Ahead of their matchup next Saturday, Oklahoma and Texas hold the only undefeated overall records in the Big 12.
The teams are accompanied only by West Virginia and Kansas State when exclusively considering conference games despite each school having played a maximum of two conference games so far. As standings become more clearly divided, many week five scores reflect that, with only a couple of close battles existing amongst the blowouts.
BYU vs. Cincinnati: Bearcats keep game competitive in third straight loss
BYU improved their record to 4-1 in the Big 12’s first game of the weekend on Friday night to remain within the upper tiers of the conference. That status is called into question, however, by their Cincinnati opponent currently holding a three game losing streak, but the Bearcats appeared as worthy opponents for the Cougars throughout the game. Cincinnati outdid Brigham Young in every offensive category, more than tripling the winners in rushing yards with 242 compared to BYU’s 70. With BYU forcing a fumble and interception from the Bearcats, though, as well as getting off to a quick 7-0 scoring advantage, the Cougars stayed on top throughout to win 35-28.
The Cougars, who had just 295 total yards in the game, will need to find more offensive weapons going forward to compete with the Big 12’s other top teams, but the team has had consistent scoring performances thus far, resulting in a loss only to the Kansas Jayhawks in their fourth game. Cincinnati finds themselves tied at the bottom of the conference with Houston after the loss but will make an effort to recover against Iowa State after their bye next week, which they share with BYU.
Oklahoma vs. Iowa State: Sooners resume high-scoring season
Both teams concentrated their scoring to the first half on Saturday, but the Sooners simply outdid Iowa State in that regard to lead 40-20 at halftime and eventually win 50-20. The Sooners’ defense held Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht to 15/33 passing with 188 passing yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions, with one of which coming in the game’s first play. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel, meanwhile, completed 26 of his 39 pass attempts in the game for 366 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. Oklahoma also had much greater total production in the game than Iowa State, with 30 first downs compared to the Cyclones’ 16, a greater third and fourth down efficiency than Iowa State, and less yards lost to penalties.
Iowa State continued their struggles in the game, but they did not play awful against the scoring juggernaut of Oklahoma, all things considered, and could likely stay competitive with most teams in the conference. They will do their best to show this next weekend against TCU and steal the spotlight from Oklahoma’s anticipated game against the Texas Longhorns.
WVU vs. TCU: Mountaineers hold TCU scoreless in the second half to accomplish the upset
After regaining traction in votes on the AP’s top 25 poll, TCU once again casted doubts over their status as a program by losing a game where they were heavily favored. West Virginia, who extended their winning streak to four games, won the game by committee, with quarterback Garrett Greene leading as the team’s top rusher after returning from injury with 80 rushing yards and two touchdowns. With seven penalties compared to WVU’s two, TCU’s slight advantages statistically failed to lead to scoring as they led 21-14 at halftime before ceasing to score the rest of the night. West Virginia kept their output steady across the four quarters, as the team scored a touchdown in each of the first three quarters and a field goal in the fourth to top the Horned Frogs 24-21.
The Horned Frogs relied more on passing than West Virginia, as Chandler Morris more than doubled Greene’s 142 passing yards and threw for two touchdowns compared to Greene’s zero. With high tensions throughout the night, the game was marked with multiple injuries, including one that hospitalized WVU safety Aubrey Burks. It is safe to say, though, that neither team intends to change their aggressive playing styles in the near future, as the 4-1 Mountaineers have had work pay off so far, and TCU has another significant hill to climb to prove themselves as a top team in the NCAA. West Virginia rests next weekend while TCU will go for their second conference win against the Iowa State Cyclones.
Texas Tech vs. Houston: Red Raiders send Houston to the bottom of the conference standings
Texas Tech rebounded after a low-scoring loss to West Virginia to triumph over the Cougars 49-28 on Saturday. The Cougars, who are still looking for their first conference win, kept up with the Red Raiders’ offensive production in the first half, scoring two touchdowns per quarter to trail 35-28 at halftime. After junior quarterback Donovan Smith’s four touchdown passes to four different receivers, though, Texas Tech stopped any further production while still feeding senior running back Tahj Brooks, who had 22 carries for 106 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman Cam’Ron Valdez rushed for the same yardage on five carries for the Red Raiders as well to keep offensive production high as Behren Morton completed 14 of 22 passes for just 161 yards.
Aside from the final score, the Cougars and Red Raiders played an even game throughout but will need to keep doing so with higher ranked opponents if they plan to rise in the Big 12 standings. Houston will take a weekend off and play their sixth game of the season on Thursday, October 12th against West Virginia, while Texas Tech will look for a similar result to this weekend’s against Baylor on Saturday night.
Baylor vs. UCF: Shocking rally in the fourth quarter gives Baylor edge over the once mighty UCF
After starting their season 3-0, the UCF Knights find themselves winless in conference play after the now 2-3 Baylor Bears defeated them in Orlando. With multiple tough opponents on their schedule to this point, Baylor still has a lot of work to do in order to compete with the top teams in the Big 12, as evidenced by their 38-6 loss to Texas last weekend. With Blake Shapen back at the quarterback position and demonstrating true competitive spirit late in the game, though, Baylor could emerge as a real competitor in the conference going forward.
The Bears, down 35-10, rallied for 26 points in the fourth quarter while holding UCF scoreless to win the game. The game’s final touchdown that brought Baylor’s total points to 33 featured a fumble by UCF’s leading running back RJ Harvey, which was returned 72 yards by freshman cornerback Caden Jenkins for a touchdown. A 25-yard field goal from Isaiah Hankins on Baylor’s next possession completed the comeback, as the defense held UCF for the last minute of play to force a field goal attempt from 59 yards. UCF will try to regain momentum on Saturday against the Kansas Jayhawks, who were ranked 24th by the Associated Press ahead of this weekend’s games.
Texas vs. Kansas: Longhorns drop undefeated Jayhawks
The Texas Longhorns can now make themselves the only undefeated team in the conference next week, as they stand alone with Oklahoma at a 5-0 record. Kansas, whose undefeated campaign earned them a ranking of No. 24 by the Associated Press ahead of the game, were severely outdone offensively by Texas. With 661 total yards compared to Kansas’s 260, Texas more than doubled the Jayhawks in rushing yards, passing yards, and tripled their 11 first downs to win 40-14. Kansas fumbled once in the game, which was matched by a Texas interception from Quinn Ewers, but the team simply could not go anywhere as they had 0/8 third down efficiency in the matchup.
Ewers played well for the Longhorns, throwing for 325 yards and a touchdown on a 25/35 completion rate, but the real star was running back Jonathon Brooks, who exploded for 217 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. Kansas simply had no opportunities to match this sort of production, as rushing production was almost perfectly distributed between Devin Neal, Daniel Hishaw Jr., and quarterback Jason Bean, who combined with a six yard loss for 124 rushing yards on 24 carries. Bean threw 9/21 for 136 yards and one touchdown in the game. The Jayhawks will try to recover against UCF on Saturday while Texas’s game against Oklahoma will be nationally televised on ABC at noon eastern time.
