Week 4 of the college football season delivered as we started to get into the meat of conference play. Five of the eight games involving Big 12 teams were league games, and we’re starting to see which teams might be legitimate contenders in the conference race.
From statement wins and surprising upsets to disappointing performances and developments that could have an impact well beyond one Saturday, there was plenty to digest across the league.
With another week in the books, here are the five biggest Big 12 football takeaways from Week 4 of the 2026 season.
Oklahoma State is For Real
There was some thought that Oklahoma State’s win over Oregon said more about the Ducks than it did the Cowboys.
That narrative can be put to rest.
Oklahoma State snapped its 18-game conference losing streak with a convincing 41-24 win over West Virginia in Morgantown, and the Pokes suddenly look like a legitimate factor in the Big 12 race.
And those North Texas transfers are absolutely ready for prime time.
The Cowboys’ new-look triplets rolled against West Virginia. Wyatt Young finished with eight catches for 192 yards, while Drew Mestemaker went 20-of-27 for 389 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Caleb Hawkins added 158 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Once Oklahoma State built a lead and forced West Virginia into obvious passing situations, it was game over. The Cowboys’ pass rush took over and made life miserable for the Mountaineers.
Now Oklahoma State returns home to face UCF, which is also 1-0 in Big 12 play, next week in Stillwater.
After what we’ve seen the last two weeks, the Cowboys shouldn’t just be thinking about getting back to respectability. They should be looking around the Big 12 and wondering why they can’t be one of the teams playing for a conference championship in November.
Cincinnati Might Actually Be Good
I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself because we’ve seen Cincinnati start Big 12 seasons well before things eventually fell apart.
But Saturday felt different.
In a 31-26 comeback win over Kansas State, Cincinnati basically out-Kansas-Stated Kansas State.
The Bearcats piled up 271 rushing yards while holding Kansas State to 155. More importantly, they kept Avery Johnson from taking over the game with his legs. Cincinnati was willing to let Johnson pile up some passing yards if it meant preventing him from beating them on the ground, and the strategy worked.
Now Cincinnati is 4-0 for the first time under Scott Satterfield and heads to Arizona with an opportunity to become one of the most interesting teams in the Big 12.
And maybe the biggest reason for optimism is how they’re doing it.
This isn’t a team surviving on trick plays, turnovers or unsustainable breaks. Cincinnati is winning up front. If the offensive and defensive lines continue playing at this level, the Bearcats have a formula that can travel throughout Big 12 play.
The temperature on Scott Satterfield’s seat is dropping quickly.
UCF’s Defense Changes the Conversation
UCF absolutely stunned me with its win over TCU.
The Knights were playing with backup quarterback Keyone Jenkins, while TCU welcomed back top wide receiver Jordan Dwyer. On paper, that looked like a major advantage for the Horned Frogs.
Instead, neither player ended up being the biggest story. That belonged to the UCF defensive line.
The Knights made the afternoon miserable for TCU quarterback Jaden Craig and completely dominated the line of scrimmage, essentially eliminating the Horned Frogs’ running game. TCU finished with just 33 rushing yards on 27 carries.
UCF’s offense was inconsistent, and there were multiple opportunities for TCU to seize control. Even after a Jenkins fumble following a TCU touchdown gave the Horned Frogs a chance to swing the game, the Knights’ defense bent without breaking and kept forcing punts until the offense could steadily put more points on the board.
That’s the encouraging part for UCF.
Without quarterback Alonza Barnett, the Knights may not have an offense capable of carrying them through Big 12 play. But if Alex Grinch’s defense can consistently win games at the line of scrimmage like it did Saturday, UCF may be far more dangerous than expected.
And suddenly next week’s trip to Oklahoma State becomes one of the more intriguing games on the Big 12 schedule.
Deion Sanders Doesn’t Have a Quarterback
Deion Sanders benched JuJu Lewis on Saturday, but the move to Isaac Wilson didn’t provide much of an answer.
Lewis completed 11-of-16 passes for just 75 yards in the first half as Colorado’s offense struggled to generate much of anything against Baylor. The Buffaloes went just 1-of-6 on third down, failed on their only fourth-down attempt and Lewis was sacked three times for a loss of 23 yards.
Wilson was slightly better, completing 12-of-25 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown, but he didn’t exactly grab the job, either.
Credit Joe Klanderman and the Baylor defense for an excellent performance, but this is becoming a much bigger concern for Colorado.
The Buffaloes’ offense has now struggled badly against Power Four competition in Georgia Tech, Northwestern and Baylor. At some point, this stops looking like an isolated bad performance and starts looking like the identity of the offense.
Sanders now has to figure out not only who his quarterback is, but whether either option can consistently generate enough offense to win Big 12 games.
If Colorado doesn’t find some answers quickly, the season could start getting away from the Buffaloes.
Utah is the Real Deal
There had been some fair questions about Utah’s schedule through the first few weeks of the season.
Those questions should be over now.
The Utes went into Ames and beat Iowa State 31-17 in a game that, frankly, never felt as close as the final score.
Even when Iowa State cut Utah’s lead to 24-17, there was no panic from the Utes. They responded with a seven-play, 61-yard touchdown drive to immediately regain control.
That’s what good teams do on the road. Devon Dampier and the offense continued to produce, with Wayshawn Parker providing another huge performance. Meanwhile, Utah’s defense made life difficult throughout the afternoon for Jaylen Raynor and the Iowa State offense.
There was nothing fluky about this win. Utah went into one of the tougher environments in the Big 12 and controlled the game on both sides of the ball.
The Utes are no longer a team we need to wonder about because of who they haven’t played. They’re a legitimate Big 12 championship contender. And now Utah gets a bye week before returning to conference play against Kansas on October 10.
