ves us a lot of numbers centrally to be able to combine and play a good brand of soccer, which I think we enjoyed tonight.

Thirteenth-ranked Oklahoma State controls its own destiny heading into their final two games of Big 12 Conference play. But the road to a Big 12 championship still has two potentially very big potholes to navigate starting with Saturday afternoons contest at well-rested TCU (Noon ET, Fox Sports 1).Get past Gary Pattersons Horned Frogs, who have had two weeks to prepare after delivering a 62-22 spanking of Baylor in Waco, and the Cowboys (8-2, 6-1 Big 12) could play for all the marbles against Bedlam rival Oklahoma (8-2, 7-0) on Dec. 3 in Norman provided the Sooners defeat West Virginia on Saturday.Not bad for a team that was pretty much written off following a 2-2 start that included a very controversial 30-27 home loss to Central Michigan on Sept. 10 and a 35-24 defeat at Baylor to open Big 12 play.Oklahoma State has rattled off six consecutive victories since, including a 43-37 upset of No. 10 West Virginia on Oct. 29. The Cowboys come into this one off a wild 45-44 home victory over Texas Tech last week.Each week I talk to them about the importance of focus, and fortunately, weve had big wins, and whether you have a big win or you have a loss youre not happy with, you have to re-focus on Sunday, OklahomaState coach Mike Gundy said. Were not good enough to even look past tomorrows practice, and TCU, in my opinion, is a considerably different team than they were even three weeks ago.The Horned Frogs (5-4, 3-3), who were a combined 23-3 over the past two seasons, are attempting to become bowl-eligible and must win one of their final three games to do so. After hosting the Cowboys, Gary Pattersons squad plays at Texas (5-5) and ends the season with a home game against Kansas State (5-4).Were excited about the challenges, junior weak safety Nick Orr told reporters. We know weve got some tough teams in the next three games and were trying to become bowl-eligible. We know its going to be a tough task, but I feel like we can get it done.Although one victory makes TCU bowl-eligible, the Horned Frogs need two wins to assure a winning campaign. TCU has experienced only one losing season over the past 11 years -- that coming in 2013 in its second season in the Big 12.The Horned Frogs are coming off a bye and that qualifies as good timing for junior running back Kyle Hicks.Hicks injured his left ankle against Texas Tech on Oct. 29 and played the following Saturday against Baylor despite not practicing all week due to soreness. He sure wasnt affected on game day as he rushed for a career-high 192 yards and five touchdowns in a 62-22 trouncing of the Bears.The week off gave Hicks a chance to heal up and coach Gary Patterson said Monday that Hicks is running at full speed.Having Hicks healthy down the stretch is crucial for the Horned Frogs as he leads the squad with 789 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns (12 rushing, two receiving). He also is tied for the team lead with 33 receptions.Hicks presents an entirely defensive challenge for the Cowboys than they faced last week in edging pass-happy Texas Tech.While the 45-44 victory did not reflect a great defensive performance, the Red Raiders were limited to a pedestrian (for them) 389 total yards as the Cowboys removed a down lineman and lined up in a 3-3-5 scheme. The change confused Tech into three three-and-outs to begin the game.It got us a few series, said defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer, then after that its just great players making great plays.Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes was still magnificent at times throwing for 344 yards but had just one connection for 30-plus yards.Among those who surfaced as playmakers for the Cowboys were sophomore linebacker Justin Phillips, who started in place of injured Chad Whitener and led Oklahoma State in tackles, and cornerback A.J. Green, a freshman pressed into fourth-quarter duty.All but two of the wins the Cowboys have recorded during current six-game streak were by single digits.No fear, no frustration and no fatigue is what we talk about, Gundy said. Truthfully I talk to the players about the core values and the accountability we have in our program. I wish I could give you the Xs and Os, or say that I could give a Vince Lombardi pregame and halftime speech. I think its the overall concept of our program. Wholesale College Jerseys . - Levi Browns tenure at left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers is over before it even began. Cheap NCAA Football Jerseys . LOUIS -- Heading into the final stretch of the season, the issues for the Chicago Bears banged-up defence only seem to be getting worse. http://www.cheapcollegejerseys.us.org/ . Pence singled in the winning run with no outs in the ninth inning to give the Giants a 7-6 victory over the San Diego Padres on Sunday. Cheap College Basketball Jerseys . -- Its been a long road back for Sean Bergenheim. College Jerseys China . Hazard cut in from the left and scored with a swerving right-footed shot for ninth goal of the season, which proved to be enough for the victory despite Chelseas forwards again lacking a cutting edge up front. SANDY, Utah -- A year from now, the mountains that loom beyond the eastern rim of Rio Tinto Stadium will look?the same as they do now.The U.S. womens national team? Not so much.Close your eyes for even a second, and Allie Long is a defender.Take too long coming back from a halftime hot chocolate run and, what do you know, Lynn Williams has appeared in her first game and scored her first goal for the national team.If Wednesdays game against Switzerland was supposed to be a demonstration of change, it didnt disappoint. The 4-0 win wasnt conclusive in any particular respect. But it was definitely different and thus interesting.And frankly, fun.I think its great for the environment with the national team, said Morgan Brian, who in two years has gone from World Cup rookie to wise, old sage. It makes it way more competitive, like Jills been saying. Its only going to push us to get that much better for the next three years.If U.S. coach Jill Ellis wants competition as the cycle begins for the 2019 World Cup and 2020 Olympics, Williams and Andi Sullivan highlighted the best-case scenario of what that looks like. Five players debuted for the United States in front of 14,336 fans Wednesday. None fell on their faces. Williams excelled; she scored the games first goal just 49 seconds after entering as a substitute to begin the second half. And Sullivan succeeded in the middle?of good play.I thought they were fantastic, Ellis said. As much as they were allowed to express themselves, they also fit within the system. I was very impressed. Andis poise, her passing -- I think shes mature beyond her years, in terms of her first time in, and she looked like shes been doing it for a while. Lynn, obviously a great finish. Her work rate, penetration, back to pressure -- shes pretty multi-dimensional.Just over a week ago, Williams capped a breakthrough professional season with the Western New York Flash by scoring a late equalizer in the dying seconds of overtime in the NWSL final. She and the Flash went on to claim the title in penalty kicks in Houston, and then after a quick stop back in Buffalo, she was off to Utah. On Wednesday, she?raced in on goal in the opening minute of the half. Williams slotted the ball into the net; she was?calm enough to take one final touch that opened up the shooting angle to go back across the goalkeeper.When they first told us we were going in, some nerves come over your body, Williams said. But Carli [Lloyd] came up to me and said, Just connect your first pass and go from there. And then Sam [Mewis] came up to me and said, Lynn, you dont have to be anything that youre not.Technically, Williams first pass came after her first goal, but the message holds.The play Williams made to set in motion the third goal -- after Tobin Heath doubled the lead -- was in some ways more impressive than the goal. Williams sent a sublime pass to Kelley OHara in the right corner, and OHara set up Christen Press for an emphatic finish.Its more difficult to put together the highlight package for Sullivan, but she was no less impressive..dddddddddddd A college junior, she played the No. 6 position with confidence beyond her years.Early in the game, she turned her back at midfield and was knocked off the ball by a Swiss player. Sullivan looked at the referee as if expecting a whistle but got nothing. Far from rattled, she went about her work, connecting passes and putting the teammates in front of her in good spaces. Ellis has said repeatedly that she still doesnt know Sullivans best position, and indeed, she has excelled as a No. 8 for Stanford this season. But a longtime holding midfielder, she looked mighty comfortable there Wednesday.I think she, Lindsey [Horan] and I played pretty well together, Brian said. I think we found seams and played off of each other. She was very composed and calm on the ball.And yes, if youre doing the math at home, that adds up to three midfielders in the center of the field. The biggest surprise before the game wasnt the names in the lineup. More jarring was the way the U.S. women lined up, placing midfielder Allie Long between Becky Sauerbrunn and Emily Sonnett in the last line of a 3-5-2 formation. Given that Ellis just released one center back from contract (Whitney Engen) and says she is looking to add to the position, it might seem a curious move to play three of them together, especially when one isnt a center back by trade.I think in our attacking weve been kind of rotating to get to that shape, Ellis said, pointing most recently to the game against the Netherlands last month. I said, You know what, its time for us to kind of, honestly, experiment and try new things. What I like about Allie is she has a profile; shes good in the air, shes a very good communicator. And her passing gives us the ability to play those penetrating balls and keep possession and build.Playing somewhat shorthanded and rather listlessly, Switzerland didnt do much on the offensive end, but the U.S. women had a couple of dicey moments after miscues. Still, there was no denying the amount of buildup play the United States was able to accumulate.We only have three in the back, which gets a little scary sometimes, Brian said. But we have some of the best defenders in the world, so its a pretty great formation for us. It gives us a lot of numbers centrally to be able to combine and play a good brand of soccer, which I think we enjoyed tonight.The first test to replicate the energy comes Sunday against the same Swiss team in Minnesota.The coaching staff and the veteran players have been super proactive about getting us up to speed and including us in this team, which is really special, Sullivan said. To be able to bring in a bunch of new players and still put on a performance like we did tonight, I think that says a lot about the leadership of this team.What does it mean? Who knows. It was one game in October, a long time from any game that matters. But if any conclusion can be drawn, it is that this will be interesting. ' ' '