Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
247Sports recently listed the top true freshmen who will impact the 2021 college football season.
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Five-star signee Ja’Tavion Sanders has understandably received the most hype from Texas’ 2021 recruiting class. Continue reading “Two Texas Longhorns among 247Sports’ top true freshmen to watch in 2021”
Favored by 23.5 points, OSU was expected to take care of business against Tulsa. However, they continued the trend of the Big 12 struggling.
Week 1 of the college football season was not kind to the Big 12, with Iowa State, Kansas, and Kansas State all losing to non-Power Five opponents. Going into Week 2, Oklahoma State was the only conference team with a game scheduled against Tulsa.
Favored by 23.5 points at home, the Cowboys were expected to take care of business in a rather easy manner against the Golden Hurricanes. However, Mike Gundy’s squad continued the trend of Big 12 teams struggling early in the season.
To begin, redshirt sophomore Spencer Sanders exited from the game early in the first quarter with a high ankle injury. From there, transfer Ethan Bullock took over but mightily struggled, going eight of 13 with 41 yards and an interception.
Oklahoma State’s offensive line was a major liability as well, allowing six sacks. On the ground, the Cowboys averaged 3.0 yards per carry, seeing Tulsa players in the backfield all night.
Late in the third quarter, it all began to click offensively for Oklahoma State with third-string quarterback and true freshman Shane Illingworth. Star wide receiver Tylan Wallace finally got involved in the passing game, having four catches for 94 yards, all in the second half.
Step 1: Throw deep to Tylan Wallace
Step 2: Profit— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 19, 2020
Defense is where Oklahoma State excelled on Saturday. The most eye-opening stat is Tulsa’s third-down conversion rate, which was 0%. The Golden Hurricanes were out of sorts all night with 15 penalties for a total of 120 yards.
Although they pulled away late in the second half with a 16-7 scoreline, Oklahoma State will have major questions before their Big 12 opener against West Virginia on Sept. 26.
First, is Sanders going to be able to start next week? Bullock did not provide much spark and having a true freshman in Illingworth make his first start would be risky.
Once the quarterback is figured out, offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn must figure out how to get running back Chuba Hubbard back to his normal self. Instead of declaring for the NFL Draft, Hubbard decided to stay in Stillwater for another season.
He ended with 93 yards and a touchdown but on 27 carries for 3.4 yards per carry. It broke his 11 game streak with at least 100 yards. He was not the same explosive player we have become accustomed to. Due in large part to the defensive effort by Tulsa.
Dubbed as a dark horse to win the Big 12 championship, Oklahoma State will have to answer questions before facing Texas on Oct. 31 and Oklahoma on Nov. 21.
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Big 12 football is finally back and the conference had a lackluster day. As a whole, the conference went 4-3, losing to three Sun Belt teams.
Big 12 football is finally back and the conference had a lackluster day. Iowa State and Kansas State lost to Louisiana and Arkansas State, respectively. To make matters worse, Kansas lost to Coastal Carolina for the second consecutive year, the third Sun Belt team to defeat a Big 12 team.
Outside of Texas, Oklahoma and West Virginia, Texas Tech was the only other conference team to win. However, a two-point victory over FCS level Houston Baptist provides little inspiration.
How the Longhorns, Sooners and Mountaineers got on with their opening weekend games:
Texas opened its 2020 season with a dominant victory over UTEP. Quarterback Sam Ehlinger had a historic day, having a career-high in passing yards and passing touchdowns.
Playing the entire first half plus one drive in the second half, Ehlinger set a career-high in passing yards and passing touchdowns. His final stats sit at 25-of-33 with 426 yards and five touchdowns. Backup quarterbacks Casey Thompson and Hudson Card played the majority of the second half.
Wide receiver was a major question entering the season and Joshua Moore answered them. The redshirt sophomore opened the game with a 78-yard touchdown. Ehlinger found him five more times for a total of 127 yards.
Tarik Black also had a solid debut, securing five receptions for 80 yards. No other Longhorn receiver had more than three receptions.
Only one other Big 12 team compared to Texas’ opening day, and it was Oklahoma. Redshirt freshman Spencer Rattler had an incredible day, throwing for 490 yards and four touchdowns.
Months of building excitement led to a lopsided victory on Saturday night, as Oklahoma defeated Missouri State 48-0 in its season opener.
Spencer Rattler was at the center of an offensive supernova for Lincoln Riley and the Sooners.
Rattler met the occasion with rare fortitude for a redshirt freshman. The former five-star went 14-for-17 for 290 yards and four touchdowns, all in the first half of the contest.
While West Virginia got a big win, it did not quite compare to Texas or Oklahoma. The Mountaineers blew out Eastern Kentucky, 56-10. Year 2 of the Neal Brown era got off on the right foot.
The West Virginia Mountaineers (1-0) kicked off the 2020 season at home this afternoon with a 56-10 win over the Eastern Kentucky Colonels (0-2) from the FCS Ohio Valley Conference.
Prior to the game, Neal Brown announced 11 players were suspended for the day, including starting inside receiver TJ Simmons, starting left tackle Junior Uzebu and starting center Chase Behrndt. Brown confirmed the suspensions were in a direct response to players violating a team rule and did not have anything to do with COVID-19. Those suspensions were lifted at the final whistle, so those players are free to rejoin the team and will be available for the next game.
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