Week 4 of the Big 12 season is officially in the books, and it was a huge weekend for the conference. The action started in Waco and didn’t wrap up until late Saturday night in Pullman.
Here is the good, bad and ugly from Saturday.
The Good
Texas Tech (Beat Sam Houston State 49-14)
While the first half was disastrous for the offense, with Will Hammond turning the ball over three times, Texas Tech was able to go into the break with a lead thanks to two pick-sixes by linebacker Austin Romaine.
Thankfully, the second half went a lot better. The defense shut out Sam Houston, while the offense finally got out of its own way.
It wasn’t the prettiest win by any means, but Texas Tech still won by 35 points.
Baylor (Beat Colorado 23-13)
After a slow first quarter, Baylor seemed to get better as the game went on, outscoring Colorado 23-10 over the final three quarters.
DJ Lagway played better, and Dawson Pendergrass made some tough runs late to help ice the clock. And, of course, I can’t forget about the play Gavin Freeman made, either.
It was a nice win for Baylor to start 1-0 in Big 12 play. Maybe the Bears should wear those throwback uniforms more often.
UCF (Beat TCU 21-13)
I didn’t have a ton of faith in the Knights this week with Alonza Barnett III out, but what an effort they showed on Saturday afternoon in Orlando.
The defense shut down TCU’s running game and forced four turnovers to put the Knights over the top. And when the offense needed to score, Keyone Jenkins led a huge 11-play drive in the fourth quarter to extend the lead to eight.
Houston (Beat Georgia Southern 42-28)
I hate when Big 12 schools travel to Group of Six schools, but I understand trying to save a buck.
Houston’s offense was electric in this one, as Connor Weigman tossed four touchdown passes and rushed for two more, while the ground game went for more than 200 yards.
Not a bad day at the office.
Utah (Beat Iowa State 31-17)
It’s never easy winning in Ames, but Utah looked damn good even on the road.
Devon Dampier played a clean game, but Wayshawn Parker was the star of the show. Parker finished with 239 total yards and three touchdowns while leading the team in both rushing and receiving.
The Utes managed to score 24 points in the first half, which was great, but they did find themselves in a one-score game in the fourth quarter before putting the icing on the cake late.
Even when they didn’t play a complete game, they still won by double digits on the road.
Oklahoma State (Beat West Virginia 41-24)
It had been nearly three years since Oklahoma State won a conference game, and that streak was finally snapped on Saturday night in Morgantown. And it was in large part because of the offense.
Drew Mestemaker threw the ball all over the yard, finishing with nearly 400 passing yards and three touchdowns. His favorite target? Wyatt Young, who had 192 yards and a score.
Not only did the Cowboys get the job done through the air, but they did it on the ground as well, rushing for more than 200 yards behind Caleb Hawkins.
This is the offense we have been waiting for, and good luck to defenses trying to slow it down when the Cowboys are firing on all cylinders.
Arizona (Beat Washington State 34-24)
After going down 14-0 in the first quarter, I was a little worried about Arizona.
But then Noah Fifita turned it on and tossed four touchdown passes to lead the Wildcats to a nice road win in Pullman.
It wasn’t always pretty, but weird things can happen out on the West Coast at night.
Cincinnati (Beat Kansas State 31-26)
I will be the first to admit it: I had Cincy all wrong in this game.
The Bearcats beat Kansas State physically in a way I haven’t seen anyone do all year. Cincinnati rushed for 271 yards, with Gi’Bran Payne and Cole Tabb each going for more than 100 yards and Tabb rushing for three scores.
You know it’s a good running game when JC French attempts just 13 passes, completes eight of them, and you still end up winning.
Also, the atmosphere was electric in Cincy, and the “Nipp at Night” nickname was well deserved.
What a win. The Bearcats are now 4-0.
The Bad
Colorado (Lost to Baylor 23-13)
There wasn’t a whole lot to like about Colorado in Waco on Saturday.
The defense struggled to make tackles, the offense couldn’t get much going, and when you throw in 10 penalties, it’s hard to win a football game on the road.
While I applaud the quarterback switch to Isaac Wilson, it really didn’t do much for the offense.
There are a lot of similarities between this team and last year’s team: bad defense, a quarterback battle and undisciplined football. And we’re just four games in.
Iowa State (Lost to Utah 31-17)
The first half was not good at all. Iowa State was down 24-3, and I didn’t give the Cyclones much of a chance to make a comeback.
But all of a sudden, the offense put together some drives, and the defense was able to come up with some key stops. Until Utah’s second-to-last drive of the game, the Cyclones had crawled their way back into it.
If not for the poor first half, I wonder how this game might have looked. The effort was definitely there in the second half for Iowa State.
However, the Cyclones still lost by two scores and couldn’t quite complete the comeback.
West Virginia (Lost to Oklahoma State 41-24)
While the offense put up some insane numbers on the ground with 335 rushing yards, it wasn’t enough to keep up with Oklahoma State’s offense.
The Cowboys put up more than 600 yards and absolutely torched West Virginia through the air and on the ground.
I was concerned about West Virginia’s defense, and those fears all reared their ugly heads in this one.
You simply can’t give up more than 600 yards of offense and 40-plus points and expect to win many games, even in front of your own home crowd.
Kansas State (Lost to Cincinnati 31-26)
Just when I started to buy into the Wildcats, they turned in this performance in Cincy.
The defense was absolutely atrocious, giving up more than 270 yards on the ground. That defensive line was blown off the ball from the jump and never recovered.
While the offense wasn’t bad, Kansas State simply didn’t make enough plays, and the injuries showed.
Where this game was really lost was in the third quarter, when Kansas State ran just 10 plays and was outscored 14-0.
The Ugly
TCU (Lost to UCF 21-13)
I gave this team a pass after losing to North Carolina in Ireland, but after this game, there are no more free passes.
The defense wasn’t bad, but the offense somehow looked worse against UCF than it did against UNC.
Jaden Craig turned the ball over twice, and so did Ed Small, giving TCU four turnovers on the day. And to make matters worse, the Horned Frogs rushed for just 33 yards on 27 carries.
I knew this offense would be worse.
I didn’t know it was going to be this bad.
