Huddle up! Here’s a look back at this weekend on the gridiron, with three key takeaways from the state’s football scene -- and a glimpse at what’s to come next week.
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Cowboys make major statement in Minnesota
Ok, where did THIS come from?
It wasn’t necessarily going to be an upset going in if the Dallas Cowboys won at Minnesota on Sunday, given it seems the Vikings had lived a charmed life this season en route to what was an 8-1 record.
But winning 40-3 over the Vikings?
That’s more of a score of a nonconference college game between a ranked opponent and a team from a lesser conference.
Blowouts like that almost never happen in the NFL when the best teams play the worst teams, and it’s even more rare when it comes in someone else’s stadium.
So, given that performance, what kind of springboard can it provide the Cowboys the rest of the season?
The first step toward finding out that answer will come during the annual Thanksgiving game on Thursday when Dallas will have a key NFC East game against the 7-3 Giants.
After that, the next three games for the Cowboys are against the Colts, Texans and Jaguars. If Dallas can bottle up that performance against Minnesota, the season might have a “super” outlook.
TCU does it again to stay unbeaten
As if TCU hadn’t already come up with enough ways to win this season, add a last-second field goal as the kicking team was rushing onto the field to that list.
The Horned Frogs did it again, toppling Baylor 29-28 on a 40-yard field goal by Griffin Kell as time expired.
Kell and the rest of the kicking team had to race onto the field after Emari Demercado was tackled in the middle of the field short of a first down on a third-down play with 16 seconds left and the Horned Frogs out of timeouts, so the Horned Frogs couldn’t stop the clock with a spike or timeout.
But the kicking unit got on the field, snapped the ball in time and Kell split the uprights to keep TCU unbeaten and its hopes of a College Football Playoff berth alive.
TCU will host 4-7 Iowa State on Saturday before playing in the Big 12 title game.
Texas keeps hopes of Big 12 title game appearance alive
There’s still hope for the Texas Longhorns to make the Big 12 championship game and get a rematch with TCU.
The Longhorns routed Kansas on Saturday, 55-14, to move to 7-4 overall and 5-3 in conference play, one game behind Kansas State for second place and a spot in the conference title game.
Texas owns the tiebreaker over Kansas State by virtue of a head-to-head win, so if Texas can win at home over Baylor on Friday and Kansas can upset Kansas State, it will be the Longhorns who’ll head to Arlington the following week.