Big 12 Football Rankings And Reactions, Week 5

Follow and/or Contact @PeteFiutak 

Oklahoma made a statement and TCU and Baylor bombed away to make it a tough week to do the Big 12 football rankings. The league is looking stronger and stronger, and it’s only going to get more interesting.

Big 12 Player of the Week

Oklahoma State QB Mason Rudolph completed 34-of-55 passes for 437 yards and three scores with a pick in the win over Kansas State.

Week 5 Big 12 Football Rankings

1. Oklahoma (4-0)

W, West Virginia 44-24: This is it. This is the win that showed that Oklahoma is completely and totally legitimate – at least for right now. This was a rested, prepared, and sharp Mountaineer team, and OU pulled away with a strong fourth quarter. The running game still might not be finding the big, gashing runs of the past, but Air Raid attack is working find with mega-play after mega-play – the Sooner receivers are getting big things done on the move. It wasn’t the cleanest of performances with 12 penalties, two turnovers, and going 2-of-12 on third downs, but it was a nice win going into the Texas game.

2. Baylor (4-0)

W, Texas Tech 63-35: That was the offense humming on all cylinders. There was no question the Bear attack was going to work, but the defense did its part as the game went on, too. It gave up plenty of passing yards – 530 and four scores – but as insane as it seems, they didn’t matter because it was over at halftime with 49 points Seth Russell and Shock Linwood rolling at will. Corey Coleman – unstoppable. Linwood – unstoppable. The whole thing worked against the one decent team the Bears have faced so far, and now comes target practice against Kansas before the toughest game of the year until November against Kansas State.

3. TCU (5-0)

W, Texas 50-7: TCU was being nice to the Longhorns – it could’ve been much, much worse. The offense is humming on high at this point with Trevone Boykin in total control. But why is this all working? The line is playing really, really well, blasting open big lanes against the hapless Longhorn D. TCU averaged 5.4 yards per carry, while Boykin had all the time he wanted to make things happen down the field. Last week against Texas Tech it was Josh Doctson who ripped it up, and he did it again with another huge day, but KaVontae Turpin became the star this week with four scoring grabs. The weapons are tremendous, Boykin is finding them, and the team seems to be hitting its stride at just the right time.

4. West Virginia (3-1)

L, at Oklahoma 44-24: The disappointing part about the loss is how the team played. With 11 penalties and five turnovers, the team killed too many drives and ruined too many moments all by itself. OU forced a lot of the mistakes, and the passing game struggled under the pressure with Skyler Howard throwing three picks, but the game was there for the taking in the fourth quarter. The running game worked well enough to keep control of the tempo at times, and the line did its part against the run, but the secondary couldn’t slow down the OU receivers on the move. With Oklahoma State up next and road games at Baylor and TCU to follow, this hurts, but there are chances to make up for it.

5. Texas Tech (3-2)

L, at Baylor 63-35: At least the Red Raiders got it out of the way. There’s still Oklahoma to deal with, and Oklahoma State and West Virginia are going to be tough, but TCU and now Baylor are in the rearview mirror. Tech might have lost both games, but the passing game worked in both, the D almost came up with one final stop against the Horned Frogs, and even with the bombing by BU in the first half, the team looked like it belonged. Patrick Mahomes threw well, but there wasn’t any margin for error here – Tech had to score every time it had the ball, and didn’t.

6. Oklahoma State (5-0)

W, Kansas State 36-34: So there’s the Mason Rudolph who’s supposed to eventually become the Big 12 star of stars. While there was a wee bit of help from the officials to pull this one out, Rudolph was fantastic as he looked and played like the type of quarterback who can keep up the pace with the other high-powered conference quarterbacks. Spreading the ball around well to nine different receivers, Rudolph worked well with Marcell Ateman and James Washington for huge days, but everyone got a taste. It hasn’t been the easiest of rides so far, but 5-0 going into the West Virginia game is nothing to complain about.

7. Kansas State (3-1)

L, at Oklahoma State 36-34: Do the Wildcats have any quarterbacks left? Joe Hubener got erased when he was trying to scramble, left with an apparent concussion, was replaced by receiver Kody Cook, who got the team back into the game before leaving with an arm injury, and somehow Hubener was able to come back into the game. With KSU has to spend the week coming up with some quarterback depth with five quarterbacks now hurt. Cook turned out to be the running game, taking off for a team-high 87 yards and a score. For this to work going forward, the offense needs more from the running backs – the quarterbacks apparently can’t survive.

8. Texas (1-4)

L, at TCU 50-7: Why is everyone shocked by this? Texas is a young, inconsistent team going against a top-five level TCU squad. It doesn’t matter at all that this was 50-7, or 10-7 – Texas isn’t there yet. It’s not about the right now, or this year. Texas is going to be bad at playing college football – or at least it’s not going to be at the level everyone wants. It’s supposed to be a process, and this is supposed to be a lousy season with all the freshmen seeing time. For now, though, D’Onta Freeman ran well, but that’s about it. To have any chance in the Big 12, you need a downfield passing game, and Texas doesn’t have one.

9. Iowa State (2-2)

W, Kansas 38-13: If Mike Warren can continue to carry the offense at times, Iowa State is going to come up with an upset or two in the Big 12. Now that the free space game against Kansas is out of the way, there’s work to do, but Warren showed for a second straight week that he can add balance to an offense expected to be pass-heavy. This is how it’s supposed to work, with the offense coming up with 243 yards on the ground and 269 through the air, but not every week will be against the Jayhawks. However, the Texas Tech defense – up next – isn’t exactly a brick wall. ISU needs Warren to control the game and the clock.

10. Kansas (0-4)

L, at Iowa State 38-13: This isn’t a team built to come from behind. The Jayhawks couldn’t get on the board early, couldn’t hold down the Iowa State offense in the second quarter, and couldn’t get past a 24-0 deficit in the third and a 31-6 hole in the fourth. It’s easier said than done, but somehow, KU needs to grind out the clock and slow things down – going against the very nature of the David Beaty attack. Montell Cozart and Ryan Willis combined to complete 23-of-37 passes for 250 yards and a score, and they made some nice plays, but it was way too late by the time the offense started to click.

MORE: Week 5 College Football Rankings, No. 1 -128