11/21/24
November 22, 2015
Baylor Takes College Football Belt from Oklahoma State: Oklahoma State didn't hold on long to the College Football Belt, the sport's always-on-the-field championship game. In their second defense, the Cowboys lost 45-35 to the Baylor Bears, who hadn't won in Stillwater since 1939. Third-string quarterback Chris Johnson came off the bench and contributed two long TD passes and a TD run with under 3 minutes left. This is the fifth time the Bears have hoisted the Belt. They play at TCU and home against Texas to finish the regular season.
As of December/January, the Belt will have spent four entire seasons bouncing around the Big 12, ever since West Virginia came swaggering in with it in 2012. That's the longest single-conference span since the Belt was theoretically established in 1972.
posted by Etrigan at 01:00 PM on November 22, 2015
Also, seriously, how has ESPN not latched on to this yet? You could easily fill a few minutes on College Gameday with "analysis" of this week's CFB game.
posted by Etrigan at 01:01 PM on November 22, 2015
There was a graphic that Fox showed during the 4th quarter of this game that showed rushing yards. It was 300 for Baylor and 3 for Okie State. I'm not saying it's impossible to win in that situation, but it's awfully damn tough.
I'll be home with family watching Bedlam this Saturday. Coming from an OSU family, I don't feel real good about it.
posted by Ufez Jones at 06:56 PM on November 22, 2015
Not only did the third stringer come in and win what was a huge game, but the previously dinged up Stidham had already put up around 250 passing yards in the first half before having to come out. That's some awesome depth and continuity. It's remarkable how many top programs are not even half that deep at QB. (And how many teams with high powered offenses have placekickers who couldn't make a decent high school squad).
If both Baylor and OSU finish as one loss teams, they'll be in elite company right up near the top of the feeding trough. In yesterday's tuneups, Notre Dame served up one pre-holiday turnover after another vs BC and Florida barely beat FAU. They'll have trouble holding their rankings. Meanwhile, one loss North Carolina is way under ranked at 17.
Speaking of collegiate QB's, if I had a choice between peak form Tebow and peak form Chad Kelly, I would take Kelly in a heartbeat. He makes the plays that Tebow ran at Florida look painfully slow and methodical by comparison.