Week 1 of the college football season is officially in the books, as it was a monumental weekend for the Big 12. The action started on Thursday night and ended late Saturday night at the Rose Bowl. And yes, I do know that TCU still plays on Monday night, but this article must move on without them. But don’t worry, we will have you covered for that too.
Here are the good, bad, and ugly from Week 1 in the Big 12.
THE GOOD
Taking Care of Business
During the non-conference, we get our fair share of cupcake games, so I like to tip my cap to the teams who handled their business against lesser teams. Oklahoma State was the first team to handle its business against UT Martin on Thursday night despite losing starting quarterback Hauss Henjy in that game. Unfortunately, he will be out for a bit with a broken foot.
Meanwhile, Houston’s defense dazzled in their 27-0 shutout win over Stephen F. Austin as the Cougars allowed less than 150 total yards. Kansas steamrolled Wagner on Friday night thanks to its defense and Jalon Daniels tossing four touchdown passes. Daniels is finally starting to look like his old self again, and if he is, then the rest of the conference better watch out.
The Iowa State Cyclones dominated a top-five FCS-ranked South Dakota team in their 55-7 win in Ames. Rocco Becht missed just one pass in his 20 attempts, and the offense ran for over 200 yards. Also, Kyle Konrardy drilled a 63-yard field goal, and the defense was outstanding.
BYU crushed Portland State 69-0 as the Cougars racked up over 450 rushing yards. And I don’t know about you, but I think that they scored 69 points and then stopped on purpose. Speaking of running the ball with ease, West Virginia ran for nearly 400 yards against Robert Morris in their 45-3 win.
Despite struggling a little, Arizona State still beat Northern Arizona by nearly 20 points as quarterback Sam Leavitt led the offense with his arms and legs. Last but not least was Arizona, which beat Hawaii 40-6. The Wildcats forced five turnovers, which put the offense in great shape.
Utah
When the Big 12 needed a win over a power four team, the Utes delivered and then some. New quarterback Devon Dampier played well and was in control of the offense. It also helps when the team rushes for nearly 300 yards as well, with Dampier leading the way.
Utah’s defense was also dominant. The Utes took control of the line of scrimmage, and they allowed UCLA to convert just 2 of their 11 third-down attempts and gave up just 10 points. I felt like the Big 12 really needed a big win here, and Utah came through big time.
The Bad
Behren Morton’s Injury
While Texas Tech did route Arkansas Pine Bluff on Saturday night with their 67-7 win, the focus will be on the health of Behren Morton. After taking a sack in the second quarter, Morton exited the game. Up to that point, Morton had already tossed four touchdown passes, and the game was out of reach. Early reports say that it was nothing major, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on this week.
Cincinnati’s Turnovers
I know the Bearcats had just two turnovers on Thursday night against Nebraska, but both of them were back-breaking. The first one came in the first half in their own territory, which led to a Nebraska score before halftime, and then the final one was what put the nail in the coffin.
Brendan Sorsby made a bad pass that was picked off with less than a minute left in the game. Even if they didn’t score a touchdown there, Cincinnati was in field goal range for a chance to tie the game up at 20.
UCF’s Offense
Between the ugly weather delay and the bad offense, I wasn’t sure if UCF could make it out alive against Jacksonville State. The Knights gave quarterback Cam Fancher the nod to start, and it resulted in them scoring zero points in the first half.
But things changed once Tayven Jackson entered the game later in the first half because the offense showed some life. He led two scoring drives in the fourth quarter after his team was down 10-3 late in the game. I just wish that he had gotten a chance earlier in the game, but I still believe that he should be the guy moving forward for UCF.
Kansas State
While the Wildcats avoided a total disaster, it was still not their best performance at all. North Dakota put up a fight, and Kansas State was caught sleeping a bit. The first half was back and forth, and North Dakota actually led 21-17 at halftime.
Kansas State woke up a bit in the third quarter, scoring two touchdowns and taking a 31-21 lead, but North Dakota came roaring back and took a 35-31 lead with four minutes left to play.
The Wildcats turned it over on downs, but thankfully, their defense got a quick stop to give the ball back to Avery Johnson, who led them to a big drive to take the lead back with less than a minute left. The defense once again came up with a big stop to win the game.
It wasn’t ugly, but this was a bad look for Kansas State and a bad look for the Big 12. This Kansas State team needs to wake up and do it quickly.
The Ugly
Colorado’s Clock Management
With two timeouts left, down by seven with 1:07 left in the game, Colorado had a decent shot at tying the game. Instead, the Buffaloes’ offense looked like they had never run a minute offense drill in their entire life.
The decisions by Kaidon Salter weren’t great, and the awareness from the coaching staff wasn’t much better. Somehow, Colorado didn’t call either one of their timeouts as they only made it to midfield at the end of the game. It was some of the worst clock management I have ever seen at this level.
Baylor’s Defense
Some people will focus on the offense, but my biggest takeaway was Baylor’s defense. Auburn ran all over the Bears for over 300 yards, and they had no answer for Jackson Arnold. It was almost like they weren’t prepared for him to take off and run at all.
The Tigers averaged six yards per carry, and I felt like they were in constant control of the game with their rushing attack. They let Auburn convert 50% of their third-down attempts, and most of that was due to the fact that they were in third-and-short situations a lot. Even if the offense scored 50 in this game, I still feel like Auburn would have won because Baylor could not stop the run at all.
