Big 12 Update: A Broad Look at the Conference Five Weeks into the Season

October 7, 2021

With tight games galore and a trip to Boise thrown in for good measure, this Cowboy football season has already been quite the rollercoaster.

Oklahoma State has a much needed bye week this weekend, which gives us time to take a broader look at college football and how the Pokes fit into that. Here is an update of how things are going around the Big 12.

Conference Standings
Team Big 12 Record Overall Record
Oklahoma 2-0 5-0
Oklahoma State 2-0 5-0
Texas 2-0 4-1
Baylor 2-1 4-1
Texas Tech 1-1 4-1
Iowa State 1-1 3-2
TCU 0-1 2-2
Kansas State 0-2 3-2
West Virginia 0-2 2-3
Kansas 0-2 1-4

Every team aside from Baylor has played two league games to this point, and there is already a bit of a division forming.

Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas have an early lead on title contention with their unbeaten league starts, and the likes of Kansas State, West Virginia and Kansas all have uphill treks to Arlington.

Iowa State was thought to contend for the title entering the season, but the Cyclones dropped their conference opener to Baylor. They did bounce back with a 59-7 thumping of Kansas, but that probably says more about Kansas than Iowa State at this point.

Top Offenses
Rank Team Points Per Game Yards Per Game
1 Texas 43.8 472.8
2 Oklahoma 38.4 433.4
3 Baylor 37 447.6
4 Texas Tech 35.6 438
5 TCU 35 433.3
6 Iowa State 33.8 442
7 West Virginia 30 380.8
8 Kansas State 28.8 360.4
9 Oklahoma State 25.4 378.4
10 Kansas 17.2 331

The jury is still out (and has been for a while) on whether Texas is back or not, but the Longhorns have been putting up points since Oklahoma native Casey Thompson took over their QB1 role.

In the three games that Thompson has been the starter, Texas has averaged 53.3 points a game with a 58-point outburst against Rice and a 70-point melee against Texas Tech.

Oklahoma’s offensive numbers involve an outlier in the form of winless FCS foe Western Carolina. In their four games against FBS opponents, the Sooners have averaged 29 points a game.

It’s seems more miraculous that OSU is undefeated when looking at that chart.

Top Defenses
Rank Team Points Allowed Per Game Yards Allowed Per Game
1 Iowa State 15.6 233.2
2 Baylor 17.4 312.4
4 Oklahoma State 18.6 305.2
5 Oklahoma 19 325
6 Kanas State 23 342.6
3 West Virginia 18 315.2
7 Texas 24 396.8
8 TCU 27.3 397
9 Texas Tech 30.8 386.8
10 Kansas 43.8 494

This chart shows why the Pokes are unbeaten, ranking third in points allowed per game and second in yards allowed.

Iowa State is the other obvious stand out here. In the Cyclones’ three wins, ISU has allowed 10, 7 and 7 points.

Meanwhile, Kansas is allowing about 100 yards more a game than the ninth-place team in the league (Texas). Match that with the worst offense in the league, and things are going as expected for the Jayhawks.

Top 10 Passers
Rank Player School Completions-Attempts Yards TDs
1 Spencer Rattler Oklahoma 122-160 1,260 10
2 Jarret Doege West Virginia 98-150 1,207 7
3 Brock Purdy Iowa State 94-132 1,133 8
4 Gerry Bohanon Baylor 78-116 996 7
5 Max Duggan TCU 67-106 899 8
6 Tyler Shough Texas Tech 64-92 872 6
7 Jason Bean Kansas 66-118 852 5
8 Spencer Sanders Oklahoma State 56-96 781 5
9 Casey Thompson Texas 54-76 707 9
10 Henry Colombi Texas Tech 41-58 598 3

Onto some individual statistics.

Despite OU fans chanting for true freshman Caleb Williams, Spencer Rattler is still leading the league in passing yards, having put up at least 200 in every game thus far.

It’s interesting that Texas Tech actually has two QBs on this list. Henry Colombi has filled in for an injured Tyler Shough after Shough broke his collarbone.

With Tech having two passers in the Top 10, that means one school doesn’t have one: Kansas State. It’s also because of injury, as Skyler Thompson has played in only three games this season. He ranks 11th in the conference in passing yards with 560.

Top 10 Rushers
Rank Player School Carries Yards TDs
1 Bijan Robinson Texas 105 652 7
2 Breece Hall Iowa State 104 551 8
3 Jaylen Warren Oklahoma State 115 512 6
4 Abram Smith Baylor 67 510 6
5 Duece Vaughn Kansas State 90 444 5
6 Zach Evans TCU 57 443 3
7 Leddie Brown West Virginia 83 378 6
8 Trestan Ebner Baylor 58 348 0
9 Kennedy Brooks Oklahoma 54 318 4
10 Jason Bean Kansas 60 291 2

Bijan Robinson has probably jumped out as the early favorite for the league’s Offensive Player of the Year. Robinson has gone over the century mark in all of UT’s games aside from its Arkansas loss.

Breece Hall has also been a touchdown machine despite the Cyclones’ disappointing start, leading the league in rushing scores. Then Jaylen Warren came out of nowhere to round out the conference’s Top 3, having rushed for 466 yards in OSU’s past three games.

Top 10 Receivers
Rank Player School Catches Yards TDs
1 Erik Ezukanma Texas Tech 23 406 1
2 Xavier Hutchinson Iowa State 31 381 3
3 Jordan Whittington Texas 21 324 3
T4 Tay Martin Oklahoma State 21 317 2
T4 R.J. Sneed Baylor 18 317 1
6 Kaylon Geiger Texas Tech 21 314 1
7 Winston Wright West Virginia 26 278 0
8 Tyquan Thorton Baylor 19 276 3
9 Trevor Wilson Kansas 15 271 1
10 Marvin Mims Oklahoma 14 264 0

Erik Ezukanma leads the conference in receiving, and he has played only four games. He started the year with dominating outings against Houston and Stephen F. Austin, going for 179 yards and 149 yards, respectively.

Like with quarterbacks, the Red Raiders have two of the Top 10 receivers in the conference, as Kaylon Geiger ranks sixth in the league. He had 100-yard outings against FIU and Texas.

Despite Rattler having the most passing yards in the league thus far, OU has only one receiver in the league’s Top 10 in Marvin Mims.

Top 10 Tacklers
Rank Player School Total Tackles
1 Malcolm Rodriguez Oklahoma State 54
2 Colin Schooler Texas Tech 45
3 DeMarvion Overshown Texas 44
4 Josh Chandler-Semedo West Virginia 43
T5 Sean Mahone West Virginia 39
T5 Dillon Doyle Baylor 39
T7 Kenny Logan Kansas 36
T7 Gavin Potter Kansas 36
9 Jake Hummel Iowa State 35
T10 Alonzo Addae West Virginia 34
T10 Mike Rose Iowa State 34

Lastly, let’s look at some guys on the defensive side of the ball.

Malcolm Rodriguez has taken down everything in his vicinity this season. He ranks in the Top 5 nationally in tackles. He has three games with double-digit takedowns.

West Virginia’s stifling defense is well-represented on this list with Josh Chandler-Semedo, Sean Mahone and Alonzo Addae all in the Top 10.

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