Sooners have Rocky chance to give Big 12 boost
Things to watch in the second week of the Big 12 Conference season, when again all 10 teams are playing:
GAME OF THE WEEK: No. 19 Oklahoma at No. 23 Tennessee. The Sooners make their first-ever trip to Rocky Top, and the Big 12 could certainly get a boost from a road victory over a ranked SEC team. The Big 12 has only eight games this season against teams from other Power Five conferences, and likely only three of those will be in the Top 25. Texas lost 38-3 at No. 9 Notre Dame, and Texas Tech goes to No. 18 Arkansas next week. Oklahoma is no stranger to such games, having won at Florida State in 2011 and at Notre Dame two years ago. "We've been on this stage before," coach Bob Stoops said. The Sooners won at home against the Volunteers last season, the only previous meetings between the teams were in the 1939 and 1968 Orange Bowls.
BEST MATCHUP: Iowa St. vs Iowa. The Cy-Hawk Trophy is on the line in the series that dates to 1894. The Cyclones beat their instate rival from the Big Ten on a late field goal last season, one of their two victories in 2014. Iowa State has won three of the last four against the Hawkeyes, but still trails 40-22 in the series.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Oklahoma State has won 19 consecutive home openers, and Texas has won 15 in row. The Longhorns are also 40-2 against Rice since 1965. ... Four Big 12 quarterbacks threw for more than 350 yards with multiple touchdowns the opening weekend -- Texas Tech's Patrick Mahomes, Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield, Baylor's Seth Russell and West Virginia's Skyler Howard. ... Kansas State has 97 non-offensive touchdowns since 1997, the most in the nation in that span, including Morgan Burns' 100-yard kickoff return in the opener.
LONG SHOT(S): Defending Big 12 co-champions No. 3 TCU or No. 4 Baylor losing their home openers against FCS teams. Both are undefeated in non-conference home games the past three seasons -- the Horned Frogs 6-0 and the Bears 7-0. TCU is home against Stephen F. Austin, which lost by 60 points in Fort Worth in its only other trip there seven years ago. The Bears, who host Lamar, have won those seven non-conference home games by an average margin of 51 points.
IMPACT PLAYER: Junior college transfer Ke'aun Kinner made his Kansas debut with the Big 12's only 100-yard rushing game in Week 1. He had 27 carries for 157 yards and two touchdowns in the Jayhawks' loss to South Dakota State. Kinner had 3,614 yards rushing the past two seasons for Navarro Junior College.
