Week 8 recap:How do you like us now?

What a night in Columbia!  A packed house of rowdy fans, some who had been there since 3:30 Saturday morning when the Quad was opened up for the weeks edition of ESPN's Game Day.  An Oklahoma team that was ranked 2nd in the nation and 1st in the BCS rankings had few answers but left with plenty of questions as Mizzou rolled them 36-27, in a game that really wasn't quite that close.  OU had 402 yards of offense in the game, but only 99 of them came after halftime as the Tigers defense again rose to the challenge.  Missouri accounted for 486 yards of total offense including 178 rushing yards.  Let that one sink in.  Blaine Gabbert was once again very effective managing the offense as he threw for 308 yards on a 30 of 42 night.  He was never sacked and spread the ball around with 10 receivers making catches.  It was electric inside of Faurot and a night we that were there will be talking about in the years to come, along with 2003 vs Nebraska, and other huge wins from the past.  I called this one, but I'm not going to claim much if any credit for a gutsy prediction.  Pure and simple, I'm a homer.  So now the Tigers will get to celebrate this Sunday afternoon before the next biggest game of the year hits next weekend as the Tigers travel north to face the Cornhuskers in the battle for the north and just possibly this year, the conference.

Speaking of the hicks, there wasn't a black shirt to be found in Stillwater as the Huskers won a 51-41 shootout with the Cowboys.  Taylor Martinez threw for 323 yards and repeatedly gashed Okie Lite's secondary that came into the game ranked 114th against the pass.  We can expect that ranking will not improve with this effort.  The fact that Martinez demonstrated he can indeed throw the ball came along at the best possible moment for the nubs since I see no way they could have beaten Missouri as one dimensional as they'd shown the first 6 games.  I'd picked OSU to upset in this one, so I fell to 1-1 for the week.

Another game that I, along with the rest of American missed went down in Austin where the Iowa State Cyclones pulled the 28-21 upset of Texas.  Alexander Robinson rushed for 120 yards and 2 scores and the Clones defense forced Texas quarterback Garrett Gilbert into 4 turnovers.  After their upset in Lincoln last weekend the whorns had moved back into the top 25.  I think this turd should insure they don't see that again this weekend, but who knows.  The media infatuation with Texas will likely continue as soon as they beat someone else with a pulse.
The 3rd game I missed on the weekend can't really be described as an upset.  Texas Tech walked into Boulder as 2 1/2 point favorites, but I'd picked the Buffs to win one at home for the Hawk.  However, Tech held on for a 27-24 win.  With reports this week that former coach Bill McCartney would be interested in taking over the job, I'll be surprised if Hawkins is employed longer than a half hour or so after their season ends.

In Waco it was the battle for bowl eligibility as the Bears hosted Kansas State.  I'm not interested enough to look it up, but I believe this will be the first bowl for Baylor since the 1994 season, making them the final team in the conference to play in a bowl game.  I've made no bones about the fact that Art Briles is a good coach that I like a lot.  I'm really happy for the Bears, and happy for myself since it was a game I'd picked correctly.
Another game I picked right happened just down the road in lawrence where Texas A&M found the right cure for what ails you when you're on a 3 game losing streak.  The Aggies not only won, but rolled in a 45-10 win over the hapless jayhawks.  Adding insult to injury was a disclosure this week that there was no buyout stipulation in the contract former AD Lew Perkins negotiated with Turner Gill.  In the first place, Gill was given a 2 million dollar a year salary, and now it appears if he's terminated the remainder of his contract will have to be paid within 30 days.  Frankly, I think the beaks are stuck for at least 2 or 3 more years.
For the week I wound up 3-3 on the spread and straight up.  For the year I'm 55-13 straight up and 32-27 vs the spread.  There's a lot of games this week that could go either way, so I'm going to think about things for a few days and I'll get back to you.  Have a good week and let me close with M  I  Z.....