The Texas Roundup – Week 12

Howdy! Another chaotic week in the Lone Star State. TCU did it again and so did Bijan Robinson. What else did you miss? SMU was embarrassed on Thursday, Houston has some fans eating crow, and the 12th man may not have had even 12 people. Also, stick around for a special shoutout to the Rice Owls. Let’s talk Texas.

Sonny Dykes Doesn’t Know the Meaning of the Word Panic

The Frogs can’t keep getting away with this, right? Every week brings about some absurd new way for TCU to scrape together a victory, and on Saturday in Waco, Sonny Dykes did it again.

This one started off with Baylor driving down the field for an opening score. The Bears would run for 56 yards in total on the first drive, 28 yards more than Texas rushed for against the Horned Frogs defense in the entire game last week.

It’s worked every other time at least.

After a missed field goal by Baylor, Max Duggan would respond with a touchdown drive of his own, keeping it for a 7-yard run to tie this one up at a score apiece.

Kelsey Johnson would get a score of his own to make it 14-7 Baylor, but TCU would again find the answer. Kendre Miller scored this time.

Baylor had a chance at the end of the half to take the lead, but an untimely Blake Shapen interception would prove costly.

In the third quarter the Bears would struggle to get anything going on offense.

But after TCU went up 20-14 headed into the fourth, Baylor seemed ready to pull off the upset. Blake Shapen found Kelsey Johnson, scoring this time through the air, to make it 21-20 Bears. They’d add another touchdown on a Richard Reese run after a TCU fumble, and at 28-20 TCU was beginning to feel like their dream season was over.

With 2:07 left, TCU’s Emari Demercado would find the end zone to make this a one score game. On the ensuing Baylor possession, all the Bears needed to do was pick up one first down. After two quick runs and timeouts, Blake Shapen would scramble on 3rd and 10. In an attempt to stay in bounds he slid early.

No might about it bud.

TCU called their last timeout and took over after a Baylor punt. With 90 seconds and no timeouts, the Horned Frogs would again defy the odds. After picking up a first down and getting the Frogs into field goal range, Max Duggan would spike the ball with 22 seconds left. On 3rd and 7, with 20 seconds left and no timeouts, Sonny Dykes called a run play. A RUN PLAY.

In what could only be described as utter chaos, TCU’s field goal unit would sprint onto the field and Griffin Kell would nail the 40-yard field goal as time expired.

Baylor is in #FireEveryone mode.

The Bears will play Texas in Austin next week while the Horned Frogs host Iowa State in their last test before the Big XII Championship game.

Bijan Robinson Carries Texas to Seventh Win for Sark

Last week Bijan Robinson had 12 carries for 29 yards. This week, things went a little bit differently.

Texas would go up 14-0 in the first quarter thanks to Mr. Robinson and yes, he was well on his way to a career day.

The Longhorn defense also stepped up, something they’ve mostly been doing all year.

After forcing two punts, they’d get three consecutive turnovers and Bijan would get his third score of the game, going up and over the goaline defense as the clock expired.

Texas took a 31-0 lead into the half and there would be no second half shenanigans this week. Another punt by the Jayhawks would be followed by another insane touchdown run by Bijan Robinson.

At the end of the third, Texas led 41-7 thanks to Bijan’s historic day on the ground. He would hang up his helmet early, finishing with 25 carries, 243 yards, and 4 touchdowns.

I don’t think he’ll get an invite to New York, but you can’t convince me there is a better player in college football either.

Texas wins 55-14 and Seven Win Sark will look to get win number eight next week against Baylor.

If Jimbo Fisher Wins but Nobody is there to See it, is it Still a Win?

90,177. That was the announced attendance for the Aggies matchup against UMass. I’m not calling the Aggies liars, but you tell me if there’s 90,000 people here…

A&M had lost six in a row going into the matchup with the Minutemen, the school’s longest losing streak since 1972. The game aired on SEC+ and ESPN+ and it definitely wasn’t because of the Aggies record.

Once the game did start, A&M struggled to move the ball.

The Aggies would get a field goal on the opening drive and that was the only score in the first quarter of this game.

While Conner Weigman would get one score in the second quarter on a throw to Noah Thomas, the Aggies would have two fumbles, a missed field goal, and several punts.

The second half didn’t go much better but the Minutemen were awful so it didn’t take much to put this one away. A&M would win 20-3 but would not look good doing it.

Saturday’s win was A&M’s first since Sept. 24 and they’ll face LSU next week before the offseason begins.

Joey McGuire and Red Raiders Escape Ames

Ugly. That’s the only way to describe this game. 

A Tech fumble on the first drive was answered by an Iowa State missed field goal.

The teams would trade punts until finally Donovan Smith got the Raiders on the board.

Iowa State would get a field goal before the two teams would go back to trading punts and turnovers.

Iowa State would take the lead late, going up 10-7 in the fourth.

Luckily, Tech would put together one more scoring drive. Baylor Cupp would make a great play in the endzone to put the Red Raiders up 14-10.

Tech had only 240 yards of total offense and 23 minutes of possession, but a win is a win and McGuire’s Red Raiders squad will be bowling this year.

Dana Holgorsen Still has a Few Tricks Up His Sleeve

Y’all. Clayton Tune can sling the damn ball. He had 435 yards and 4 TDs in this one and made life for his receivers easy. But it wasn’t just the Cougars’ offense that showed up this week.

A few stops would be all Clayton Tune needed. He’d find Nathan Dell in the first quarter and Christian Trahan in the second for his first two scores.

Matthew Golden would catch two more touchdowns from Tune in the third quarter.

After losing to SMU and eeking out a win against Temple, Dana didn’t have many supporters in the Houston fanbase. But a dominant win over the Pirates helped quiet the naysayers.

Houston gets to 7-4 on the year and will face Tulsa next week.

Rhett Lashlee and SMU get Embarrassed (but don’t ask him about it)

SMU never had a chance in this one. The Mustangs would start with a three-and-out which Tulane would answer with an 81-yard touchdown drive.

SMU would then go three-and-out on the second possession and Tulane would then (stop me if you’ve heard this before) answer with an 81-yard touchdown drive.

The rest of the first half didn’t go much better. SMU would score a touchdown but would also have a turnover on downs, two fumbles, an interception, and a missed FG. They’d go into the break down 28-7.

Another turnover on downs, another fumble, and another interception followed in the second half. Tulane got up 42-7 before some back and forth scores in garbage time.

SMU will face Memphis in their final game of the regular season.

Jeff Traylor’s Squad Runs the Owls off the Field

UTSA is a very fun team to watch. The Roadrunners went on the road to face the Rice Owls and once they got to Houston, they did pretty much whatever they wanted. Frank Harris accounted for five total TDs himself.

At the half, this one was 28-0. Another two scores would make it 41-0 after three.

Don’t worry they would. Roadrunners clinched the best record in Conference USA and will host the championship game in San Antonio after the regular season ends.

As for those Rice Owls, I want to give a special shoutout to their fans, especially you RiceLad15.

We love us some unhinged takes and we thank you for delivering.

The #FireEveryone crowd was loud on the Owl boards.

Rice is still looking for the sixth win and bowl eligibility and they’ll face North Texas in Denton next week.

Dana Dimel and the Miners Shut Down FIU

In the fourth quarter, down 38-0, FIU Linebacker Alex Nobles took a fumble recovery 84 yards for a touchdown. That play would cover 13 more yards than the FIU offense put up all night. That’s right, the Miners defense held the Panthers to just 71 yards of offense on Saturday, as they coasted to a 40-6 win.

The Miners started a new QB for the game, Calvin Brownholtz, after former starter Gavin Hardison injured his ankle in last week’s game versus Rice.

Message Board Geniuses love making bold statements based on one game.

Not only did UTEP win this game, but head coach Dana Dimel achieved something new for the Miners with some help from the Broncos win over Wyoming.

Miners go on the road to San Antonio next week where they’ll try and get bowl eligible against the Roadrunners.

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