Week 2 of the Big 12 football season is officially in the books, and it was a huge weekend for the conference. The action started Friday night in Lawrence and didn’t wrap up until late Saturday night in Salt Lake City.
There were massive wins, disappointing losses and a few performances that were downright ugly. Here’s the Good, Bad and Ugly from Week 2 across the Big 12.
The Good
Oklahoma State (Beat Oregon 39-31)
The streak is finally over!
It’s been more than two years since Oklahoma State beat a Power Four opponent, and the Cowboys ended that drought by taking down a top-10 Oregon team.
Don’t let the final score fool you, either. The Cowboys dominated this game.
Drew Mestemaker threw for more than 300 yards, but how about the running game? Mestemaker and Caleb Hawkins combined for 237 rushing yards as Oklahoma State piled up 554 total yards compared to just 251 for Oregon.
There are still some things to clean up, but this was a massive win not only for Oklahoma State, but for the Big 12 as well.
Utah (Beat Arkansas 43-10)
It’s not often we see a Big 12 team beat an SEC team by more than 30 points, but that’s exactly what happened in Salt Lake City.
While Devon Dampier and the running game were good, I came away even more impressed with Utah’s defense. The Utes didn’t let Arkansas’ offense do much of anything and completely dominated the game up front.
Is Arkansas a great team? No. But it’s always nice to see a Big 12 team kick an SEC team’s ass.
Texas Tech (Beat Oregon State 35-24)
It wasn’t the prettiest performance by any means, but Texas Tech got the job done out west.
The defense gave up more than 400 yards through the air, and the offense never really seemed capable of doing what it wanted, when it wanted.
After watching the Red Raiders for two games, I think it’s safe to say this team isn’t better than it was a year ago — at least not yet. There are some weaknesses that weren’t as obvious entering the season, and those will need to be addressed once Big 12 play ramps up.
Kansas State (Beat Washington State 34-7)
It was a total butt-kicking in Manhattan as Kansas State flexed its muscles against Washington State.
The Wildcats ran for nearly 300 yards, Avery Johnson played well outside of one costly mistake, and the defense was outstanding. K-State held Washington State to just 166 total yards and seven points.
After cruising through Week 1, this was another impressive performance from the Wildcats against better competition.
BYU (Beat Arizona 28-17)
For someone who wanted to see Bear Bachmeier do more with his arm, I thought he was excellent against a respectable Arizona defense.
Bachmeier tossed three touchdown passes and added another score on the ground. He was the biggest reason BYU’s offense moved the football as effectively as it did, along with LJ Martin, who rushed for nearly 100 yards.
And after giving up 10 points early, BYU’s defense allowed just seven the rest of the way.
Right now, BYU looks like the best team in the Big 12 in my eyes.
The Bad
Iowa State (Lost to Iowa 16-13)
As always, the Cy-Hawk game came right down to the wire.
After taking a 10-0 lead, it looked like the Cyclones might take control. But by halftime, that lead was gone and the game was tied at 10.
While Iowa State’s defense continued to play well, the offense couldn’t get much going in the second half. For most of the afternoon, Iowa State played Iowa’s style of football nearly as well as the Hawkeyes did.
But when it mattered most, the Cyclones couldn’t finish.
Kansas (Lost to Missouri 38-21)
It was a sloppy night all around for the Jayhawks.
Quarterback Isaiah Marshall struggled throwing the football, and three Kansas turnovers certainly didn’t help. Missouri made the Jayhawks pay for back-to-back turnovers in the third quarter and eventually pulled away.
The Kansas defense wasn’t much better. Austin Simmons torched the Jayhawks through the air, while Missouri averaged more than four yards per carry on the ground.
And after the game, Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz made it clear he wasn’t happy with the pregame hype video Kansas released and wanted to make the Jayhawks pay for it.
With the loss, Lance Leipold is now 0-7 against Kansas State and Missouri.
Arizona (Lost to BYU 28-17)
Going into Provo is no easy task for anyone, and Arizona found that out firsthand.
The Wildcats weren’t bad by any means, but they still left with a double-digit loss. After scoring 10 points in the first quarter, Noah Fifita and the Arizona offense struggled to consistently get things going.
Meanwhile, the defense had trouble slowing BYU both through the air and on the ground. The Cougars extended drives, controlled the football and repeatedly prevented Arizona from getting off the field when it mattered.
I still believe Arizona is better than most people think, but the Wildcats have to make more plays in critical situations.
The Ugly
UCF (Lost to Pitt 12-7)
I understand the weather was awful in Pittsburgh, but that’s no excuse for the offense to completely no-show.
UCF couldn’t throw the football effectively because of the conditions, but the Knights couldn’t run it either — and that was an even bigger problem.
UCF finished with just 20 rushing yards on 22 carries.
The defense did its job. Unfortunately, the offense was so bad that it didn’t matter.
It was pathetic, to say the least.
Arizona State (Lost to Texas A&M 48-20)
For three quarters, this was a competitive football game.
Cutter Boley showed flashes, Arizona State outrushed Texas A&M and Reed Harris made a name for himself on a national stage. Even the Sun Devils’ defense was holding its own.
But you can’t turn the football over four times, commit nine penalties and expect to beat a top-10 team on the road.
Eventually, all of those mistakes caught up with Arizona State.
Texas A&M outscored the Sun Devils 24-0 in the fourth quarter, turning what had been a competitive game into a 48-20 blowout.
