Would an undefeated Oklahoma State leap one-loss Notre Dame?

There it is beating TCU by 20 points one week, and then you see it needing a late comeback just to get past Iowa State.

Welcome to Week 12 of The Lowe Down.

Our bettors’ season win-loss records are determined from the lines published in the RGJ’s Scoreboard section on the day of the games.

If Oklahoma State wins its final two games and finishes undefeated, one of its biggest donors isn’t anxious about the Cowboys missing out to Notre Dame for a College Football Playoff berth.

Metaphorically speaking, the Buckeyes’ methodical approach on the gridiron could be compared to a pride of lionesses stalking their prey in the tall grass of the Serengeti Plains. In total, defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer’s outfit gave up 6.6 yards per carry to a team that ranks outside the top 45 in rushing offense. But there’s a reason why lions are the kings, and queens, of the jungle.

Stillwater plays host to another huge Big 12 matchup on Saturday night. Cook has kept the MI State offense rolling, throwing for at least 300 yards in every game until suffering the injury last week.

Baylor is 5-0 SU in its last five games on the road. Sterns leads the team with 81 stops for the season.

Penn State is fresh off a bye week and is licking its chops to avenge an 18-13 loss to MI last season on the road. A close loss to TCU, a mistake-riddled loss at home to Kansas State and a blowout loss at home to Baylor squashed their hopes of playing in a major bowl game. Oh well. These runners can be incorporated in the passing attack as well so the front seven for Oklahoma State will have to keep itself honest in recognizing pass and run. Last week, the Cyclones put up 218 and also scored three times.

Burt better prepared for more of the same. The fact that it takes place in Stillwater, Okla., makes it that much tougher. Baylor was a front-line Playoff contender itself until last weekend, when Baker Mayfield and the Sooners sabotaged the Bears’ dreams. On the season, he has thrown for 1,007 yards with 11 touchdowns and 2 interceptions on a 71.4 percent completion percentage. Kind of still is.

With a back injury that left Stidham almost immobile against Oklahoma, there should be caution as to how long he can handle playing against the Big 12’s best pass rushing defense.

USC has won four in a row after losing at Notre Dame in the debut of interim head coach Clay Helton.

Can’t do that against Oregon. LSU won the national title in 2007 and played in the BCS title game after the 2011 season. They have rotated quarterbacks with no one seizing the job. That’s harder to do against the escapability of Adams, who is among the best at buying time while keeping his eyes down field to his big-play targets.

Yep. OR looks like OR – and that means winning in Autzen. Baylor must keep him away from freshman quarterback Jarrett Stidham. Oklahoma State will not go down easy though, as they performed tremendously on both sides of the ball against TCU two weeks ago. J.W. Walsh is a dual threat quarterback who plays mostly in short yardage and red zone situations.

When you’re looking at eight teams getting into a playoff, you have about a dozen teams who can extend their season. If Linwood can find any semblance of consistency on the ground Saturday, Baylor will be in a position to knock off the Cowboys and vault the Bears back into the College Football Playoff discussion.