The song goes like this: “THE EYES OF TEXAS ARE UPON YOU, ALL THE LIVELONG DAY. THE EYES OF TEXAS ARE UPON YOU, YOU CANNOT GET AWAY.” Those famous words were penned by John Sinclair way back in 1903, later to unofficially become the state song of the Lone Star state. A number of football coaches at the big universities in Texas might be trembling at those “You cannot get away” words after their teams’ dismal performances this past weekend.
Chew on this: Maryland 51, Texas 41. UCLA 45, Texas A & M 44 after A&M led 38-10 at halftime! Also Liberty 48, Baylor 45. No readers, Liberty IS NOT a word out of our Constitution, it REALLY is the name of a football playing school, albeit a lower-division FCS team. Interestingly the athletic director at Liberty, Ian McCaw , was the athletic director at Baylor until last year, having been forced out by a scathing report of how he handled the sexual assault charges that rocked Baylor. Liberty is coached by former Jayhawk mentor, Turner Gill who flamed out at Kansas after only two years. He never came close to beating Baylor at Kansas so this is a GIANT win for him!
TCU coach Gary Patterson, whose team won 63-0 over Jackson State, had these words to say last July during Big 12 Media Days: “The state of Texas should be embarrassed that we didn’t have a team from the state ranked in the top 25 last year. It’s as simple as that.” Well Gary, it looks like it might have to be up to you and your Horned Frogs to carry the torch this year.
I do know this: The “Big Cigars” in Austin, College Station and Waco won’t put up with much of that kind of performance. THE EYES OF TEXAS ARE UPON YOU, YOU CANNOT GET AWAY!
Larned and Pratt put on one of the biggest first-half offensive explosions in the state last Friday as the Greenbacks edged to a 42-39 edge. The final score of 56-46 produced many “best-ever” statistics for both schools and a record-setting number of rushing yards for Pratt’s elusive tailback Travis Theis.
Larned hosts another very good team in Smoky Valley this Friday, a team mentioned in a lot of state rankings. This could be another high scoring affair as both teams can move the football. It was 19-12 last year, Smoky Valley. Look for the Indians to return the favor this year: 33-25.
The Great Bend Black Panthers did as was expected last Friday as they held serve and beat Coffeyville. Friday they travel to Hays for a grudge match and WAC game. Sometimes this game provides surprises but the Indians don’t look to have enough weapons to cope with the Panthers offensive attack. Though a loss to Scott City (28-9) is not necessarily an unusual thing, it might be for Hays as the Beavers are not as powerful as in past years. Great Bend should improve to 2-0, 44-13.
BEST OF THE REST — Wichita Collegiate too fast, too big, too good for Hoisington. 34-6. How good is Otis-Bison? How good is Ellinwood? Both were untested in shutout season openers. The game is in Otis so give the edge to them in a close one. The Oilers of Central Plains should get back on track after a surprise loss (size of score) to Victoria. Oilers 39-16.
KANSAS STATE steps up a notch or two on the competition level as they host Charlotte. A Conference-USA team that has been slowly building a better program. They have a really good quarterback in dual-threat star Hassan Klugh. He will cause problems for that leaky Cat secondary but, just like Central Arkansas, the 49ers’ defense will have a hard time getting off of the field against that potent Wildcat offense. Kansas State 44, “Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte, 17.
KANSAS got what they needed last week: a win AND some production from a quarterback. Peyton Bender set a new mark with four touchdown passes and , from the looks of the running game, will have to keep doing that if the Jayhawks are going to continue climbing the ladder of victory! A new offensive coordinator and a new quarterback will slow the Central Michigan offense for a few games. The Jayhawk defense should assert itself in this one as they make running the football difficult for the Chippewas. A little running of the football would be good medicine for Kansas too! Kansas 30, Central Michigan 13.
