Big 12 Sports Blog by Big 12 Fans

Instead of staying for his senior season or transferring to a lower-division school, Oklahoma St. QB Bobby Reid is reportedly declaring for the NFL draft.

Reid entered his junior season highly-rated after a sophomore season that saw him throw for 2,266 yards and 24 touchdowns (with 11 interceptions) and run for 500 yards and five touchdowns.

But, after going down with an injury in a win over Florida Atlantic, Reid lost his job to sophomore Zac Robinson, who, like Reid, is a dual-threat QB.

Robinson went on to throw for 2,847 yards and 23 touchdowns, and run for 847 yards and nine touchdowns, while Reid saw action in only three more games, finishing his season 26 of 49 passing for 275 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.

He might have gained more national recognition for anything that he ever did on the field for coach Mike Gundy’s infamous rant after a 49-45 win over Texas Tech, when he vociferously defended Reid over an article by a local columnist that seemed to question Reid’s manhood. Gundy famously said, ‘I’m a man! I’m 40!’ in a video that yes, even I, have seen on Youtube.

Boy or not, Reid has the talent to be an NFL quarterback, though it may not have hurt to go to a small school, where he could have had a big year and greatly built up his draft stock.

However, with his size and skills with both his arm and his legs, Reid should garner some attention, especially if he can perform well in workouts leading up to the draft.

Some might say that Reid could have stayed in Stillwater and fought for his job, but given how things took such a turn for him, and that he’d be fighting an uphill battle to replace Robinson, though given how Robinson overtook Reid after the season that Reid had in ‘06, anything’s possible.

One factor that may have played into Reid’s decision is the fact that he’s already graduated from OSU, so he may just be content to move on and try to get his shot at the NFL, even if it is a year earlier than expected.

In last night’s Insight Bowl, Oklahoma St. got out to a huge early lead and capped off their 2007 with a winning record by defeated Indiana 49-33. Zac Robinson had a monster game, going 24 of 34 for 302 yards and three touchdowns through the air, and adding 70 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Freshman Dez Bryant caught nine passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns, and two OSU seniors closed out their careers with solid outings, as running back Dantrell Savage ran for 100 yards and a touchdown, and receiver Adarius Bowman caught six passes for 74 yards and a score.

Just as impressive as their offensive output was the fact that the defense held Indiana receiver James Hardy, one of the country’s top receivers - and biggest at 6′7, to only five catches for 50 yards and no touchdowns.

As we kick off the New Year, a couple of Big 12 teams are in action already. Missouri has put in a tremendous defensive performance in holding Arkansas running back Darren McFadden to only 86 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, and Tigers running back Tony Temple is showing that McFadden and Felix Jones aren’t the only top-notch backs at the Cotton Bowl, as Temple has run for 261 yards and three scores to help Missouri to a 31-7 lead in the fourth. Chase Daniel has had an off-day, going only 11 of 29 for 127 yards and an interception, but thanks to the great game by Temple and the great defensive effort - Arkansas didn’t get on the board until late in the third, when it was already 28-0), Missouri’s looking at a 12-win season.

It’s not going as good for Texas Tech in the Gator Bowl, as they’re down 21-7 to Virginia at halftime. The Cavaliers have done a great job in shutting down Tech’s high-powered offense, outside of the Red Raiders’ second drive of the game, which they scored on to take a 7-0 lead. Since then, Virginia has scored 21 straight points, and have moved the ball well on Tech’s defense, and got a couple of big plays, one on defense in a safety on an intentional grounding penalty on Graham Harrell, and the other on a 96-yard touchdown run by Mikell Simpson. One bright spot for the Red Raiders is that they’ve held Virginia defensive end Chris Long without a sack thus far, though Harrell has been sacked twice.

Texas beat Arizona State 52-34 in the Holiday Bowl on Thursday night to kick off the Big 12’s participation in the bowl season, with seven more teams yet to take the field.

The Longhorns jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter, which proved to be too much for the Sun Devils to overcome.

Jamaal Charles ran for 161 yards and two touchdowns, and Colt McCoy had a great game, despite losing the handle multiple times - including one that was recovered in the end zone for a touchdown by tight end Jermichael Finley - throwing for 174 yards and a score, and doing his Vince Young impression by rushing for 84 yards and a touchdown.

The Longhorns defense forced five turnovers, and could have had a sixth, but in a play that we all have seen and heard about by now, Longhorns staffer Chris Jessie (Mack Brown’s stepson) reached out and touched a loose ball that had been fumbled by Arizona St. in the second quarter, which instead of being a turnover for Texas, wound up being a personal foul penalty which led to ASU‘s first touchdown.

But, it didn’t cost them, as the Longhorns were just too strong on both sides of the ball, and had the game well in hand by the time ASU scored a couple of fourth-quarter consolation touchdowns.

Both teams finished their seasons at 10-3, with Texas getting to ten wins for the seventh straight season.

Tonight, Penn St. and Texas A&M tangle in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, and tomorrow, Colorado takes on Alabama in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, LA, with Oklahoma State tangling with Indiana in the Insight Bowl on Monday, before we all hang up our 2008 calendars.

There are only four games on the conference schedule this week, as we look towards the final week of regular season action next week.

While Kansas-Missouri, Texas A&M-Texas, Oklahoma-Oklahoma St., and Nebraska-Colorado will headline next week’s slate, there are a few noteworthy matchups this week.

Oklahoma visits Lubbock on Saturday to take on a Texas Tech team looking to repeat its 2005 feat (but maybe not as controversially). The last time the Sooners and Red Raiders tussled in Lubbock, Texas Tech’s Taurean Henderson scored a touchdown on the final play of the game to hand the Red Raiders a 23-21 win. He may well have been stopped short, but that’s irrelevant now, isn’t it? Tech would love to repeat the feat and put an end to Oklahoma’s national title hopes, but if Oklahoma keeps the ball rolling, it’ll not only help themselves, but it’ll also help Kansas and Missouri’s hopes as well. After getting a $10,000 fine from the Big 12 for his comments about the officials in Tech’s 59-43 loss at Texas last Saturday, will luck be on his side if there’s a crucial call at the end of Saturday’s game.

Speaking of Kansas and Missouri, they have one hurdle left before their big showdown on the 24th. The Jayhawks host Iowa St., and even though the Cyclones are 3-8, there shouldn’t be any underestimating them, because they’ve won their last two games, and played Oklahoma and Missouri tough.

As for Missouri, they go to Kansas St. in a game that could see some big numbers put up all around. Chase Daniel and the Tigers would love to repeat what Nebraska did last week (73 points, 720 yards, 510 passing, 7 TD by Joe Ganz), but the Wildcats will be looking for the big upset to not only end Missouri’s Big 12 and national title hopes and get themselves back on track after that humiliating defeat, but also become bowl-eligible.

In the other game in the conference, Oklahoma St. looks for their sixth win and bowl eligibility when they go to Waco to take on Baylor. It will be the season finale for the Bears and the final game of coach Guy Morriss’ five-year tenure at the school, and if the Bears can send him out on a positive note with a victory, it’ll throw OSU’s bowl hopes into jeopardy, with the Cowboys having to to Norman for their regular season finale.

Before Kansas and Missouri can tangle for the Big 12 North title in two weeks, they each have two more obstacles to climb.

Neither team can underestimate their opponent this weekend, as 9-0 and #4 Kansas has a daunting trip to Stillwater to face an Oklahoma St. team that can score points in a flourish - but has to work on their finishing skills. 8-1 and new #7 Missouri, meanwhile, welcomes Texas A&M to town. It could go two ways for A&M, given the recent development with their coach maybe, possibly, maybe not getting push out of the door - either the Aggies will go out and play fired up, in the hopes that they can somehow save Coach Fran’s job, or they’ll go in with little confidence and get beaten up and down the field.

Oklahoma St. is one of three conference teams looking to become bowl eligible this weekend. Colorado (5-5, 3-3) goes to Iowa St. in search of their sixth win, but as Kansas St. learned last week, the Cyclones aren’t going to give them anything. The Wildcats will take their second crack at getting win #6 when they go to Lincoln to take on the hapless Huskers, who, believe it or not, could still make a bowl, if they win their last two games.

The matchup of the weekend might be Texas-Texas Tech on Saturday afternoon in Austin. Last season, the Red Raiders led 21-0 after a quarter, but Texas battled back for a 35-31 win in Lubbock. Texas Tech will be looking for a little revenge, and they might be able to pull it off, given Graham Harrell’s success against the Longhorns last year (519 yards, three touchdowns) and the fact that Texas’ defense has had its share of issues this season. But, Tech’s going to have to get a lot more than -1 yard rushing, like they did in last year’s heartbreaker.

In the other game on the schedule, Oklahoma hosts Baylor, looking to improve to 9-1 and keep themselves in the national championship hunt.