Week 5 of the college football season is officially in the books, as it was another big weekend for the Big 12. The action started on Friday night in Tempe and ended Saturday night in Boulder.
Here are the good, bad, and ugly from Week 5 in the Big 12.
The Good
Arizona State
I said this late Friday night after the game, but some of you need to hear it again: The Arizona State Sun Devils are built different. After being down 17-0 in the second quarter, the Sun Devils chipped away one play at a time instead of panicking. Sam Leavitt led back-to-back scoring drives before the first half ended and all of a sudden, it was a ballgame again in Tempe.
Even when things didn’t go their way in the second half, this team found a way to respond. When the game was on the line, the offense made a play and got points. Meanwhile, Arizona State’s defense came up with two game winning turnovers late in the fourth quarter. This team is well coached they are as tough as anyone in the entire country and good luck to any Big 12 team trying to take them down without a fight.
Houston
Just like Arizona State on Friday night, Houston had to make a comeback of their own. Despite being a two-touchdown favorite on the road against an 0-4 Oregon State team, Houston found themselves down 24-10 in the fourth quarter before waking up. Connor Weigman led back-to-back scoring drives, and a blocked field goal sent the game into overtime. From there, Houston’s defense got a fourth down stop and Ethan Sanchez ended up being the hero with the game winning kick.
Cincinnati
Throw the defense out the window because it was all about the offense for the Bearcats on Saturday. They racked up over 600 yards on the day against Kansas led by Brendan Sorsby who threw for nearly 400 yards and two scores. Sorby also had plenty of help in the run game as they had over 200 yards on the ground as well. It felt like anytime Cincinnati made a big play; it was called back yet the offense kept on making play after play. And that last drive to win the game was a thing of beauty. What a big win for the Bearcats.
Kansas State
Is Kansas State back? That is the million-dollar question after beating UCF. Kansas State finally got their ground game going with 266 yards led by Dylan Edwards. And the defense fixed their issues on third down as they allowed just three third down conversions all game long. It was a much-needed bounce back win for the Wildcats.
Utah
The Utes got their bounce back win on the road in Morgantown with a blowout. Utah rushed for over 250 yards and Devon Dampier rebounded with four touchdown passes. I know West Virginia is a bad football team but Utah took care of business in a tough road environment.
Baylor
Baylor didn’t have their best day defensively, but it doesn’t matter when your offense puts up 45 points and 600 plus yards of offense. Sawyer Robertson threw for nearly 400 yards and four touchdowns while the offense rushed for over 200 yards. I felt like Baylor could have put up sixty in this game if they wanted to.
Iowa State
Their game against Arizona couldn’t have gone much better. The defense contained Noah Fifita and forced a pair of turnovers and never allowed the Wildcats to get in any sort of rhythm. Meanwhile, Rocco Becht was like a surgeon with the offense. He didn’t have the best stat line, but he kept the chains moving time and time again. Becht ended up with three rushing touchdowns with Carson Hansen adding two more. It was the most complete game the Cyclones have played since the home opener against South Dakota.
BYU
Some teams would flinch on the road down 14-0 but not this BYU team. Instead, they chipped away and ended up outscoring Colorado by 17 points after that moment. The Cougars ran for over 200 yards led by quarterback Bear Bachmeier. And even after giving up two early scores, the defense buckled down and game up with the game saving stop in the fourth quarter. This team is as tough as they come.
The Bad
TCU
Anytime you go up 17-0, you are expected to win. Unfortunately for TCU, after that moment, things just went downhill from there. The Horned Frogs gave up two late touchdowns in the first half and saw their lead shrink.
To make matters worse, Josh Hoover has several ugly turnovers in the game including back-to-back turnovers with the game on the line. TCU started strong and finished poorly. You simply can’t make that many mistakes whether it’s turnovers or penalties and expect to beat a team like Arizona State on the road.
Kansas
Coming into the season, I was worried about the Kansas defense and those concerns all came true against Cincinnati. Jalon Daniels and the offense played their ass off, but the defense was just awful. The Jayhawks gave up over 600 total yards of offense including 200 plus on the ground. They also allowed Cincinnati to convert nearly 50% of their third-down attempts. And when the game was on the line, they couldn’t get the stop they needed.
UCF
It just wasn’t the Knights day in Manhattan, Kansas. Tayven Jackson got hurt for a while before coming back into the game and the defense played their worst game of the season. UCF allowed Kansas State to rush for over 250 yards and control the game. While the Knights were able to hit a few big plays on offense to keep things interesting, they were wildly inconsistent.
Oklahoma State
I got to give some credit to Oklahoma State. I didn’t expect them to put up any sort of fight, but they did against Baylor. For about three quarters, they were hanging in there before Baylor pulled away. Unfortunately for them, the offense couldn’t keep up because the defense gave over 600 yards of offense and 45 points. But hey, at least they were competitive.
Arizona
Sometimes it’s just not your day and that’s what it felt like for Arizona on Saturday night in Ames. The defense couldn’t get off the field at all, allowing Iowa State to convert over 45% of their third down attempts and gave up 39 points. Meanwhile, the offense felt out of sync the entire game as Noah Fifita never looked comfortable. Plus, his two turnovers didn’t help at all either. Arizona looked outmatched up front as well.
Colorado
For the first time this season, Colorado finally showed that they could run the football. They went up 14-0 in the first quarter but then were outscored 24-7 the rest of the way. The defense wore down a bit as the game went on, and the offense went cold. Kaidon Salter struggled and ended up throwing a pick on the final drive when Colorado had a chance to win the game. This team is now 0-3 against power four opponents this season.
The Ugly
West Virginia
The score (42-14) pretty much summed up the game for West Virginia. Defensively, they had no answer for Utah’s run game, and the offense was even worse. West Virginia completed just six passes all game long between Khalil Wilkins and Jaylen Henderson. There’s bad and then there’s West Virginia bad. I know it’s just year one under Rich Rod but this team stinks and they don’t make it easy to watch.
