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ARIZONA STATE (1-1) at TEXAS TECH (1-0). When: 7 p.m. CDT Saturday. Where: Jones AT&T Stadium,. Lubbock, Texas. TV:
THIS wEEk IN THE INSIDE ONE OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL’S PREMIER CONFERENCES | COmPILED BY PaTRICk STEVENS, SPECIaL TO GaTEHOUSE mEDIa BY THE NUmBERS

GamE OF THE wEEk

POwER RaNkINGS

STANDINGS

TExAS (1-1) AT NO. 4 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (2-0)

Breaking down the Big 12

When: 7:30 p.m. CDT Saturday Where: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum TV: Fox

1. Oklahoma (2-0): The Sooners got what is likely to be one of the most impressive victories anyone snags this year, dominating the second half at Ohio State. (Last week: 1)

(Through Sept. 9) Team Kansas State Oklahoma State Oklahoma TCU Texas Tech Iowa State Kansas Texas West Virginia Baylor

Conf. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

All 2-0 2-0 2-0 2-0 1-0 1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1 0-2

T25 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS (Through Sept. 9) PASSING YARDS Player 1. Will Grier, West Virginia 2. Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma 3. Peyton Bender, Kansas 4. Mason Rudolph, Oklahoma State 5. Jacob Park, Iowa State

Yds. 723 715 687 638 618

PASSING TOUCHDOWNS Player 1. Will Grief, West Virginia T2. Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma T2. Jacob Park, Iowa State T2. Mason Rudolph, Oklahoma State 5. Four tied with

No. 8 6 6 6 4

RUSHING YARDS Player 1. Justin Crawford, West Virginia 2. Chris Warren III, Texas 3. David Montgomery, Iowa State 4. Darius Anderson, TCU 5. John Lovett, Baylor

Yds. 224 197 194 173 161

RECEIVING YARDS Player 1. David Sills V, West Virginia 2. James Washington, Oklahoma State 3. Gary Jennings, West Virginia 4. Hakeem Butler, Iowa State 5. Collin Johnson, Texas

Yds. 247 243 235 203 175

SCORING Player 1. David Sills V, West Virginia T2. Matthew McCrane, Kansas State T2. Matt Ammendola, Oklahoma State T4. James Washington, Oklahoma State T4. Hakeem Butler, Iowa State T4. David Montgomery, Iowa State T4. Dom Williams, Kansas

Pts. 30 25 25 18 18 18 18

TOM HERMAN’S LONGHORNS FACE TOUGH EARLY TEST AT NO. 4 TROJANS

[AP PHOTO/ERIC GAY]

TEAm STATISTICS (Through Sept. 9) TOTAL OFFENSE Team Texas Tech Kansas State Oklahoma State Texas TCU Oklahoma Iowa State West Virginia Kansas Baylor

STORMING HOLLYWOOD

Yds./G 626 506 573 548 452 583 436 603 454 403

Pts./G 56.0 55.0 51.5 48.5 45.5 43.5 41.5 40.0 32.5 27.5

PASSING OFFENSE Team Texas Tech Oklahoma West Virginia Kansas Oklahoma State Iowa State Texas Kansas State TCU Baylor

Yds. 449 882 774 687 650 618 592 522 466 415

Yds./G 449.0 441.0 387.0 343.5 325.0 309.0 296.0 261.0 233.0 207.5

RUSHING OFFENSE Team Texas Oklahoma State Kansas State TCU West Virginia Baylor Texas Tech Oklahoma Iowa State Kansas

Yds. 504 495 490 437 432 391 177 294 254 220

Yds./G 252.0 247.5 245.0 218.5 216.0 195.5 177.0 142.0 127.0 110.0

STaRS OF THE wEEk • S Ridwan Issahaku, Texas Christian: Had eight tackles (two for loss) and a sack in the Horned Frogs’ triumph at Arkansas • QB Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma: Threw for 386 yards and three touchdowns as the Sooners upended Ohio State on the road • QB Mason Rudolph, Oklahoma State: Completed 25 of 38 for 335 yards and three TDs in a victory at South Alabama

STaT OF THE wEEk

18 Years since a Kansas State player scored on both an interception return and a fumble recovery, a drought ended by safety Kendall Adams against Charlotte.

KEYS FOR TEXAS

Stop something. That’s going to be quite the task, given the challenges posed by Southern California. The Trojans’ headliner is QB Sam Darnold, and he was back on his game last week in a victory over Stanford after struggling in the season opener against Western Michigan. But the Trojans also have an impressive rushing attack, with Ronald Jones II and Stephen Carr both coming off 100-yard games last week. Making USC a one-dimensional team will be tough. Stability at quarterback. Will it be opening week starter Shane Buechele, who sat out last week’s rout of San Jose State with a sore shoulder? Or freshman Sam Ehlinger, who gives the Longhorns the sort of dual threat ability that coach Tom Herman used to great effect in previous stops? The answer becomes

plain if Buechele isn’t ready to go, but Texas probably wouldn’t be best served by a timeshare at QB in this game.

since 2010 — controlled the Longhorns up front on both sides of the ball. Southern Cal is blessed with even more talent than Maryland, and it needs to exploit likely advantages on the lines.

KEYS FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Stick with what works. The great thing for the Trojans is that a lot could work, given the presence of Darnold, Jones, Carr and WR Deontay Burnett. Southern Cal would be best served not to get cute and veer away from things that are successful, something that has tripped them up in the past. That’s less likely to happen with even-keel coach Clay Helton running the show, but it’s a worthwhile reminder. Control the trenches. The striking thing about Texas’ 51-41 loss to Maryland two weeks ago was how badly the Terrapins — a mediocre program that hasn’t won more than seven games in a season

Southern California 41-28. This could be dicier than expected for the Trojans, who find themselves in a “reloading the musket” moment after emphatically swatting aside Stanford to solidify their place as one of the Pac-12 favorites. If the Trojans are as sharp as they were last week, this could be much more lopsided than a two-possession game. But it’s also a chance for Texas to show how much progress they’ve made in the last couple weeks. Expect the Longhorns to be feisty against one of the best teams on their schedule.

No. 9 OKLA. ST. (2-0) at PITTSBURGH (1-1)

No. 18 KANSAS ST. (2-0) at VANDERBILT (2-0)

ARIZONA STATE (1-1) at TEXAS TECH (1-0)

When: 11 a.m. CDT Saturday Where: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh TV: ESPN Notes: Oklahoma State won the only previous meeting, a 45-38 triumph last year in Rudolph Stillwater. The Cowboys roll into the Steel City after QB Mason Rudolph shredded Tulsa and South Alabama to open his senior year. He may do even better against Pittsburgh, which struggled mightily against the pass and will be without S Jordan Whitehead.

When: 6:30 p.m. CDT Saturday Where: Vanderbilt Stadium, Nashville, Tenn. TV: ESPNU Notes: Vanderbilt leads series 1-0, a 26-14 triumph in 1984. The host Commodores have Ertz done a fine job on defense in the season’s first two weeks The competition level rises against Kansas State, a defense-centric team with the ability to apply pressure to opponents courtesy of QB Jesse Ertz.

When: 7 p.m. CDT Saturday Where: Jones AT&T Stadium, Lubbock, Texas TV: FSN Notes: Arizona State leads series 2-1. This isn’t the most meaningful game of the Ballage week, but it has a chance to be entertaining, especially if the teams can come close to replicating the track meet they had last year in Tempe. The Sun Devils won 68-55 in a game that featured 1,264 total yards and seven rushing TDs for ASU’s Kalen Ballage.

Time (CDT) SATURDAY 11 a.m.

Matchup

TV

Iowa State at Akron

CBSSN

11 a.m. 11:30 a.m. 1 p.m. 2:30 p.m. 5 p.m.

3. Kansas State (2-0): The Wildcats demolished Charlotte with little trouble as they continued their build-up toward better competition. (LW: 3)

4. Texas Christian (2-0): Bagged a noteworthy victory at Arkansas, and the only real quibble is the Horned Frogs should have put the game away sooner. (LW: 5)

PREDICTION

BEST OF THE REST THIS wEEK’S OTHER TOP GAmES

ROUNDING IT OUT THE REST OF THE mATCHUPS

2. Oklahoma State (2-0): Unthreatened the first two weeks against Tulsa and South Alabama, the Cowboys face their first Power Five foe of the season when they visit Pittsburgh. (LW: 2)

Delaware St. at W. Virginia Baylor at Duke Kansas at Ohio SMU at No. 20 TCU Tulane at No. 2 Oklahoma

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5. West Virginia (1-1): Recovered from an opening loss to Virginia Tech on a short week to demolish East Carolina. The Mountaineers should have even less trouble Saturday. (LW: 4) 6. Texas Tech (1-0): The Red Raiders play 11 consecutive weeks to close out the season, starting with this week’s meeting with Arizona State. (LW: 6)

7. Texas (1-1): Crushed San Jose State, but the Longhorns were supposed to do that. Winning at Southern California is a tough ask for this bunch. (LW: 7) 8. Iowa State (1-1): The has to be some frustration in Ames, where the Cyclones squandered a late lead against Iowa. (LW: 8)

9. Kansas (1-1): Hammered by Central Michigan in the first of back-to-back games against the MidAmerican Conference. (LW: 9)

10. Baylor (0-2): The Bears’ next five opponents: Duke, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, West Virginia. An 0-7 start is not out of the question. (LW: 10)