to suffer through another disappointing season. Most would agree the Texans roster has a number of holes, but how will that roster look after the NFL Draft and hopefully a new franchise QB is taking snaps for the team?

The great thing about the NFL is how fast teams can turn things around and start winning. When we looked at the teams coming off a bad season and drafting around the Texans in 2021, many of them showed a huge improvement the following season.

The Lions were 3-13-1 in 2021, last year? 9-8. The Jaguars went 3-14 in 2021. Last year they won the AFC South and notched a playoff win over the Chargers. Look at the New York Giants, they went 4-13 in 2021. They improved to 9-7-1 and also won a playoff game just one year later. And don't get us started on the Jets. They went 4-13 in 2021, improved to 7-10 with bad QB play, and now Aaron Rodgers wants to play there.

The point being, most of these teams hired new coaches in the last couple of years, added some talent through the draft and free agency and started winning. Why are Texans fans and media so convinced they're in for another season of losing? Why can't the Texans be the team that turns things around and competes for a division title? Especially if they land a franchise QB as expected.

The AFC South isn't a very tough division. In fact, the Texans beat the Jags, Colts, and Titans just this year. Shouldn't we expect them to take a step forward with better players and DeMeco Ryans leading the way?

Be sure to check out the video above as we break it all down!

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Listen to The Bench with John and Lance weekdays from 7-10AM on ESPN 97.5 and 92.5.


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