Story Links
| Tale of the Tape |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Points Per Game | 30.6 | 31.2 |
| Points Against | 17.5 | 32.8 |
| Rushing Yards Per Game | 214.7 | 165.5 |
| Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game | 143.8 | 147.2 |
| Passing Yards Per Game | 203.1 | 243.7 |
| Passing Yards Allowed Per Game | 217.3 | 268.0 |
| Total Yards Per Game | 417.8 | 409.2 |
| Total Yards Allowed Per Game | 361.1 | 415.2 |
| First Downs For | 202 | 243 |
| First Downs Against | 189 | 219 |
| Fumbles/Lost | 11/4 | 12/6 |
| Interceptions/Return Yards | 13/64 | 3/33 |
| Net Punting | 41.3 | 40.9 |
| Field Goal/Attempts | 14/19 | 13/13 |
| Time of Possession | 31:40 | 31:52 |
| 3rd Down Conversions | 48/134 | 67/152 |
| 3rd Down Conversion Defense | 52/147 | 49/127 |
| Sacks By/Yards Lost | 23/138 | 21/157 |
I'm one of those old-school dudes who prefers getting some sort of confirmation before sharing information, so when I scrolled across an interesting tweet earlier this week from Cyclone Larry, I decided to do a little more digging instead of just taking it at face value.
That's in stark contrast to some of my buddies, however, who like to bombard my inbox with TikTok videos and tweets and then swear to me that they are authentic news sources.
At any rate, what Cyclone Larry passed along was pretty remarkable. He tweeted that with two weeks left in the regular season, the possibility exists that all 10 Big 12 teams could wind up bowl eligible.
After some investigating, it turns he's correct! Here is how it happens.
Iowa State and West Virginia, with 4-6 overall records, must win their two remaining games - the Cyclones against Texas Tech and TCU and the Mountaineers against Kansas State and Oklahoma State.
That means 5-5 Oklahoma must defeat Oklahoma State and 5-5 Texas Tech must beat Oklahoma. If those six things happen, voila, the Big 12 will have 10 bowl-eligible teams!
Amazing!
"This league, man, a friend of mine said, 'You're in a tough neighborhood. You've got a bunch of tough guys, and that's so true," West Virginia coach Neal Brown said. "The league is really good, and it's extremely well coached. I've sat in this same chair and maybe said it differently many times before, but anybody can win on any given Saturday.
"The flip side of that is, you can also lose."
Of course, 10-0 TCU is still in the hunt for a College Football Playoff berth with regular season games remaining against Baylor and Iowa State and then a Big 12 Championship matchup against Big 12 opponent X.
No. 19 Kansas State, which West Virginia meets Saturday afternoon in Morgantown, is one four teams still in the hunt to be opponent X in Dallas. The Wildcats are in the driver's seat for that spot with a 5-2 record with conference games left against the Mountaineers and Kansas.
But lurking are Oklahoma State, Baylor and Texas with 4-3 Big 12 records. If either Oklahoma State, Baylor, or Texas win out, and K-State is tagged with another loss, then it comes down to tiebreakers and math, which means I will be taking someone else's word for it.
Actually, the next six teams after TCU in the Big 12 standings are mathematically still alive to reach the championship game, meaning only West Virginia, Oklahoma and Iowa State have been eliminated.
This speaks to the amazing depth and competitiveness of the Big 12 this year. When you talk about no bottom, the Big 12 has become a bottomless pit.
With the exception of TCU, everyone else has shown their vulnerability at some point this season. Kansas State shows a touchdown home loss to Texas two weeks ago and Oklahoma State recently dropped back-to-back games to Kansas State and Kansas by a combined score of 85-16.
Baylor has league losses to Oklahoma State, West Virginia, and Kansas State, while Texas has also been clipped by Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and TCU.
The five teams currently below .500 in the conference standings – 3-4 Texas Tech and Kansas, 2-5 West Virginia and Oklahoma and 1-6 Iowa State - would be in much better shape if it were horseshoes and grenades.
Texas Tech is coming off a 15-point victory against Kansas to go with an overtime home win against Texas and a blowout home triumph over West Virginia.
Kansas has won three Big 12 games for the first time in more than a decade with a winning conference record still within reach.
West Virginia is coming off its first-ever victory against Oklahoma in Big 12 play and was within a possession of the lead in the fourth quarter in its recent losses to TCU and Iowa State.
A matter of 13 points separate Oklahoma from having a 5-2 record in conference play, while Iowa State, owning a 31-14 victory over West Virginia, has dropped Big 12 games this year by margins of three, one, and three points.
Where else can you find a football league this competitive from top to bottom?
For West Virginia to remain in bowl contention, it must deal with a Kansas State team that is coming off an impressive 31-3 win at Baylor last Saturday. In that game, backup quarterback Will Howard stepped in for injured starter Adrian Martinez to throw three touchdown passes, two to tight end Ben Sinnott.
Dynamic running back Deuce Vaughan ran for 106 yards to boost his season total to 1,081. The junior has accounted for more than 4,200 yards from scrimmage in 33 career games for the Wildcats.
Before catching himself, Brown nearly compared Vaughan to Oklahoma State and NFL legend Barry Sanders.
"You start talking about a strike zone; he's got a narrow strike zone to tackle him and if you go really low, he's so strong he can run through tackles," Brown said. "He must be really smart because they line him up all over the place, and he's an advanced route runner.
"I was watching last year's game, and he did a couple of things where he spun out and almost sat down and then got out. I'm not saying he's Barry Sanders – I'm not putting that on anybody - but that's the only other person I've seen do things like that."
Defensively, Brown believes junior defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah is a potential first-rounder.
Last year, Kansas State defeated West Virginia 34-17 in Manhattan to snap a five-game losing skid to the Mountaineers. Vaughan had a big game with 121 yards and a touchdown while the Wildcat defense limited West Virginia to just 77 yards rushing and 5 of 14 on third down.
Saturday's game will kick off at 2 p.m. and will be televised on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ (Mark Neely, Barrett Brooks, and Tori Petry).
Mountaineer Sports Network coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning begins at 11 a.m. with the GoMart Mountaineer Tailgate Show leading into regular network coverage at 1 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the apps WVU Gameday and The Varsity Network.
Satellite radio coverage can be accessed on SiriusXM channel 85, as well as the XM app channel 196.
Tickets still remain for the Senior Day game and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com. Brown said Tuesday he's not certain the number of seniors planning to take part in the pregame ceremony before the start of the game.
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United Bank Playbook - All Ten Big 12 Teams Still Bowl Eligible - West Virginia University Athletics - WVU Athletics
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