Big Jorvorskie Lane and Texas A&M look to move to 4-0 by defeating Louisiana-Monroe this week.
Non-conference play wraps up this week in the Big 12 and Conference USA, with two more games on tap between the Texas Bowl conferences. Last week, the Big 12 won both of their matchups against Conference USA opponents, but Central Florida gave the sixth-ranked Texas Longhorns all they could handle in a tightly contested game. Let's look at the top games in each conference for the final week of non-conference play:
Big 12
No. 16 Texas A&M heads to the Orange Bowl for a Thursday night battle with the Miami Hurricanes. The Aggies look to move to 4-0 for the second consecutive season. Last week against Louisiana-Monroe, junior running back Jorvorskie Lane scored his 35th rushing touchdown, moving him into third place in school history. This will be the second time this season that Miami has faced a Big 12 opponent, their first being a loss to No. 4 Oklahoma in Norman two weeks ago.
In the opening conference game this season, Texas Tech travels to Stillwater to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The 3-0 Red Raiders have had no problems moving the football this season, with star redshirt freshman receiver Michael Crabtree leading the nation in receptions per game (12.67). Oklahoma State, however, has struggled in the early part of 2007, dropping two of their first three games. The Cowboys need junior receiver Adarius Bowman to have a big-time performance if they hope to upset the Red Raiders.
The KansasJayhawks look to continue piling up yards and points this Saturday against Florida International. The Jayhawks currently rank eighth in the nation in total offense with 546 yards per game. Senior receiver Marcus Henry has been impossible for opponents to contain thus far, having recorded at least 100 receiving yards in each of the first three games of 2007. Should Henry surpass the 100 yard total for a fourth consecutive week, it will be a new school record.
Other Big 12 games
#4 Oklahoma at Tulsa
Ball State at #22 Nebraska
Illinois State at #25 Missouri
Miami-Ohio at Colorado
Baylor at Buffalo
Rice at #6 Texas
Iowa State at Toledo
Conference USA
The TulsaGolden Hurricane prepare for a stiff test from the Big 12 when No. 4 Oklahoma comes to town this week. Tulsa is led by senior quarterback Paul Smith, who is off to a fast start in his first two games, throwing for 761 yards and eight touchdowns. The Sooners have rolled over each of their first three opponents, led by freshman quarterback Sam Bradford, who ranks fourth in the Big 12 with 823 passing yards.
In another Big 12/Conference USA match-up, Ricewill travel up Highway 290 to Austin to face the No. 6 Texas Longhorns. Rice is still looking for its first victory of the season after losing to Texas Tech last week. Texas managed to escape Orlando with a victory as it held off a furious rally from Central Florida last Saturday. The struggling Texas offense looks to get on track this weekend against the Owls.
Speaking of Central Florida, the Knights prepare for their first conference game of the season as they welcome the Memphis Tigers to their new stadium. Junior running back Kevin Smith leads the Knights' offense and showed the Longhorns just how talented he is by rushing for 149 yards and two touchdowns last week. Memphis enters the game 1-1 after picking up their first win of the season last week against Jacksonville State. In that game, Tigers senior quarterback Martin Hankins led the way with 289 passing yards and three touchdowns.
Other Conference USA games
East Carolina at #5 West Virginia
Colorado State at Houston
Marshall at Cincinnati
Southeastern Louisiana at Tulane
Southern Methodist at Texas Christian
Texas Southern at Texas-El Paso
