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Big 12 Coaches Corner (Oct. 25)

While speculation hovers over Texas coach Charlie Strong's status, Big 12 business continues.
While speculation hovers over Texas coach Charlie Strong's status, Big 12 business continues. (Orlando Sun-Sentinel)

Each week, the Big 12 coaches meet with the media on Monday of game week via the Big 12 coaches call or Monday press conference to discuss the week that was and the upcoming week. Baylor Acting Head Coach Jim Grobe’s and Texas coach Charlie Strong’s comments were posted earlier.

David Beaty, Kansas: The Jayhawks (1-6, 0-4) play at Oklahoma Saturday – While Oklahoma’s defense has been pretty shoddy through this season – it allowed Texas Tech quarterback Pat Mahomes to throw for 734 yards in the Sooners 66-59 win and has surrendered at least 40 points in four of its first seven games – Beaty said that Mahomes performance would have given the Dallas Cowboys a difficult time. “I really believe that,’’ Beaty said.

Bob Stoops, Oklahoma: No. 15/16 Oklahoma (5-2, 4-0) plays host to Kansas Saturday – In typical Stoops fashion, he thought his defense wasn’t as bad as the 66-59 win over Texas Tech indicated. Let him tell you why: “Big story of the game I thought there was third downs. Interestingly we play well enough to put them in 25 third downs and two fourth downs, but we weren’t able to convert on those. They converted 20 of them, and to me that’s the story of the game, not being able to come up with the play on third down to get off the field. We’ve got to do a better job, be more aggressive to complete plays.”

Mike Gundy, Oklahoma St.: The Cowboys (5-2, 3-1) play host to West Virginia Saturday – Gundy said that wide receiver Marcel Ateman – a teammate of Baylor’s Quan Jones at Wylie East – has a chance to return to the lineup soon after missing all of this season with a foot injury. Ateman started running last week and will start going through other drills to see where here is at this week.

Bill Snyder, Kansas St.: The Wildcats (4-3, 2-2) play at Iowa St. Saturday – If you haven’t seen the clip, Snyder was pretty gracious – when isn’t he – after the Wildcats defeated Texas, 24-21, on Saturday. In the postgame handshake, he embraced Texas coach Charlie Strong and said, “I mean this from the bottom of my heart. You’re the guy. You’re the guy.’’…of course, Kansas St. hasn’t lost to Texas at home since 2002. KSU has won the last five meetings in Manhattan, KS.

Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia: The No. 9/10 Mountaineers (6-0, 3-0) play at Oklahoma St. Saturday – This meeting between the Mountaineers and Cowboys is also coming full circle for new West Virginia offensive coordinator Joe Wickline. Dismissed from the Texas staff last year and embroiled with Oklahoma St over his contract (it was settled in the offseason), he wound up in Morgantown with Holgorsen. Of course, Holgorsen worked with Wickline when he was in Stillwater, OK. “Regardless of the personalities or any of that stuff, it's the knowledge and the working relationship that mattered,” Holgorsen said. “We worked wonderful together at Oklahoma State. I understood what he was trying to do. He understood what I was trying to do.”

Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech: The Red Raiders (3-4, 1-3) play at TCU Saturday – In 2015, Texas Tech was one of the best in the country at creating turnovers. Now, they aren’t doing that. Don Williams of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal notes that the Red Raiders haven’t created a turnover in 24 of their last 25 games. That’s coupled with Texas Tech having another wretched defensive year. “If I had an answer for the struggles, I would let you know,’’ Kingsbury said. “If I could answer why we haven’t gotten any turnovers, I would fix it. But they’re working diligently to try to put people in the right places to be successful and the players have to make plays.’’

Matt Campbell, Iowa St.: The Cyclones (1-6, 0-4) play host to Kansas St. Saturday – Maybe it’s a slump or being a different fit with the new offense. But running back Mike Warren is not enjoying the season that many envisioned. After going for 1,339 yards in 2015, he’s only at 496 with five games remaining on the schedule. To do it, Warren is going to have to average 101 yards per game. “Every situation is different, and obviously ours is a little bit different this year,’’ Campbell said, “with just starting to create some depth that we’d like to have within our program…no Iowa St. running back has put consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons together since Ennis Haywood in 2000-01.

Gary Patterson, TCU: The Horned Frogs (4-3, 2-2) play host to Texas Tech Saturday – Patterson blamed himself for coming down harder on the defense at the start of the season. “We haven’t made plays,’’ he said. “I was tough on them. I think they lost their confidence early. We’re starting to gain it. We’re starting to come back.’’ There is some validation to that because West Virginia was held to a season-low 389 yards. Still, the Mountaineers won, 34-10.

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