Week 7 of the college football season is officially in the books, as it was another monumental weekend for the Big 12. The action started on Saturday afternoon in Stillwater and ended late Saturday night in Tucson.
Here are the good, bad, and ugly from Week 7 in the Big 12.
The Good
Arizona State
Is there a bigger surprise in the Big 12 than Arizona State? They were picked to finish dead last in the conference coming into the season and here they are sitting at 5-1 and are one win away from making a bowl game. Running back Cam Skattebo ran for 158 yards and two scores and is the engine to this offense. In fact, he belongs in the Heisman conversation. There is still plenty of football left but I believe that Kenny Dillingham should be up for coach of the year at the end of the season. The job he has done in Tempe is nothing short of a miracle.
Related: Five Biggest Takeaways From Week 7 of the Big 12 Football Season
Party Like It’s 1938
For the first time since 1938, the Iowa State Cyclones are 6-0. Against West Virginia, the Cyclones were excellent on both sides of the football. Offensively, Rocco Becht was efficient, and he didn’t turn the football over. Jayden Higgins played well despite not keeping his touchdown streak going but the one man who didn’t have trouble finding the end zone was running back Carson Hansen who scored three times. This offense controlled the game for four quarters and dominated the time of possession thanks to their long drives.
Defensively, it feels like it’s next man up. The injuries just keep on piling at linebacker for this defense, yet they find creative ways to come up with stops. They limited West Virginia’s rushing attack and forced Garrett Greene to make some mistakes in the second half. If you are looking for the most complete team in the Big 12 then Iowa State is the team to look at.
BYU Football is for Real
Over the last few weeks I wasn’t sold on the BYU Cougars but after seeing their game against Arizona, I am officially on board. Their offense won’t wow you, but they simply don’t make mistakes. Jake Retzlaff did a good job managing the offense, but I must give credit to that defense of theirs. They got four takeaways against Arizona and completely shut down their passing attack. The Cougars are now +7 in the turnover margin and have one of the best defenses in the country. If this team gets to Arlington, it will be because of their defense.
Cincinnati
The Bearcats didn’t do anything flashy because they didn’t need to be against UCF. The offense didn’t play particularly well but their defense did an outstanding job of slowing down UCF’s offense. They never let them get into any sort of rhythm and they were able to force a pair of turnovers. To give up only one touchdown is impressive, and I am starting to like the way this team is playing. We are going to find out a lot more about them because their schedule picks up.
Kansas State
How about the Wildcats? They went on the road in a hostile environment and came out with a victory. Avery Johnson came up clutch with a late touchdown pass to give Kansas State the lead. But the man of the offense was running back DJ Giddens who rushed for 182 yards and is now leads the Big 12 in rushing yards. Meanwhile, the defense got pressure on Sanders all game long as they sacked him six times and completely eliminated their run game. I know Iowa State and BYU may be the new favorites in the Big 12, but Kansas State belongs in that conversation.
Related: Brawl Breaks Out in Stands at Colorado vs. K-State Game
The Bad
West Virginia’s Second Half
The Mountaineers were right in the game going into halftime down by four but then they completely fell apart towards the end of the game. The defense struggled to get stops in the fourth quarter and Garrett Greene turned the ball over twice and Iowa State turned it into points both times. West Virginia is at their best when they can control a game and due to being down a pair of scores, they weren’t able to control the game on the ground like they would like to.
UCF
The Knights made a quarterback change but that didn’t seem to help much with the offense. EJ Colson started the game but couldn’t make anything happen and eventually Jacurri Brown came in. Brown did show some flashes but at the end of the day, this offense struggled to put points on the board. Whether it was turnovers or penalties, they simply couldn’t get anything going. Now the question for this team is who is going to play quarterback moving forward?
Colorado
Colorado played a good game, but the problem for them was protecting Shedeur Sanders. He was sacked six times against Kansas State and was under pressure all game long. One of the things that got exposed was the trenches. Against UCF, we saw Colorado be physical up front on both sides of the ball and we certainly didn’t see that on Saturday against Kansas State.
The Ugly
Cam Rising’s Health
When it was announced that Cam Rising was going to be returning, I was excited. But then when I saw Cam playing, I immediately knew that something was off. It was clear to me that he was not healthy at all. His hand was still hurt, and he was limping. It only got worse as the game went on. He didn’t have a lot of zip on the ball, and he struggled to step into throws. Cam completed less than 45% of his passes against Arizona State and he also turned the ball over three times. Until Utah can find a healthy quarterback who doesn’t turn the ball over, then this team will be staying home on conference championship weekend.
Arizona’s Offense
I never thought at any point this season I would be complaining about Arizona’s offense, but here we are in mid-October, and I see several things that concern me. First off, the offensive line is not doing a great job of protecting Noah Fifita. The stats won’t show it, but he was under pressure a lot in this game. Secondly, they need an option outside of Tetairoa McMillan at receiver. Teams are just keying on him and Arizona needs someone else to take some heat off. And lastly, due to all these things, Arizona is turning the football over way too much. They turned it over four times against BYU.
