Tag: Big 12 Championship

Dec 3, 2022; Arlington, TX, USA; Kansas State Wildcats punter Ty Zentner (8) reacts after kicking the game-winning field goal in overtime to defeat the TCU Horned Frogs at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Ty Zentner, goal-line stand help No. 10 Kansas St. jolt No. 3 TCU

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Ty Zentner kicked the winning 31-yard field goal in overtime following a massive goal-line stand by the Kansas State defense as the No. 10 Wildcats posted a dramatic 31-28 upset of No. 3 TCU in the Big 12 championship game on Saturday afternoon at Arlington, Texas.

Kansas State twice stopped TCU’s Kendre Miller on runs from the 1-yard line on the Horned Frogs’ overtime possession. The Wildcats took over and Zentner’s decisive boot put a major dent in TCU’s College Football Playoff aspirations.

TCU (12-1) will learn its fate Sunday when the CFP committee reveals which four schools will be part of the playoff.

Will Howard passed for two touchdowns and rushed for another and Deuce Vaughn rushed for 130 yards, including a 44-yard scoring run, for the Wildcats (10-3).

RJ Garcia II and Ben Sinnott caught touchdown passes for Kansas State, and Julius Brents snuffed out a Horned Frogs’ drive with a fourth-quarter interception. Howard completed 18 of 32 passes for 199 yards.

TCU star Max Duggan was 18-of-36 passing for 251 yards, one touchdown and one interception and rushed for 110 yards and one score. Miller rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown, Taye Barber caught a scoring pass and Quentin Johnston had four receptions for 139 yards.

Horned Frogs coach Sonny Dykes insisted afterward that his team should be part of the playoffs.

“We’ve been to able to figure out ways to win games like this all year and today we weren’t able to do it,” Dykes said. “I think we’re certainly deserving. I think the league is one of the best leagues in the country to go undefeated through the league. Certainly, we ought to get in. I don’t think we should get punished for coming to the Big 12 championship game.

“We were (No.) 3 last week. My hope would be that we would stay 3 and go tee it up and see how we do.”

The Horned Frogs trailed 28-17 in the fourth quarter before moving within eight on Griffin Kell’s 42-yard field goal with 7:34 left. Duggan later put the Horned Frogs on his shoulders on an 80-yard drive to knot the score with 1:51 left.

Duggan had runs of 15, 13, 19 and 40 yards as the ball reached the Kansas State 8. He then ran 8 yards for the score and tossed a tying two-point conversion pass to Jared Wiley.

But in the overtime, the Wildcats made the big stops and earned a 10-win season.

“Rise up. We talked out it all week long,” Wildcats coach Chris Klieman told ABC. “When people doubt you, rise up. We were destined to be here and our kids rose up today. (TCU is) an awesome football team. I hope they get a chance to play (in the playoffs). They’re worthy of it.”

Earlier, Kansas State held a 21-10 advantage on Howard’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Garcia with 12:19 left in the third quarter.

Miller scored on a 6-yard run as TCU moved within four with 9:09 left in the period.

The Horned Frogs were at the Wildcats’ 8 when the fourth quarter started but Duggan’s third-down pass was intercepted in the end zone by Brents. Kansas State then moved 80 yards in six plays with Vaughn breaking loose on a 44-yard scamper to give the Wildcats a 28-17 lead with 11:27 remaining.

Howard passed for a score to Sinnott and rushed for another as Kansas State held a 14-10 halftime lead.

TCU’s first-half points came on Duggan’s 1-yard scoring pass to Barber and Kell’s 42-yard field goal.

–Field Level Media

Dec 4, 2021; Arlington, TX, USA; Baylor Bears running back Abram Smith (7) hurdles Oklahoma State Cowboys defensive tackle Israel Antwine (95) during the first half of the Big 12 Conference championship game at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

No. 9 Baylor wins Big 12, ends No. 5 Oklahoma State’s CFP hopes

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Blake Shapen threw for 180 yards and three touchdowns to help No. 9 Baylor hold on for a 21-16 win over No. 5 Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship Game on Saturday in Arlington, Texas.

The Bears (11-2) kept their faint College Football Playoff hopes alive and secured at least a Sugar Bowl berth with the win while the Cowboys (11-2) await their bowl fate Sunday after having their CFP hopes dashed.

Jairon McVea made a diving stop of the Cowboys’ Dezmon Jackson on fourth-and-goal from the 1 in the final minute, thwarting Oklahoma State’s comeback hopes and giving the Bears their first Big 12 title since sharing it in 2014 and first solo title since 2013.

Baylor led 21-3 in the second quarter but the Cowboys didn’t go away, chipping away and making it 21-16 with Tanner Brown’s 20-yard field goal with 8:17 remaining.

Oklahoma State’s defense had been the best in the Big 12 all season and kept the Cowboys’ in it, with a pair of four-quarter stops after Brown’s field goal.

The Cowboys got the ball back with 3:23 left, needing 90 yards to take the lead for the first time since late in the first quarter.

With running back Jaylen Warren out with an injury, and Baylor making yardage hard to come by on the ground, Oklahoma State leaned heavily on Spencer Sanders.

Sanders was 7 for 9 on the final drive to give the Cowboys a chance.

Sanders threw for 257 yards but was picked off four times by Baylor.

Oklahoma State needed just two yards to take the lead after a pass interference call in the end zone.

But Baylor’s defense stopped Jackson on consecutive plays, Sanders’ pass to Austin Jarrard was broken up by Jalen Pitre, then McVea made his stop on the edge, knocking Jackson out just short of the pylon.

With starting quarterback Gerry Bohanon out for the second consecutive week with a hamstring injury, the Bears had to lean heavily on Shapen, a redshirt freshman, and a tenacious defense that made life difficult on the Cowboys.

Two Baylor interceptions set up early scores, helping the Bears go up 21-3 late in the second quarter. Shapen completed his first 17 passes and finished 23 of 28.

Ben Sims, Drew Estrada and Tyquan Thornton caught the Baylor scoring passes.

–Field Level Media

Nov 21, 2020; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Spencer Rattler (7) celebrates after a throwing a touchdown against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Terry/The Oklahoman via USA TODAY Sports

Sooners go for six-peat in Big 12 title game vs. Iowa State

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Oklahoma has been the unquestioned top dog in the Big 12 since Lincoln Riley’s arrival as offensive coordinator in 2015.

During Riley’s tenure with the Sooners, which includes him moving up to head coach starting with the 2017 season, Oklahoma has won five consecutive Big 12 championships, with a chance to win a sixth Saturday when the No. 10 Sooners face No. 6 Iowa State in the conference title game in Arlington, Texas.

While the Sooners are the bluebloods, Iowa State is far from it. The Cyclones haven’t won a football conference title since 1912 and have never won one outright (they tied Nebraska that year).

But Riley, now in his fourth season as Oklahoma’s head coach, wants to be sure this game isn’t painted as David vs. Goliath.

“This isn’t some Rudy story,” Riley said. “This is not (that) they’re just finding a way with bad players. They have good players, and they have had good players.

“They combine good players, good scheme and good coaches, and you’re gonna, a lot of times, have a good result.”

When Matt Campbell arrived at Iowa State in 2016, the Cyclones hadn’t had a winning season in six year and hadn’t won at least eight games since they won nine in 2000.

Campbell said he doesn’t see Saturday’s game as an endpoint or pinnacle even though it’ll be the biggest game in Cyclones’ history.

“From my end, I never put a number on it or a finality to it,” Campbell said. “I think the reality was that where we were when we got here … is trying to hammer away at the things that we could control (and) hopefully allowing those things that we could control manifest into developing a consistent, competitive football program.”

The teams enter as two of the hottest in college football.

Iowa State (8-2, 8-1 Big 12) is riding a five-game winning streak, with quarterback Brock Purdy playing his best of late. Over the past 3 1/2 games since throwing three first-half interceptions against Baylor in early November, Purdy has been spectacular, throwing for 903 yards and 10 touchdowns without an interception.

Oklahoma (7-2, 6-2) has won six consecutive games since losing 37-30 at Iowa State on Oct. 3.

Quarterback Spencer Rattler has been a force for the Sooners’ improvement since an 0-2 start in Big 12 play threatened to end Oklahoma’s run of conference titles.

“He’s still being the aggressive player that we want him to be but certainly has done a good job here the last several games of not making very many mistakes or putting our team or our offense in bad situations,” Riley said.

While Rattler’s growth has been a boost, another has been the additions of running back Rhamondre Stevenson and defensive end Ronnie Perkins for the Sooners. Each served six-game suspensions because of a failed drug test last year. The suspensions ended in late October.

While Campbell praises Perkins in particular, he says the Sooners are a much different team elsewhere than they were more than two months ago.

“A very young team that was extremely talented that has grown into what you’ve seen from Oklahoma year after year,” Campbell said. “And that’s a dynamic football team.”

–Field Level Media