Barfknecht: Fast start, but even faster fizzle for the Big 12

The 2009 football season was billed as potentially the Big 12's greatest ever. Yet any glory generated so far fizzled out barely six hours into the first Saturday of play.

By 6 p.m. on Sept. 5:

• Oklahoma State had shown the big, bad Southeastern Conference a thing or two by beating Georgia.

• Underdog darling Baylor had knocked off Wake Forest on the road.

• Missouri had thrashed Illinois, showing it could carry on after losing six NFL draft choices.

Remember those three games because that completes the highlight list from the Big 12's first five weeks.

Within 24 hours of those three victories, all hell began to break loose — and it hasn't stopped.

On the night of Sept. 5, not only did Oklahoma lose to BYU, it also saw Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Sam Bradford down on the turf with a sprain of his throwing shoulder. He hasn't played since.

The next evening, Colorado embarrassed itself in a home loss to Colorado State.

Five days later, the Buffaloes played even worse on ESPN in a loss at Toledo to open another weekend of Big 12 misery.

Oklahoma State lost at home to Houston — and saw returning Big 12 rushing champion Kendall Hunter get hurt — while Kansas State fell at UL-Lafayette. Hunter still is sidelined.

In Week 3, Nebraska essentially gave away a one-point game at Virginia Tech to continue its long slide against ranked opponents. And Baylor gave back its goodwill by losing at home to a Connecticut team using its backup quarterback.

Take a deep breath. There's plenty more bad news.

Week 4 produced a collective gut punch when Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin tore a knee ligament. If one of the league's true stars goes down, all suffer.

Then came last weekend.

Colorado pulled another clunker on ESPN for the whole college football world to see. Texas A&M proved its 3-0 start meant nothing, getting drilled by a so-so Arkansas team. Texas Tech quarterback Taylor Potts suffered a concussion that put him in the hospital overnight.

And Oklahoma suffered a second one-point loss, this time to Miami. Also, coach Bob Stoops said Monday, one of the Sooners' few remaining offensive weapons — wide receiver Ryan Broyles — is out two to four weeks with a fractured shoulder.

Even teams who were idle last week weren't immune from woe.

Oklahoma State, which already has seen All-America candidates Dez Bryant and Perrish Cox slowed by injuries, lost true freshman tailback Jeremy Smith (shoulder) for the season in practice, according to the Daily Oklahoman. Coach Mike Gundy declined to discuss injuries Monday.

So the Big 12, which had three teams in the top eight to start the season, now has just one above No. 15.

Can the league get patched up and save face?

No. 2 Texas has played inconsistently but is still in the national title race. Oklahoma State has the roster to rebound. Oklahoma has a history of overcoming the early season loss of key players (Adrian Peterson and Rhett Bomar in 2006) to win the league.

Also, the threesome of Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri offers hope for a better level of play from the North Division.

But any more big injuries and upset losses could quickly doom this league to also-ran status.

Return for Griffin?

Baylor coach Art Briles didn't close the door Monday on quarterback Robert Griffin playing some more this season, despite a torn knee ligament.

Griffin is scheduled to meet with orthopedic specialists this week. As for taping him up to play with the injury, Briles said:

“That's strictly his decision. There's positives and negatives to going either way. That's a decision that will be based on what's best for Robert in the long term.''

Griffin's injury was the anterior cruciate ligament only, with no ancillary damage. It's rare for football players to continue with the injury in the same season, but it isn't unprecedented.

Meanwhile, Baylor recently got a recruiting commitment from another Robert Griffin.

Don't worry about any future confusion. This Robert Griffin, an offensive lineman from Navarro (Texas) Junior College, stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 330 pounds.

Lip from Leach

Texas Tech coach Mike Leach's weekly nose-thumbing of the Big 12 media during Monday's teleconference was just delightful.

Questions about the health of quarterback Taylor Potts, who suffered a concussion Saturday and spent the night in a hospital, didn't please Leach.

“He's doing fabulously well,'' Leach facetiously said of Potts. “He's a great member of our team.''

Leach, who refused to acknowledge that Potts is injured, was asked if he could in good conscience use Potts this week against Kansas State.

“Since he's not injured,'' Leach said, “I certainly could.''

Senior offensive lineman Brandon Carter has been reinstated after a one-week suspension. Leach still wouldn't discuss the suspension, but the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported that it was partly for Carter's criticism of the coaching in Tech's 29-28 loss to Houston.

Contact the writer:

444-1024, lee.barfknecht@owh.com

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