Week 10 of the college football season is officially in the books, and it was another monumental weekend for the Big 12. The action started in Orlando and ended late Saturday night in Waco.
Here is the good, bad, and ugly from Week 10 in the Big 12.
The Good
Arizona State is Going Bowling
Back at Big 12 media days, the Arizona State Dun Devils were picked to finish dead last in the conference preseason poll. Nobody gave 34-year-old head coach Kenny Dillingham a chance with the Sun Devils move to the Big 12 conference. Now, here we are in early November, and he has this Arizona State team sitting at 6-2 eight games in. Of course, I want to give credit to quarterback Sam Leavitt and running back Cam Skattebo for their performances on Saturday against Oklahoma State, but I wanted to take a look at the bigger picture here. Kenny Dillingham is doing a phenomenal job, and I feel like it’s arguably the most underrated story in all of college football.
Related: Five Biggest Takeaways From Week 10 of the Big 12 Football Season
Texas Tech’s Defense Stepped Up
On a day where the offense struggled for most of the game (outside the final drive), the Red Raiders’ defense stepped up and kept them right in it. Texas Tech shut down Iowa State’s run game, and they won the line of scrimmage. It seemed like every time the Cyclones dropped back, they were able to get pressure on the quarterback. They got two takeaways and held one of the best offenses in the Big 12 to just 22 points. That is very impressive, considering the fact that they had the worst scoring defense in the Big 12 and the worst passing defense in the entire country. Also, how do you not love Joey McGuire after this game? The guy wears his heart on his sleeve, and the post-game interview is a must-watch. Is that a tear? No, it’s just West Texas in his eye.
Baylor’s Offense
By no means was it a good evening for Baylor’s defense, but it didn’t matter because Baylor’s offense carried them to a big win over rival TCU. Sawyer Roberston didn’t light it up like he had been through the last two games, but thanks to the rushing attack, he didn’t have to do much. The Bears ran for over 250 yards, led by Bryson Washington, who finished with 196 yards and four touchdowns. He ran all over TCU, and I must give credit to their offensive line, who absolutely won the battle up front. And with the game on the line, Isaiah Hankins drilled a 33-yard field goal as time expired. Dave Aranda keeps getting closer and closer to saving his job.
UCF Found Their Quarterback
If UCF is having a quarterback tryout during games, I think it’s safe to say they found their guy after the Arizona game. Dylan Rizk lit it up as he went 20/25 for 294 yards and three touchdowns. Not only did he get the job done through the air but on the ground as well because he finished with 55 rushing yards, which was only behind RJ Harvey. And speaking of RJ Harvey, he had another monster day with 184 yards and three touchdowns. UCF’s offense was on fire as they put up 56 points against Arizona. Maybe they should wear those space uniforms every week after a game like that.
Another Week, Another Upset
For the second week in a row, the Houston Cougars have won outright in games they were the underdog. Against Utah, they were a touchdown underdog and on Saturday against Kansas State, they were predicted to lose by double digits. I don’t know exactly how, but this team finds a way to win games. It starts with their defense, which is surprisingly one of the better defenses in the Big 12.
They completely shut down Kansas State’s rushing attack and made them one-dimensional. And when Kansas State did throw the football, more often than not, their secondary was there to make a play, including two crucial takeaways late in the game. I also must give credit to Zeon Chriss, who managed the game perfectly for the offense, and he made some big plays with his legs. I have a feeling that nobody is going to want to play this team pretty soon because Willie Fritz is starting to get the most out of this football team.
The Bad
Sloppy Play
One thing that really caught me off guard on Saturday was the play of two conference title contenders, Iowa State and Kansas State. While the defense played their tails off (outside of the final drive), the offense looked like it was stuck in the mud in Ames. Rocco Becht was off all game long, and despite throwing two interceptions, he could have very easily ended up with four or more if not for a few drops. It didn’t help that his offensive line failed to get any sort of push up front and they struggled in pass protection as well. On top of that, the play calling from offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser was head-scratching, to say the least, and the season-high ten penalties certainly made things more difficult. In weeks past, this offense was able to make plays when their backs were against the wall, but that was not the case in Ames on Saturday.
As bad as Iowa State was, Kansas State may have been worse. For the second week in a row, the Kansas State Wildcats didn’t play their best. While it may not have cost them against Kansas last weekend, it did on Saturday against Houston. First off, Kansas State could not run the football at all. They ran for just 89 rushing yards on 34 carries, which made Avery Johnson throw the football. Avery struggled to find receivers and threw two late interceptions that allowed Houston to score in the fourth quarter. After putting up 16 points in the first half, the Wildcats were only able to score three in the second half. I don’t care who you are playing against, that isn’t good enough. Now, Kansas State is in a tough spot because it no longer controls its own destiny.
TCU’s Defense
If you score 34 points on the road, you should win, but that wasn’t the case on Saturday night in Waco because TCU’s defense was awful. Luckily, they got away with it against Texas Tech last weekend, but they couldn’t do it against Baylor. This defense gave up four rushing touchdowns to one man and gave up over 250 yards on the ground, which is unacceptable. Baylor dominated this TCU front and converted over half of their third down attempts. You can’t expect to win games when you do that defensively.
Related: Three Biggest Takeaways from Baylor’s 37-34 Win Over TCU
The Ugly
Oklahoma State
Another week means another appearance from the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the ugly section of this column. Stop me if you have heard this before: Alan Bowman was not good, the offense couldn’t run the football, and the defense couldn’t stop anyone. It’s the same story, but it’s a different week for this football team, and now they have to win out just to get to 6-6. That bowl streak is in serious jeopardy.
Arizona
This team is in a complete free fall right now. They have lost five games in a row and have been outscored 190 to 86 in those losses. This offense looks like a shell of themselves. They can’t run the ball, they can’t protect their quarterback, and they can’t score points. Defensively, they aren’t much better either. They gave up over 300 rushing yards against UCF and are in the bottom three in the conference in major defensive categories. If there is a silver lining for this Arizona team, I would need a microscope to see it.
