Led by Oklahoma’s 73-0 demolition of Arkansas State, 10 of the 14 Big 12 college football teams opened the NCAA season with a win on Saturday. With the NCAA season in full swing, here is a look at each team in the West Virginia Mountaineers’ conference after the first week.
Iowa State: Sports betting scandals distract from Cyclones’ in-state victory.
With the future of six players unknown, the Iowa State Cyclones had many distractions ready for them as they played Northern Iowa at home. Their QB position still in the air and an absent starting RB, the Cyclones have plenty of uncertainties to worry about this season, but, luckily, Saturday’s game was not one of them as they defeated Northern Iowa 30-9.
Kansas: Jayhawks prove powerful offensively.
Like Iowa State, the Kansas Jayhawks took down an MVFC team decisively on Saturday in a 48-17 win against Missouri State. Redshirt senior QB Jason Bean shined in the absence of Preseason Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year Jalon Daniels, completing 22 of his 28 pass attempts for 276 yards. One of Bean’s two passing touchdowns went to Luke Grimm, making him in the top 10 for receiving touchdowns in the programs history. The Jayhawks had four players score a rushing TD, as well, combining for 245 rushing yards. They hope to carry this momentum forward to their Friday matchup against Illinois.
Baylor: Bears outdone by in-state rivals.
One of four Big 12 teams coming up short Saturday was the Baylor Bears. Baylor was simply outdone offensively by their Texas rivals, the Texas State Bobcats, 42-31. Despite covering more total yardage than the Bobcats, the Bears could not make things happen when they mattered most. Rushing for one touchdown compared to Texas State’s three, this one true disadvantage for Baylor made Texas State a headline team on Saturday. Baylor should be able to bounce back with their variety of offensive weapons, but if the defense fails to contain teams, it could be an underwhelming season for the Bears.
BYU: An underwhelming win keeps BYU on pace with the rest of the conference.
The Cougars find themselves avoiding a place in the bottom of the Big 12 after a 14-0 victory against the Sam Houston Bearkats. In their first game in the FBS, the Bearkats kept scoring very slow for Brigham Young University. BYU scored early in the first quarter, but the game did not see either team score again until the fourth quarter, where BYU solidified their two touchdown victory. The game was messy on both sides, but it could be argued that this is acceptable for Sam Houston and inexcusable for the Cougars. Nevertheless, BYU moves into week two undefeated and never scored on for their matchup against Southern Utah.
Texas: The Longhorns take care of business ahead of matchup against Alabama.
Ranked 11th ahead of Saturday’s game, the Texas Longhorns performed about as expected despite a slower start against Rice. The team seemed to be built well across the board in their 31-10 victory, but the lack of an offensive explosion and a scoreless fourth quarter may leave fans a little less hopeful for their game against Alabama in week two. With an injury to freshman RB CJ Baxter as well, there’s plenty to worry about after week one, but the team did look good and will see how they fair against the fourth ranked Alabama Crimson Tide.
UCF: The Knights win decisively against the Golden Flash
In a 56-6 victory, UCF started their season on a high note. A controversial tweet made by UCF’s account during the game took away from this win, but fans have to be happy with how little of an impact Kent State made offensively. Comparatively, QB John Rhys Plumlee played well despite throwing two interceptions, as he finished with 281 passing yards and three touchdowns. The run game for UCF was great as well, as the team finished with five rushing touchdowns from five players. With an even split of 14 points per quarter and only one field goal every other quarter from the Golden Flash, UCF has plenty to be excited about going into week two.
WVU: Nittany Lions simply too much for unestablished Mountaineers.
West Virginia made things exciting early on at State College on Saturday, tying the score 7-7 early in the second quarter, but they never got it going again. As the team continued to turn the ball over to Penn State, the Lions racked up the score a bit in the fourth quarter to finish off WVU 38-15. The real test will be how the Mountaineers perform in the coming weeks.
Kansas State: Wildcats tear for four touchdown in second quarter to start the season strong.
16th ranked Kansas State is still a dominant force in the conference after week one. Their 45-0 victory against Southeast Missouri State enabled coach Chris Klieman to play around with the lineups on Saturday. He got production across the board, and though nothing was too spectacular to note in this first game, the Wildcats certainly proved themselves in week one.
Oklahoma State: OSU’s season outlook remains unknown.
With a 27-13 win against Central Arkansas, there’s not much to say about Oklahoma State After week one. The Cowboys had decent opportunities for three different quarterbacks in the game, and, other than slight disappointments from newly transferred Alan Bowman, they all performed well. It was definitely an experimental first game for OSU, but they still got the job done, and the extent of what the team can accomplish should reveal itself in the coming weeks.
Cincinnati: Bearcats QB shows off in week one.
Five passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns from Emory Jones leads to a fierce 66-13 victory against Eastern Kentucky. Jones used five different receivers for his passing touchdowns before giving sophomore backup Brady Lichtenberg a chance to throw a touchdown of his own. He finished with 345 passing yards on 19/23 attempts, no interceptions, and 26 rushing yards on 9 carries. It is to be seen if the redshirt senior will continue this dominance next week against Pittsburgh, but he certainly had a night to remember on Saturday.
Texas Tech: Red Raiders have work to do in order to prove themselves.
In a double overtime game that the Red Raiders essentially allowed to happen, Texas Tech came up short against Wyoming. After scoring 17 in the first quarter, Texas Tech was scoreless for the next two quarters. Wyoming combined for 17 in the second and third quarter before each team scored one field goal in the fourth, sending it to overtime. Each team scored a touchdown in overtime, and in the second overtime Wyoming’s 8 points outdid Texas Tech’s 6, leaving the team in the losing crowd of the Big 12 with a 35-33 finish The team plays Oregon in week two, and they will need to recover after this draining loss to match the expectations they had for themselves this season.
Houston: Cougars prove exciting addition to Big 12 in narrow 17-14 victory.
Houston won at home against UTSA on Saturday thanks to lots of production from Donovan Smith at QB. The junior went 22/34 with 233 passing yards and passed the team’s only two touchdowns to lead the close victory. The game was a slow battle, but Smith’s passing touchdown to Matthew Golden in the third quarter brought the lead to 10 and secured the Cougars victory. They move on to play Rice next week, and they hope for a similar result.
Oklahoma: Sooners tear through Arkansas State and establish themselves as massive threat.
In a 73-0 victory, Oklahoma looked like the best team in the Big 12 this week. With production from quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel, who threw for 308 yards, two touchdowns, and 19 receptions on 22 attempts, and Jackson Arnold, who threw 11/11, with a touchdown, the Sooners had great offensive leadership. The team had six rushing touchdowns, including one from each of the QBs. The team’s defense obviously excelled, holding the Red Wolves scoreless for the whole game. If similar things can be done against Memphis in week two, even if it is to a much smaller extent, Oklahoma could quickly establish themselves as a dominant team for this season.
TCU: Deion Sanders steals headlines from 17th ranked Horned Frogs.
Deion Sanders and Colorado played a great game on Saturday, but it has to be a tough one to be on the receiving end of. With a game plan that relied heavily on the passing of Shedeur Sanders, the Buffaloes shocked TCU’s defense. Colorado seemed to play a fully team-focused system led by a quarterback who trusted his receivers, and it simply outmatched the running-based system of TCU. While productive, the running system was not enough to make up for the way Colorado shut down QB Chandler Morris, who threw two interceptions in the game. This is not by any means the end of TCU’s hopes for success, but they will need to quickly recover from the upset, starting against Nicholls State in week two.
