K-State's rush D has a good matchup; KU is a long shot at Baylor
Here are some things to watch in the Big 12 Conference in Week 7:
GAME OF THE WEEK
No. 20 West Virginia at Texas Tech. The Mountaineers (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) remained undefeated with a 17-16 home win over Kansas State before an open date last weekend, when the Wildcats won 44-38 at home and held the Red Raiders (3-2, 1-1) to their fewest points this season. WVU is undefeated this season with no more than 38 points in a game. Mountaineers coach Dana Holgorsen was a Texas Tech assistant for eight seasons, and was a receivers coach from 2000-02 when Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury was a record-setting quarterback there. They have split four games as Big 12 foes, with the Mountaineers winning the last two by a combined eight points.
BEST MATCHUP
Oklahoma RBs Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon vs. Kansas State's rushing defense, which is ranked third among FBS teams. Perine, the Big 12 rushing leader as a freshman in 2014, is coming off a season-high 214 yards on 35 carries against Texas that moved him to second in the Big 12 with 92.2 yards per game. Mixon had a pair of 100-yard games before that. Sure, K-State had one game that lasted only one half because of inclement weather, but the Wildcats have allowed only 80.8 yards rushing per game. That is 60 yards per game less than Oklahoma.
LONG SHOT
Kansas is a five-touchdown underdog as the homecoming opponent for No. 11 Baylor (5-0, 2-0), the only FBS team to be 5-0 for the fourth consecutive season. The Jayhawks (1-4, 0-2) missed three field goals in the fourth quarter while losing by a point at home last week to TCU. Baylor has won six in a row in the series by an average margin of 38 points, and that even includes a 31-30 overtime victory in Lawrence five years ago.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Kansas State last week got its 100th Big 12 victory, joining Texas and Oklahoma as the only teams to do that since the league's inception in 1996. ... The last seven Big 12 games have been decided by a touchdown or less, two of them by one point. The 10 1/2-point margin in conference games is the lowest among the Power Five leagues. (The SEC is the next closest at 13.9, and the Big Ten has the largest at 21.0 points per game.) ... Either Iowa State (1-5, 0-3) or Texas (2-3, 0-2) is guaranteed to get its first Big 12 victory this weekend in Austin.
IMPACT PERFORMER
Texas junior running back D'Onta Foreman leads the Big 12 and is second nationally with 148.8 yards rushing per game. His seven touchdowns in four games give him a league-leading 10.5 points per game. Foreman is coming off a season-high 159 yards against Oklahoma, his third consecutive two-TD game.
View from the sidelines: College football cheerleaders 2016.
