Big 12 Weekend in Review: Career Days For Kansas Trio

We all knew the Kansas Jayhawks offense had a chance to be lethal this season with quarterback Todd Reesing and wide receivers Dezmon Briscoe and Kerry Meier setting the pace.

Well, the trio took it to a ridiculous level Saturday as the receivers bested each other during the Jayhawks' 41-31 win over Iowa State. First Briscoe set the school record for career receptions, then Meier jumped ahead of him. Meier, a converted quarterback, has 167 career catches while Briscoe sits at 165 after making 12 catches for 186 yards and two touchdowns Saturday.

Meier also established a new school record with 16 catches in a game, while gaining 142 yards and scoring two receiving touchdowns.

And not to be overlooked were Reesing's career-high 442 yards and four passing touchdowns on the day.

--Texas A&M quarterback Jerrod Johnson established a new Big 12 mark by extending his streak of consecutive passes without an interception to 228 during Saturday's 36-31 loss to Oklahoma State.

Ships-A-Hoy!

Texas' Super-Duper senior Jordan Shipley had a monster game during the No. 2 Longhorns' 38-14 victory over Colorado on Saturday.

Shipley, perhaps one of the most underrated players in the country, accounted for 273 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns on the day. The sixth-year senior had 11 catches for 147 yards and a 39-yard touchdown reception. And then he capped his day with a 74-yard punt return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

A Get Well Card

While 2008's Big 12 leading rusher, Kendall Hunter, nurses an ankle injury, his backup at Oklahoma State, Keith Totson, is continuing to make quite an impression. The senior produced 204 all-purpose yards, rushing for 130 yards on 26 carries and adding 74 yards on two catches against the Aggies.

Happy Return

After missing four weeks and three games, Oklahoma's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Sam Bradford made a triumphant return to the Sooners' lineup Saturday.

And probably even better, Bradford showed no ill-effects from the sprained AC joint in his right shoulder, as he completed 27-of-49 passes for 389 yards and one touchdown during Saturday's rout of Baylor.

The return was just in time as the Sooners get ready to face No. 2 Texas during next week's anticipated annual Red River Rivalry in Dallas.

One thing the Sooners will want to clear up is Bradford's career-high 22 incomplete passes, which were due in large part to a number of drops by the receivers.

Quarterback Controversies Abound

The Colorado fans and boosters may have had enough of quarterback Cody Hawkins for weeks now, but finally his father/coach Dan Hawkins had his fill during the second half of Saturday's loss to Texas, when Cody tossed interceptions on back-to-back series, with the first going for a 92-yard touchdown on the return.

Hawkins yanked his son and pulled the redshirt off sophomore Tyler Hansen, who lost out in the battle with Cody during fall camp. It's the second time in as many seasons Hansen seemed headed for a redshirt year only to have it yanked away during the middle of the season. Last year, it was seven games into the season that Hawkins put Hansen in as Cody struggled. He waited five games this season.

"I guess I'm getting kind of used to burning this redshirt," Hansen joked afterward Saturday. "They came to me last week and gave me a couple of days to decide. It pretty much came down to -- I can get an injury tomorrow and never play again. So when you have the opportunity to play, especially in college at the D-1 level in this atmosphere, you take it."

Obviously, the ball should remain in Hansen's hands the remainder of the 1-4 Buffaloes season, no matter the outcome. Hawkins says Hansen is the starter now. Of course, Hansen has been jerked around plenty of times as Hawkins tries to balance fatherhood and being the head coach of a Division I-A program.

"We're just going to have to see," Hansen said. "We'll do whatever's best for the team. I'm ready to get this thing going. I just want to win games."

Texas Tech, meanwhile, may have a quarterback controversy on its hands in a good way.

With starter Taylor Potts sidelined Saturday with what is believed to be concussion, former walk-on Steven Sheffield came in and the Red Raiders' high-powered offense didn't miss a beat. In fact it seemed fine-tuned with Sheffield throwing for 491 yards and seven touchdowns in the 66-14 slaughter of Kansas State on Saturday.

The offense scored on its first six possessions and nine of its first 10, while scoring the most points in a Big 12 game since defeating Nebraska, 70-10, in 2004.

Oh, what will Mike Leach decide when Potts is ready to return from an injury he doesn't even acknowledge?

A Costly Victory

Texas got the win over the Buffaloes, but may have lost its two top running backs in the process with the Red River Rivalry game against Oklahoma coming up next week.

Not good.

Tailback Vondrell McGee exited the game when he suffered a left shoulder injury Saturday, while Tre' Newton left in the first half with a mild concussion.

The injuries, along with the fact the Longhorns netted just 46 yards on the ground against the Buffaloes, left Mack Brown more than just a little concerned about what was supposed to be an improved ground attack this season.

"What we're trying to do is get better in the running game. It didn't work," said Brown, whose team was surpassed by Alabama for the No.2 spot in the latest AP poll despite defeating Colorado. "We've just got to keep looking at it and keep doing what we need to do."