Sports News
Big 12 Poised to Take Flight
What exactly does Zac Robinson have to do?
Three games into last season Robinson, then a sophomore, became Oklahoma State's starting quarterback. He led his team to a school record in total offense — the Cowboys finished 7th nationally in that category — while he gained 2,834 yards passing and 847 yards rushing.
Only one quarterback in the nation exceeded Robinson's totals in both those categories. That player? Tim Tebow. The Heisman Trophy winner.
And yet Robinson's name is not found on any preseason All-Big 12 first- or second-team lists. One publication, widely respected for its prognostications, lists an All-Big 12 1st, 2nd, 3rd and even 4th team. No Zac Robinson anywhere.
Why can't the junior from Littleton, Colo., find his name on an all-conference two-deep (or four-deep)? Because the Big 12 quarterback talent pool is too deep.
Yes, the Big 12. The conference that gave us the wishbone offense, whose member schools boast eight Heisman-winning tailbacks in the past 40 years, whose two additional Heisman-winning quarterbacks never threw a pass in the NFL, suddenly is acting as if it's the Pac-10.
The conference of cattle-drive country has rounded up a prize herd of passers. For example, how do you improve upon Kansas QB Todd Reesing, who in his first season as a starter threw 33 touchdowns and just seven interceptions while leading the Jayhawks to a 12-1 record? Surely, even at 5-foot-11, Reesing is head and shoulders above ...
... but then who could be better than Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel, who threw for 4,306 yards and 33 TDs as well and finished 4th in the Heisman race? Certainly every other passer in the conference is chasing Daniel ...
... except Oklahoma's Sam Bradford, who as a freshman led the nation in passing efficiency while throwing 36 touchdown tosses, an NCAA freshman record, and only eight interceptions. If any passer could even dream of ...
... There are passers, and then, at Texas Tech, there are superpassers. The Red Raiders' Graham Harrell led the nation in total offense and passing. As a junior he threw for 5,705 yards and 48 TD passes while completing 71.8 percent of his throws. In a season in which Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan was roundly and rightly praised for his throwing acumen, finishing 3rd in the Heisman race, Harrell completed nearly 10 more passes per game (39.38) for nearly 80 more yards per game than Brennan.
It's that crazy: Josh Freeman set the school single-season passing yardage record at Kansas State last year (3,353 yards), and that was only the fourth-most prolific effort in the Big 12. Back in triple-option days of Elvis Peacock and Jarvis Redwine, if you had said that this conference would one day showcase the best passers in the country, they would have replied, "When pigs fly."
That's exactly what's happening.
CONFERENCE GAME OF THE YEAR
Oct. 18: Missouri at Texas
The Tigers were 11-0 when not playing Oklahoma last season, and the good news is that this year the Sooners are not on the schedule. Neither is Texas Tech; the Longhorns represent the biggest hurdle to Mizzou being undefeated come Nov. 29 when they meet Kansas in Kansas City.
Mizzou's last win in Austin? A 10-0 shutout in 1986.
OTHER KEY CONFERENCE GAMES
Oct. 4: Missouri at Nebraska
Bo Pelini's first conference foe is loaded with offensive talent and eager to erase that 15-game losing streak in Lincoln dating back to 1978.
Oct. 11: Oklahoma vs. Texas at Dallas
The Red River Rivalry's latest wrinkle is the Longhorns' addition of defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, who is charged with fixing a unit that allowed a school-record 371.2 yards per game in '07. Only once since 2000 have both programs failed to be ranked entering this game.
Oct. 18: Kansas at Oklahoma
Jayhawk coach Mark Mangino did not have to face his former team (and boss) last season en route to KU's magnificent 12-1 finish. Yeah, what about that?, ask the folks in Columbia, Mo.
Nov. 22: Texas Tech at Oklahoma
This will likely decide the Big 12 South as the Red Raiders, with their best team yet under Mike Leach, have won two of the past three.
Nov. 27: Texas A&M at Texas
Aggies have won the past two in this series and KO'd Colt McCoy the last time they met in Austin.
NON-CONFERENCE GAME OF THE YEAR
Sept. 12: Kansas at South Florida
You do not just stumble haphazardly to a 12-1 finish, but nine of KU's 13 games were against .500 or lower opponents. And that 214-23 scoring margin against four non-conference foes last September also invites skeptics (and you thought Missouri was the "Show-Me State."
The Jayhawks, facing their first ranked non-conference foe since Mark Mangino arrived in 2002, have an opportunity to demonstrate their mettle.
OTHER KEY NON-CONFERENCE GAMES
Aug. 30: Illinois vs. Missouri at St. Louis
Tigers are too focused this year to trip up against their border brethren in this season opener.
Sept. 13: Oklahoma at Washington
Sam Bradford and Jake Locker, the two best sophomore quarterbacks in the land.
Sept. 13: Arkansas at Texas
Shades of Broyles and Royal, as these former Southwest Conference rivals meet for the first time in four years.
Sept. 20: Miami at Texas A&M
Hurricanes embarrassed the Aggies in prime-time last season, racing to a 31-0 lead at Orange Bowl before winning 34-17.
Sept. 27: Virginia Tech at Nebraska
Huskers have two weeks to prepare and they'll need it.
WHY WE LIKE ...
Oklahoma in the South
All five O-line starters return and all are seniors.
Missouri in the North
All the playmakers who believed in '07 — sack leader Stryker Sulak, tackles leader Sean Weatherspoon, QB Chase Daniel, picks leader William Moore, QB Chase Daniel and tight end Chase Coffman and All-World returner Jeremy Maclin — return, and this year they know.
WHY WE DON'T LIKE …
Texas in the South
Jamaal Charles is gone and a pass defense that ranked 109th last year may not be as talented this year.
Kansas in the North
Last year the Jayhawks met the bottom three South schools. This year the face the top three: Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech.
Not airing on ESPN Classic this fall
Only tornadoes leave more wreckage in their path than a mismatch involving a Big 12 program. Four different teams won a game by at least 50 points last season. Hopefully, you were able to avert your eyes when these natural disasters appeared:
- Kansas State 61, Missouri State 10
- Kansas 62, Southeastern Louisiana 0
- Texas Tech 75, Northwestern State 0
- Oklahoma 79, North Texas 10
Now he is making a splash
Jeff Wolfert was raised in Overland Park, Kan., less than 40 miles from KU's campus. And he would gladly have attended Kansas except for one problem: the Jayhawks had no men's diving program.
Instead, Wolfert accepted a partial scholarship to Missouri, where as a freshman he finished among the top six in all three diving events at the Big 12 championships.
Wolfert, however, yearned to be a place-kicker. He had never kicked in high school until his senior year, but on his first kickoff of his debut game, he broke his hip and missed the remainder of the season.
Following his freshman year, the platform diver took a leap of faith, turning down his diving scholarship and paying out-of-state tuition for the opportunity to walk on to the Mizzou football team. So far Wolfert's move from Speedo to shoulder pads has worked out well. In two seasons he has yet to miss a field goal or a PAT in a Big 12 game, a span of 87 kicks. Last season he was named 1st team All-Big 12 and, yes, now he is on scholarship.
This Year's Kansouri?
What perennial second-tier Big 12 school that is chronically unable to displace Oklahoma and Texas (and in year's past, Colorado and Nebraska) is at last ready to make a run toward a top-10 finish and BCS bowl berth? Texas Tech. The Red Raiders return 10 starters, including Biletnikoff Award winner Michael Crabtree, to the country's second-most prolific offense. They also return eight starters to a defense that, over the final eight games of 2007, was the stingiest in the conference.
Worst or first in '07
Big 12 teams had an aptitude for being at the very top or bottom of the rankings in several categories last season:
- Passing Offense: 1st, Texas Tech
- Rushing Offense: 119th (or last), Texas Tech
- Passing Efficiency: 1st, Oklahoma
- Scoring Offense (42.77 ppg): 2nd, Kansas
- Punt Returns: 1st, Kansas
- Punt Returns: 119th, Iowa State
- Kickoff Returns: 1st, Oklahoma
- Turnover Margin (+21): 1st, Kansas
- Turnover Margin (-18): 119th, Baylor
- Turnovers Lost (37): 119th, Baylor
Tackle him high
When opposing defenses face the Baylor Bears this season, they will likely know better than to dive at the legs of freshman quarterback Robert Griffin. In June, the 6-3 Copperas Cove, Texas, native placed third in the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA outdoor championships.
Griffin, who ran a 49.55 in the final, qualified for the Olympic Trials. As long as he takes snaps for the Bears (Miami transfer Kirby Freeman is his chief competition), they'll have a chance to jump out of the Big 12 South basement.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
NORTH DIVISION
Colorado
The nation's top RB recruit, Darrell Scott, joins his uncle, WR Josh Smith, in Boulder and puts the "cu" in avuncular.
Iowa State
Cyclones completed just nine TD passes in 2007, tying three others for lowest total in the nation.
Kansas
Tailback Jocques Crawford, last season's national junior college player of the year, arrives in Lawrence to compete for the starting spot.
Kansas State
Wildcats signed 19 juco transfers to provide immediate help.
Missouri
Safety William Moore's eight interceptions in '07 were tied for most in the nation.
Nebraska
Marlon Lucky is the conference's only returning 1,000-yard rusher (1,109 in '07).
SOUTH DIVISION
Baylor
Art Briles, 18-9 in his final two seasons at Houston, takes over in Waco.
Oklahoma
Defensive end Auston English, a converted running back, led the Big 12 in sacks last season with 9.5.
Oklahoma State
The Cowboy offense epitomized balance in '07 as they gained 3,161 yards on the ground and 3,161 yards through the air.
Texas
Longhorns, who allowed 37.5 ppg in their final four games of '07, hire whiz-kid defensive coordinator Will Muschamp (LSU, Auburn).
Texas A&M
Quarterback Stephen McGee, fullback Jorvorskie Lane; yup, they're still in College Station.
Texas Tech
Red Raider offense epitomized imbalance in '07 as its passing offense ranked first and its rushing offense last in the nation.
College Football
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