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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FOOTBALL
Evaluating the Big 12 at season halfway point
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Oklahoma State players take the field at the start of an NCAA college football game against TCU in Stillwater, Okla., Oct. 27, 2012.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO
the Big 12 season is halfway done, with every team having played at least four league games, and this Saturday shapes up as a big one for teams across the conference.
Here's a glimpse at what's ahead, starting with the meaningful games this weekend:
There have been plenty of surprises so far, none bigger than Kansas State being picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll and instead standing third in the country and second in the BCS.
CAN KANSAS STATE CLOSE IT OUT?
Bill Snyder's Wildcats (8-0, 5-0 Big 12) can eliminate nearly all the drama in the conference title race by winning at home against Oklahoma State (5-2, 3-1). With a victory Saturday night, K-State would then have to lose two of its remaining three games against TCU, Baylor and Texas to short of the conference championship.
Every game is huge at this point for any team in the national title chase but while this one may not get the same billing as the last two — against West Virginia and Texas Tech — the champion Cowboys pose the most direct threat to Kansas State claiming the conference crown. OSU doesn't need help from anyone else, but would have to win four straight games against ranked teams.
"I think they know that we have the opportunity to control our own destiny but they also feel like we're certainly not in any position to look beyond the next game," coach Mike Gundy said Monday.
"We're getting ready to play the second-ranked team in the country and we'll have our hands full just traveling up to Manhattan."
None of the teams left on the Wildcats' schedule are currently in the Top 25.
"They've got a great chance to run the table. 'They're definitely one of the better teams in the country,' Texas Tech coach Tommy Tuberville said, having lost 55-24 at K-State on Saturday.
WILL WEST VIRGINIA REBOUND?
"They're more like an SEC team than a Big 12 team, he play defense, how they play offense, so I think they've got a great chance."
Not long ago, the Mountaineers (5-2) were preseason favorites and quarterback Geno Smith was the Heisman Trophy front-runner. Now, they're practically afterthoughts.
Dana Holgorsen and Co. had an off week to pick up the pieces and will host fellow Big 12 newcomer TCU on Saturday.
"There was a pretty good sense of urgency last week. The attention to detail tends to pick up when you get beat, if the makeup of your team is what you want it to be," Holorsen said.
Holgorsen said he thinks players can forget their fundamentals during the grind of the season and the off week was a good chance to re-focus.
"There's a whole bunch of good 5-2 football teams out there. Just because we've dropped the last two doesn't mean that we're a bad football team," he said.
WHO'S PLAYING QUARTERBACK?
While there has been steady play at the top from the likes of Klein, Texas Tech's Seth Doege and Oklahoma's Landry Jones, there's been more shuffling than usual at the quarterback position in the Big 12.
Injuries forced Oklahoma State to replace Wes Lunt with J.W. Walsh
and then bring Lunt back last week. TCU went with Trevone Boykin after Casey Pachall was arrested and suspended indefinitely.
And then there were the changes related to effectiveness: Kansas switched from Notre Dame transfer Dayne Crist to Michael Cummings and a run-based attack, and Iowa State started with Steele Jantz, then turned to Jared Barnett and then back to Jantz in time for him to set career-highs with 381 yards passing and five TDs in a win over Baylor.
"He was not doing some things effective enough, and that's why we made a change at one point this season, but 4-1 as a starter is pretty dang good," coach Paul Rhoads
said. "I think it's overshadowed by the fact that he had his best game as an Iowa State Cyclone this Saturday night."
Texas coach Mack Brown announced Monday that he was sticking with David Ash, even after Case McCoy replaced him for the game-winning drive against Kansas.
WHO'S HEADED WHERE IN THE POSTSEASON?
Kansas State, Texas and Texas Tech are already bowl eligible and another five teams are sitting on five wins, hoping to qualify for the postseason this week — Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU and West Virginia.
It's all but impossible at this point to project who will end up where among the league's six bowl partners, with the potential for two to make the BCS.
"We're trying to get one more ballgame so that we can get the extra practices and get to a bowl game," TCU's Gary Patterson said. "And if you can get to six, then you're going to try to get to seven. If you get to seven, then you try to get to eight."
WHO WILL FINISH LAST?
Kansas dropped its 16th straight conference game Saturday, falling just short when Texas scored with 12 seconds left for a 21-17 win. But the Jayhawks (1-7, 1-0) can climb
out of the cellar this week at wireless Baylor (3-4, 0-4), which has reverted to its pre-Robert Griffin III ways.
"There's definitely things you can look at and say you're getting better here, you're getting better here, you're getting better here. But still at the end of the day, it's still about winning." Weis said. "Regardless of whether you played tough, played close,
"Are there silver linings? Yes, there are. But it still comes down to you've lost 100 in a row in the Big 12, at home and on the road, and you need to beat somebody so you can start moving that trend in a different direction."
GOLF
Rory McIlroy defeats Tiger Woods at exhibition match in China
I ASSOCIATED PRESS
Woods thinks he'll have plenty of chances to get revenge.
ZHENGZHOU, China — Rory McIlroy outdied Tiger Woods in the first one-on-one exhibition match between golfs two biggest names.
Mclroy shot a 5-under 67 to beat Woods by one stroke in an 18-hole match between the two top-ranked golfers at the Jinshi Lake Golf Club in central China on Monday.
"This is certainly not like most Mondays. To have this many people come out and watch us play golf in an exhibition was something special. This doesn't happen," Woods said. "As far as doing something like this down the road, it would be fun."
The event, dubbed "Duel at Jinsha Lake," marked the first time the two golfers had played head-to-head
without other competitors. It probably won't be the last.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO
Woods said hed relish the chance to take on McIlroy more often to create a rivalry at the top of the game similar to the one between Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray that have made men's tennis so exciting in recent years.
Tiger Woods of the United States, left, and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, right, hold their trophies with Feng Change, chairman of Harmony Group, after their 18-hole medal-match at the Lake Jinsha Golf Club in Zhengzhou, in central China's Henan province.
"If you look at the history of the game, it's not like other sports where the guys play against each other all the time. Jack (Nicklaus) and Arnold (Palmer) didn't go at it that often," Woods said. "But you know what, if we can do this for the next 10, 15 years, then certainly we can have that type of rivalry."
"I think having matches like this to promote the game of golf is what it's all about. We're trying to promote the game of golf in this region and it's
come a long way since my first time here 11 years ago."
Both players competed elsewhere Sunday and had to make long journeys to Zhengzhou, an industrial city in China's Henan province. McIroy finished second to Peter Hanson in the European Tour's BMW Masters at Shanghai, while Woods tied for fourth in the PGA Tour's CIMB Classic in Malaysia.
Mclroy, who captured the PGA Championship in August for his second major, said the win over Woods offered some consolation for his defeat Sunday when he surged back from four shots down against Hanson only to lose by one stroke in the end.
Mellroy took an early lead with two birdies on the first three holes and on beat Woods, who had two bogeys to go along with his six birdies for the day. The 14-time major winner finished with a 68.
"It’s been a nice distraction to not dwell on what happened yesterday. I let a great chance to win a golf tournament slip through my fingers," McIlroy said. "Coming to do something like this today has definitely made it a little easier to deal with."
After falling two strokes behind on the front nine. Woods hit a perfect chip shot from the fairway on the par-3 12th hole that hit the pin and dropped in for birdie, bringing him within one shot of the Northern Irishman.
Woods made birdie on the 14th hole to pull within a stroke again, but he missed his final chance to level the score on the 18th when he misplayed his approach shot and landed in a bunker, muttering "where did that go?"
However, he then missed a long putt for par on the next hole, set for bogey, while McIlroy sank a 7-footer for par.
The first head-to-head matchup between Woods and McIlroy — at the eight-player World Golf Final in Turkey this month — was far more
one-sided. Woods shot 7- under 64 to defeat the Northern Irishman by six strokes in a group match at the exhibition event.
China has lured a number of the world's top players with lucrative inceptions in the past few years as part of an effort to grow the sports popularity and market a bevy of new celebrity-designed courses.
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and McIlroy to the Jinsha Lake Golf Club.
No expense — or extravagance — was spared in welcoming Woods
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As stunt planes buzzed overhead, a fleet of Rolls Royces whisked the players to the course, passing helicopters for sale and Aston Martins and Maserati with showgirl draped over them. After the two struck a gong to open the event, fireworks exploded behind them and confetti cannons rained gold flakes over the jostling crowd.
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