Week 1 of the Big 12 is underway, with three games kicking off Thursday night. Even though it wasn’t the official start to the season (thanks, TCU), it was still just as exciting. While we had a pair of cupcakes in the conference, the Big 12 was able to pick up a major and much-needed win thanks to Colorado. Of course, there is still plenty of football to come, but here are my top three takeaways from the Thursday night games.
Colorado Beat Georgia Tech at Their Own Game
I don’t know how many of you watched last year’s Georgia Tech vs. Colorado game, but this one felt a bit similar in a weird way. In the 2025 matchup in Boulder, we saw the Yellow Jackets dominate the Buffaloes for four quarters yet only managed to win by one score.
This time around, we saw the same storyline, but the roles were flipped: on Thursday night in Atlanta, Colorado dominated. The Buffaloes outrushed the Yellow Jackets 183 to 51 and controlled both lines of scrimmage.
Even though Julian Lewis was shaky for most of the game, he managed to make the biggest throw of the night when he hit Charlie Williams for the go-ahead score with less than 40 seconds in the game.
Time and time again, Colorado’s defense bailed them out, and if not for a special teams miscue, the scoreboard would have only read six for Georgia Tech. And of course, with the game on the line, Boo Carter stepped up and blocked the potential game-winning field goal attempt as time expired.
It was an ugly, mistake-filled, sloppy game, yet Colorado found a way to walk out of Atlanta with a win. No matter how bad it looked, a win is a win, and both Colorado and the Big 12 needed this boost heading into the weekend.
UCF Runs Wild
I wasn’t expecting to learn a ton about UCF going up against Bethune-Cookman, but I was looking forward to seeing the debut of quarterback Alonza Barnett III. While he did have a decent game, going 11/18 for 158 yards and two touchdowns, we didn’t get a chance to really see what he could do because of the opponent.
However, we did see UCF’s rushing attack on full display. The Knights ran all over the Wildcats on Thursday night in Orlando as they racked up a whopping 360 yards. Duke Watson led the way with 110 yards and a score while Addae Agyeman and Landen Chambers combined for 130 yards and three touchdowns in UCF’s 73 to 6 route.
Utah Skinned the Taters
Much like the UCF game, I didn’t think I would learn much about Utah and how good they truly are against Idaho. And as a sicko who watched Idaho lose to Cal Poly last weekend, I knew just how bad they were.
That’s why Utah skinned, fried, and ate the Idaho potatoes and wanted more. All jokes aside, Devon Dampier looked fantastic, tossing three touchdown passes, and the offense dominated the ground for 364 yards.
Even though the competition wasn’t great, I thought Utah handled their business well and won by a mile in every single aspect of the game. But seriously, why doesn’t Idaho wear potato gear?
