Week 8 of the college football season is officially in the books, as it was another monumental weekend for the Big 12. The action started on Friday night in Provo and ended late Saturday night in Salt Lake City.
Here are the good, bad, and ugly from Week 8 in the Big 12.
The Good
Staying Undefeated
Iowa State and BYU were the only two undefeated teams left in the Big 12 coming into the weekend, and they both remain undefeated as we head into late October. The Cougars won an absolute thriller on Friday night against Oklahoma State. Down by four with a minute left in the game, BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff marched the offense down the field and hit Darius Lassiter for a 35-yard touchdown pass to take the lead with just ten seconds left in the game. The Cougars would go on to win 35-38 to move to 7-0.
Meanwhile, the Iowa State was in a similar situation on Saturday night against UCF. Down by five with less than two minutes left, Rocco Becht put together a beautiful 11-play drive and with thirty seconds left, he took it in himself to give his team the lead. He also converted the two-point conversion, and the defense came away with a big interception to win 38-35 to remain undefeated at 7-0.
Related: Five Biggest Takeaways From Week 8 of the Big 12 Football Season
Taking Care of Business
We saw several blowouts on Saturday across the Big 12. Colorado put a beatdown on Arizona on the road as they finally got their run game going. But the thing that impressed me the most with the Buffaloes was their outstanding defense, which completely shut down Arizona’s offense. Colorado had a 21-point lead going into halftime and never looked back, winning 34-7.
Meanwhile, Kansas looked like the Kansas of last year against Houston. Jalon Daniels tossed three touchdown passes and the offense ran wild for 223 yards as Kansas beat Houston 42-14.
Of course, I can’t forget about Kansas State. The Wildcats went to Morgantown on Saturday night, and quarterback Avery Johnson put on a show as he threw for nearly 300 yards and three touchdown passes. It seems like he is getting better each week, and watch out for this Kansas State team. Going on the road and beating a team by 20+ in this conference isn’t easy.
TCU
It may not seem like much, but TCU was in desperate need of a win, and they got one against Utah. They won mainly because they took care of the football, and their defense played outstanding against a bad Utah offense. Coming into the game, Josh Hoover threw six interceptions in his last three starts. Well, on Saturday, he didn’t have a single turnover. He can be one of the better quarterbacks in the Big 12 when he doesn’t turn the ball over.
Cincinnati
I feel like every week, I keep doubting Cincinnati, and they keep making me look like a fool. Have they been beating a bunch of quality teams? No, but all that matters is that they keep winning. Even when quarterback Brendan Sorsby didn’t have his best day, the run game lifted the offense as they ran for over 200 yards, led by Corey Kiner. Due to their ability to run the ball, the offense controlled the game as they held the football over 35 minutes. With the win, the Bearcats are just one win away from becoming bowl-eligible.
Baylor’s Offense
Coming into the weekend, I gave the Baylor Bears no chance to win against Texas Tech on the road and instead, they came in and put on a show offensively. The offense ran for over 250 yards, and quarterback Sawyer Roberston threw a whopping five touchdown passes, which was the most by a Baylor quarterback since 2015. At one point, the Bears had five straight touchdown drives in the second half as they completely pulled away from the Red Raiders in their shocking 59-35 win. If this team can keep playing like this offensively, then maybe there is a chance they can make a bowl game.
The Bad
Blown Leads
As good as those comebacks were from Iowa State and BYU, the blown leads from UCF and Oklahoma State were just as bad. The Cowboys took a 35-31 lead after Alan Bowman’s touchdown pass to Brennan Presley with just a little over a minute left in the game before the defense collapsed.
UCF had a five-point lead with less than two minutes to go and even had the ball. The offense couldn’t get a first down to run the clock out and ended up punting the football away. Then, the defense let Iowa State march right down the field for the go-ahead score. Both teams had a chance to shake up the Big 12, but both teams couldn’t hang on to their leads late in the game.
Arizona State
I will give the Sun Devils a bit of a pass here because they were without starting quarterback Sam Leavitt. Backup quarterback Jeff Sims got the start, and as athletic as he is, he is not a guy who is going to go out there and win a game with his arm. He struggled to find receivers, and it made the offense one-dimensional. It also didn’t help that their kicking game was atrocious, as Kenny Dillingham said after the game. Maybe those open-kicking tryouts aren’t a bad idea.
The Ugly
Neal Brown
I want to start by saying that West Virginia had a few key injuries in losing to Kansas State. The Mountaineers were without starting quarterback Garrett Greene in the second half, leading rusher Jahiem White, and their best offensive lineman in Wyatt Milum. They weren’t going to win that game without those three guys, and I am not putting this loss 100% on Neal Brown. With that said, the overall job he has done at West Virginia is not good enough. Brown is now 34-33 with a conference record of 22-26. He is also 3-17 against top 25 teams. Ouch.
Related: Top 3 Takeaways From Kansas State’s 45-18 Win Over West Virginia
Bad Offenses
There were several offensive performances that made me want to put hot sauce in my eyes on Saturday. Houston’s offense has been bad for weeks and that continued against Kansas as Donovan Smith threw three interceptions as the Cougars turned the ball over a total of four times.
Meanwhile, Arizona wasn’t much better. They only put up seven points against Colorado. Noah Fifita continues to struggle, and the run game is nonexistent. The Wildcats now have the second worst scoring offense in the Big 12 which is something I didn’t expect coming into the season.
Lastly, I can’t let Utah get away with their performance. I know Cam Rising is out for the season, but Isaac Wilson is not the guy at quarterback. He completed 50% of his passes against TCU and their offense converted just 2 out of their 15 third down attempts. It took a wild throw for them to put seven points on the board.
Texas Tech’s Defense
I know the offense didn’t have their best day but this game falls on the shoulders of Texas Tech’s defense. They let Baylor rush for over 250 yards on the day and prior to that the Bears were averaging 152 yards on the ground per game. While the game was close in the first half, the defense gave up five straight touchdowns at one point in the second half. I felt like this defense was getting better and they completely folded up like a cheap tent when it mattered most.
