Week two featured some great games on the Big 12 schedule — and some real cupcakes.
The Big 12 and the SEC tangled three times. The Big 12 and the Big Ten faced each other twice. The Big 12 even got a couple of games in against the remade Pac-12 and one against the ACC.
So who’s stock went up and who’s stock went down? Let’s look at the big movers across the league.
Stock Up
Oklahoma State
I covered this game and, well, I didn’t see that coming. I’m not sure that head coach Eric Morris did either, though he did say afterward that he liked how his players responded in practice that week. Practice doesn’t always translate, but after a 90-minute lightning delay and Drew Mestemaker’s 75-yard run on the Cowboys’ first offensive play, OSU controlled the game and never lost it.
That’s who it goes sometimes — one week a stone, one week a diamond. I’m flipping the lyric, but you get it.
Utah
There were some SEC fans — and for that matter Arkansas fans — that seemed to think that walking into Salt Lake City was going to be easy. Apparently they all forgot the Hogs won two games last year. This is why you can’t read much into a week one when Arkansas beat North Alabama and Utah beat Idaho.
The Utes handled business with a 22-point second quarter and never let their foot off the gas. Of those three Big-12 SEC games, this was the only one the league won. And Utah won it convincingly.
BYU
The Cougars hosted the Arizona Wildcats in the Big 12 opener for both teams and BYU put together a consistent game to claim a 28-17 win. BYU scored a touchdown in each quarter and slowly, but surely, pulled away. Arizona was out to prove something, and it played like it for most of the contest. Instead, BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier — who our Pete Mundo believes is the best quarterback in the conference — proved that he might just be that dude.
Stock Down
UCF
Of the other Big 12 vs. power conference showdowns, I felt this was the biggest missed opportunity. The Knights went to Pitt looking for a win and the Knights and the Panthers played a low-scoring contest that looks like a thriller on paper until you realize that Pitt was up 12-0 and UCF only scored in the fourth quarter. It was less thriller and more struggle, especially for UCF’s run game.
Now the worse part. UCF will be without quarterback Alonza Barnett III for a few weeks with a hamstring injury, per the Orlando Sentinel’s Matt Murschel. The Knights’ hopes of a winning season just got a lot harder.
ESPN As Big 12 TV Partner (Part 2)
As if ESPN wasn’t weird enough with the Houston-Oregon State game, you needed to keep your head on a swivel to keep up with the Oklahoma State-Oregon game on Saturday.
It wasn’t entirely the network’s fault. There was a 90-minute lightning delay in Stillwater (I know because I was there) and ESPN was contractually obligated to carry the women’s singles championship at the U.S. Open. But at one point I was left with the Skycam view with no score bug and few replays.
The network must do better than that.
Kansas
That was a good game for three quarters before Kansas let its 38-21 loss to Missouri get away from it. Quarterback Isaiah Marshall had a frustrating game through the air (13-for-30 with two interceptions) and the running game could not get much going. The defense eventually wore down. Kansas let a good chance to beat a Top 25 team slip away.
By the way, the pre-game hype video was not the way to go.
Hold
Texas Tech
Texas Tech struggled with Oregon State before winning, 35-24, up in Corvallis. The defense gave up 413 yards passing. That’s not the look that head coach Joey McGuire and his staff are looking for. The Red Raiders balanced out the offense and that helped them ride this one out.
Not every team comes out of the gate with everything together. There’s a new starting quarterback, new pieces on defense and new talent on offense — plus the obvious baggage of being the defending champion. I still think the Red Raiders are prime contenders for the league title. We’ll find out more on Friday night.
