THIS IS A WEEKLY COLUMN WHERE WE GIVE OUT AWARDS TO THE BEST (AND WORST) PERFORMANCES OF THE WEEK IN THE BIG 12.
The Big 12’s street cred took another hit this weekend. The two highest ranked teams in the conference (Oklahoma and Texas) both lost on Saturday, and Oklahoma State was one play away from suffering back-to-back home losses. As it now stands, only Baylor and West Virginia remain undefeated entering Week Four. However, there were a few guys who didn’t get the “let’s play like garbage” memo, and instead showed up ready to play this weekend. Here at Student Union, no good (or bad) performance goes unnoticed. Without further ado, here are your Big 12 Golden Bench Award winners for Week Three.
Eric Taylor Coach of the Week – Bill Snyder (Kansas State)
If K-State wins by 56, Bill Snyder wins the Golden Bench. Those are the rules. The Wildcats may not win many games in the Big 12 this year (or they might, I honestly can’t tell if any team is good anymore), but Coach Snyder will still have nice things to say about his team no matter what happens. Stay golden, Bill Snyder.
Mike Leach Offensive Player of the Week – Patrick Mahomes (QB-Texas Tech)
Here is Mahomes’ stat line from Saturday’s game against Louisiana Tech – 26/36 for 470 yards and 5 TDs in the air, 12 rushes for 37 yards and one TD on the ground. That is a video game stat line if I’ve ever seen one. The Red Raiders bounced back from a tough loss against Arizona State in week two to win 59-45 behind Mahomes’ stellar performance.
Brian Bosworth Defensive Player of the Week – Ramon Richards (CB-Oklahoma State)
Richards’ interception in the last minute of Saturday’s game against Pittsburgh sealed the win for the Cowboys and kept the entire Oklahoma State campus from rioting after what would have been their second home loss in two weeks. Richards also had a pick last week against Central Michigan and is quietly turning into a bright spot on what is an otherwise subpar defensive unit. He will have his work cut out for him in Week Four as he will likely be asked to cover Baylor’s KD Cannon who has been absolutely torching defensive backs this season.
Adrian Peterson Freshman of the Week – JaMycal Hasty (RB-Baylor)
Baylor seems to have an endless supply of running backs. After news broke earlier in the week that Johnny Jefferson would be out for the year, Hasty showed that Baylor’s running game will not miss a beat. Hasty will continue to split time with Terence Williams as the Bears’ backup running back behind Shock Linwood, but Hasty’s performance Friday definitely helped his chances of getting some more touches as the season goes on. Hasty tallied 105 yards and a touchdown on just 14 carries as the Bears cruised to a 38-10 victory over Rice. Look for the Bears to lean on Hasty again next week against Oklahoma State.
Kentucky Deluxe Bottom Shelf Performance of the Week – Chris Callahan (K-Baylor)
Chris Callahan is not very good at kicking. Baylor fans have known this for three years. After missing an extra point against SMU last week, Callahan returned for an encore performance against Rice. Callahan missed from 37 and 47 on Friday and then proceeded to try to fight one of his teammates on the sideline. Simply stunning. Well done, Chris Callahan.
That wraps up this week’s awards. Stay tuned every Monday throughout the season to find out who brought home the hardware that weekend.