By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Each week, Big 12 coaches have their weekly meetings with the media at their press conferences during the college football season. Baylor head coach Dave Aranda’s comments have already been posted. Rankings are from the AP & Coaches Polls. Here are some highlights elsewhere in the league. Quotes and notes are taken from those pressers if not specified elsewhere. All games are Saturday unless otherwise noted.
Lance Leipold, Kansas – The Jayhawks (1-0) play at West Virginia Saturday: Kansas has signed football coach Lance Leipold to a one-year contract extension that will keep him in charge of the program through the 2027 season. But athletic director Travis Goff found it worthwhile to reward Leipold for what he termed "Year 0" given the timing of his hiring and the challenges he faced in building a competitive team last season.
"This is a statement about our exceptional confidence in Lance, his outstanding staff and the unlimited potential of Kansas football," Goff said in a statement. "When you consider he and his staff did not arrive until May 2021, and therefore did not have a chance to coach our guys until August last year, the 2021 season could be considered 'Year 0.'
Brent Venables, Oklahoma – The No. 7/7 Sooners (1-0) play host to Kent State Saturday: Venables enjoyed his first win as a college head coach, a 48-10 victory over UTEP. “We’ve talked about this being team 128, and we want to celebrate success no matter how it looks,” Venables said. “But, a special day. Certainly for our players in 2022, you know, where we want to go as a program. For me, this is gonna be a date that we all remember for a long, long time.” Venables gave game balls to OU AD Joe He reciprocated by giving Castiglione and OU president Joe Harroz.
Neal Brown, West Virginia – The Mountaineers (0-1) play host to Kansas Saturday: Perhaps knowing there is some heat after his team lost a fourth quarter lead to Pitt, Brown took to Twitter and appealed to his fan base with a video message. "Mountaineer fans, I urge you, don't give up on this team. Continue to support them. They have the spirit of West Virginia. They're fighters and we will respond. I hope to see everyone here on Saturday. It's our Big 12 opener. It's a Gold Rush game and the first night game here in four years. Help get behind this team and let's create a great environment on Saturday night….I hope to see you."
Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State – The No. 11/10 Cowboys play host to Arizona State Saturday: Gundy wasn’t too crazy about the new 12-team playoff format. “I don’t know a lot about it. I think the first thing is money took over,” said Gundy. “This was something everybody said, ‘No, no, no,’ and then somebody said, ‘You’re missing out on $450 million,’ and then everybody said, ‘Yes, yes, yes.’ That’s what happened. That’s real clear-cut.”
Chris Klieman, Kansas State – The Wildcats (1-0) play host to Missouri Saturday: A conservative start for new QB Adrian Martinez. He was just 11-15 for 53 yards and rushed for 39 in KSU’s 34-0 win over South Dakota State. "Absolutely, I did. I mean, guys, I don't know what he was, but he didn't turn the football over. 11 of 15. Once again, we dumped the ball off some, we'll look at that and see where we're where we can improve whatever you want to say but guys, I was trying to get him comfortable. He never played here before and make sure that we didn't turn the football over and that we were efficient. And he converted some first downs running the football. Pleased with how he performed for first the game."
Matt Campbell, Iowa State – The Cyclones (1-0) are at Iowa Saturday: Campbell gave his assessment of new QB Hunter Dekkers who started the game 10-of-11 with the only completion throwing the ball away. “I thought Hunter (Dekkers) handled the flow of the game really well,” Campbell said. “I thought he managed the football, (that was) a great play by the SEMO kid before the half (to make an interception), but other than that I thought in terms of the operation of the offense, handling the football, obviously his distribution and accuracy was good.”
Joey McGuire, Texas Tech – The Red Raiders (1-0) play host to Houston Saturday: Starting QB Tyler Shough will miss at least two games with a left (non-throwing) shoulder injury. He will be replaced by Donovan Smith. Shough threw for 154 yards before he left after the first quarter. "It probably will stretch into Texas [on Sept. 24], after that, we'll have to see where he's at," McGuire said. "If it goes longer, it is a good thing that we've got a bye after that Oklahoma State game, so it pushes you into where you've got anywhere between three and six weeks to recover."
Sonny Dykes, TCU – The Horned Frogs (1-0) play host to Tarleton St. Saturday: Starting QB Chandler Morris is out for Saturday with a sprained knee. Dykes went into further detail. “Chandler won’t play this week, then after that it will kind of be week to week,” Dykes told the media. “He’s got a sprained knee, not severely sprained. But it’s one of those things where we’ll immobilize him for a couple of days is my guess and then try to get out any swelling or anything and then basically strengthening that thing back to normal.
“He won’t play this week and fortunately we have an opening next week and we’ll evaluate and see where we are.”
Steve Sarkisian, Texas – The RV/No. 22 Longhorns (1-0) play host to No. 1 Alabama Saturday: Sark faces his mentor Nick Saban Saturday. "It's one game, you know?" Sarkisian said. "It's a chance for us to do what we love to do. I think one of the biggest mistakes people make is [thinking] this is going to be the game that's going to define our program.
"All along, my goal is to be in Dallas on December 3," he said. "This game has no impact on that. ... I want to play really well. I want to make sure that our guys play our style of football, our brand of football and do it the way I know we're capable of doing it."
Publisher
Each week, Big 12 coaches have their weekly meetings with the media at their press conferences during the college football season. Baylor head coach Dave Aranda’s comments have already been posted. Rankings are from the AP & Coaches Polls. Here are some highlights elsewhere in the league. Quotes and notes are taken from those pressers if not specified elsewhere. All games are Saturday unless otherwise noted.
Lance Leipold, Kansas – The Jayhawks (1-0) play at West Virginia Saturday: Kansas has signed football coach Lance Leipold to a one-year contract extension that will keep him in charge of the program through the 2027 season. But athletic director Travis Goff found it worthwhile to reward Leipold for what he termed "Year 0" given the timing of his hiring and the challenges he faced in building a competitive team last season.
"This is a statement about our exceptional confidence in Lance, his outstanding staff and the unlimited potential of Kansas football," Goff said in a statement. "When you consider he and his staff did not arrive until May 2021, and therefore did not have a chance to coach our guys until August last year, the 2021 season could be considered 'Year 0.'
Brent Venables, Oklahoma – The No. 7/7 Sooners (1-0) play host to Kent State Saturday: Venables enjoyed his first win as a college head coach, a 48-10 victory over UTEP. “We’ve talked about this being team 128, and we want to celebrate success no matter how it looks,” Venables said. “But, a special day. Certainly for our players in 2022, you know, where we want to go as a program. For me, this is gonna be a date that we all remember for a long, long time.” Venables gave game balls to OU AD Joe He reciprocated by giving Castiglione and OU president Joe Harroz.
Neal Brown, West Virginia – The Mountaineers (0-1) play host to Kansas Saturday: Perhaps knowing there is some heat after his team lost a fourth quarter lead to Pitt, Brown took to Twitter and appealed to his fan base with a video message. "Mountaineer fans, I urge you, don't give up on this team. Continue to support them. They have the spirit of West Virginia. They're fighters and we will respond. I hope to see everyone here on Saturday. It's our Big 12 opener. It's a Gold Rush game and the first night game here in four years. Help get behind this team and let's create a great environment on Saturday night….I hope to see you."
Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State – The No. 11/10 Cowboys play host to Arizona State Saturday: Gundy wasn’t too crazy about the new 12-team playoff format. “I don’t know a lot about it. I think the first thing is money took over,” said Gundy. “This was something everybody said, ‘No, no, no,’ and then somebody said, ‘You’re missing out on $450 million,’ and then everybody said, ‘Yes, yes, yes.’ That’s what happened. That’s real clear-cut.”
Chris Klieman, Kansas State – The Wildcats (1-0) play host to Missouri Saturday: A conservative start for new QB Adrian Martinez. He was just 11-15 for 53 yards and rushed for 39 in KSU’s 34-0 win over South Dakota State. "Absolutely, I did. I mean, guys, I don't know what he was, but he didn't turn the football over. 11 of 15. Once again, we dumped the ball off some, we'll look at that and see where we're where we can improve whatever you want to say but guys, I was trying to get him comfortable. He never played here before and make sure that we didn't turn the football over and that we were efficient. And he converted some first downs running the football. Pleased with how he performed for first the game."
Matt Campbell, Iowa State – The Cyclones (1-0) are at Iowa Saturday: Campbell gave his assessment of new QB Hunter Dekkers who started the game 10-of-11 with the only completion throwing the ball away. “I thought Hunter (Dekkers) handled the flow of the game really well,” Campbell said. “I thought he managed the football, (that was) a great play by the SEMO kid before the half (to make an interception), but other than that I thought in terms of the operation of the offense, handling the football, obviously his distribution and accuracy was good.”
Joey McGuire, Texas Tech – The Red Raiders (1-0) play host to Houston Saturday: Starting QB Tyler Shough will miss at least two games with a left (non-throwing) shoulder injury. He will be replaced by Donovan Smith. Shough threw for 154 yards before he left after the first quarter. "It probably will stretch into Texas [on Sept. 24], after that, we'll have to see where he's at," McGuire said. "If it goes longer, it is a good thing that we've got a bye after that Oklahoma State game, so it pushes you into where you've got anywhere between three and six weeks to recover."
Sonny Dykes, TCU – The Horned Frogs (1-0) play host to Tarleton St. Saturday: Starting QB Chandler Morris is out for Saturday with a sprained knee. Dykes went into further detail. “Chandler won’t play this week, then after that it will kind of be week to week,” Dykes told the media. “He’s got a sprained knee, not severely sprained. But it’s one of those things where we’ll immobilize him for a couple of days is my guess and then try to get out any swelling or anything and then basically strengthening that thing back to normal.
“He won’t play this week and fortunately we have an opening next week and we’ll evaluate and see where we are.”
Steve Sarkisian, Texas – The RV/No. 22 Longhorns (1-0) play host to No. 1 Alabama Saturday: Sark faces his mentor Nick Saban Saturday. "It's one game, you know?" Sarkisian said. "It's a chance for us to do what we love to do. I think one of the biggest mistakes people make is [thinking] this is going to be the game that's going to define our program.
"All along, my goal is to be in Dallas on December 3," he said. "This game has no impact on that. ... I want to play really well. I want to make sure that our guys play our style of football, our brand of football and do it the way I know we're capable of doing it."
