Let's look back on the best and worst of the Big 12 from Saturday's slate.
Best offensive performance: Desmond Roland, RB, Oklahoma State. You want broken tackles, Mike Gundy? You got 'em. Even Marshawn Lynch was impressed with Roland on Saturday, who bulled his way to 219 yards and four touchdowns on 26 carries. He'd topped 60 yards in a game just twice before Saturday, and one of those was mop-up duty in an 84-0 win over Savannah State last year. Roland is a budding star in Stillwater.
Best defensive performance: Ty Zimmerman, S, Kansas State. Zimmerman's had a quiet season, but he made 12 tackles, broke up two passes and forced a fumble in K-State's 35-12 win over West Virginia to get back on track for a bowl game. Honorable mention: Karl Joseph, S, West Virginia; Jackson Jeffcoat, DE, Texas
Second-best offensive performance: Jalen Saunders, WR, Oklahoma. Saunders looked completely in step with Blake Bell and helped the Sooners jump out to an early lead. His 76-yard touchdown catch helped Oklahoma go up early and he finished with six catches for 153 yards and a two scores. Honorable mention: Tyler Lockett, WR, Kansas State.
Best play: Lacoltan Bester, WR, Oklahoma. The Sooners were reeling, and Texas Tech was threatening to take control of the game. Its offense had scored the game's last 17 points to take a 24-21 lead late in the third quarter. Then Bester happened. He threw a touchdown pass last week, and Oklahoma wanted another one, but Bester made the most of the broken play. He never threw it on the reverse, but cut across the field and ran about 70 yards for a 35-yard touchdown to give the Sooners a 28-24 lead. OU wouldn't trail again in the 38-30 win.
Best team performance: Oklahoma. The Sooners held home field and earned a huge win to keep themselves alive in the Big 12 title race. Texas Tech's offense was rolling in the third quarter, but OU took control with a physical running game behind ... Roy Finch? Hey, he's not OU's biggest back, but he earned a bunch of tough yards and finished with 55 on eight carries.
Best coaching performance: Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech. How can you not love the way Kingsbury coaches the game? He's like a kid playing XBox, except he's one of the really good ones who knows all the right chances to take and trick plays to run. Tech used a reverse to earn its first first down of the day and a halfback pass for its first touchdown of the day. He caught Oklahoma by surprise with a third-quarter onside kick to get the ball back and took advantage with aggressive playcalling on the ensuing drive to score two touchdowns in 51 seconds. What an incredible performance from him in a difficult atmosphere against the best opponent Tech has played this season.
Worst unwanted guest: Mother nature. You are terrible. Go away. TCU and Texas' game was delayed over three hours in the second quarter and didn't end until almost 1 a.m. local time. "They've all had a goal and a dream to play on Sunday and now they've done that," Texas coach Mack Brown joked after the game. "It has happened." The start of Oklahoma's win over Texas Tech was delayed an hour because of lightning, too.
Best use of extra weather delay time: Texas Tech. Kliff Kingsbury told a sideline reporter during the game that he kept players loose by turning up the music in the locker room and letting a few players freestyle rap. The Red Raiders also brought back the peanut butter and jelly sandwich tradition that started two years ago when they knocked off OU in Norman after a two-hour weather delay. I can only assume the goods were purchased at the same store, too. That's just good juju.
Best fashion statement: Oklahoma State. Tech's new helmets with a sharp-looking number on one side were good, but I love the black OSU logo and the black stripe up the middle of the helmet is outstanding. How many helmets does OSU have now? And don't they have to have around 100 versions of each helmet? I love the idea that OSU has something close to 1,000 helmets floating around their facility somewhere. Honorable mention: Texas Tech.
Worst team performance: TCU. The Frogs looked listless and left their coach scratching his head. What can TCU do well at this point? The list is a short one. Texas played well in Fort Worth, but when TCU's 17-7 deficit during the weather delay felt like it might as well have been 50 points. The Frogs have been held to seven points just three times since 2000. At home against Texas is a really bad time to do it, and it hasn't happened since 2006.
Best quote: Gary Patterson. Perhaps it's not the "best" quote, but it was one of the most honest, and very telling of where TCU sits now with a 3-5 record and a 1-4 mark in Big 12 play. "The bottom line is we're not very good," he said.
Worst moment: There wasn't truly a worst play this week (Missouri has left the Big 12, in case you forgot), but down 38 points in the third quarter against Baylor's second strink, Kansas provided a moment that encapsulates its season thus far in five seconds.
You really don't need to see or know anything else from Baylor's win over Kansas. I watched it so you don't have to.
