All but Arizona and Iowa State have kicked off Big 12 conference play as of Week 4, and things are already heating up in the new-look league.
Each with one conference win and a 4-0 overall record, BYU and Utah top the Big 12 standings after taking down championship contenders Kansas State and Oklahoma State respectively. UCF, who did not play in Week 4, and Iowa State, who has yet to play a conference game, are the league’s only other undefeated teams, both at 3-0.
The Big 12 saw six conference games on Saturday and two nonconference matchups. For many teams, the common theme in Week 4 was high-volume scoring, headlined by eight 40+ point outings. How that scoring contributed to success differed from program to program.
In the out-of-conference games, TCU hit the 40-point mark but fell to SMU 66-42 in Dallas. Iowa State also hit the 40-point mark but had different results, winning 52-7 over Arkansas State to stay undefeated. The conference games had their own stories to tell.
Kansas State @ BYU: Cougars lock down passing game to upset No. 13 team in the nation
Excusing an 18-15 win over SMU in Week 2, Brigham Young has looked explosive offensively this year. That being said, all signs pointed to Kansas State, the Big 12’s second highest ranked team in the AP Top 25, being much better.
After a 31-7 win over No. 20 Arizona last week, which does not count as a conference game for either team, the Wildcats looked great, led by a run-first quarterback that could find passers in the endzone. BYU stripped that offensive identity this week, taking down the Wildcats 38-9 and holding sophomore quarterback Avery Johnson to 130 yards and two interceptions on 15-for-28 passing with no scoring anywhere despite 11 carries for 74 yards in the run game.
Kansas State scored no touchdowns despite a dominant run game from Johnson and junior running back DJ Giddens. The Wildcats had 228 rushing yards compared to BYU’s 92 and only gained 10 less in the passing game, but their ability to convert production to scoring simply did not exist.
Junior quarterback Jake Retzlaff threw 15 completions on 21 targets for 149 yards, two touchdowns, and no turnovers- numbers similar to Johnson’s thus far this year. Retzlaff split his targets well across receivers, throwing no more than three receptions to a single teammate. Chase Roberts was the leading receiver, with two catches for 47 yards and a touchdown.
BYU will travel to Waco on Saturday to play Baylor, while Kansas State returns home to host a team also looking for a conference win in Oklahoma State.
Utah @ Oklahoma State: Utah holds on despite late fourth-quarter OSU scoring
No. 12 conference favorite Utah won its first ever Big 12 conference game on Saturday after holding 2023 Big 12 Championship runner-up Oklahoma State to three points through 54 minutes.
Oklahoma State went up 3-0 by the end of the first quarter but went without a touchdown until 5:40 remaining in the game when Alan Bowman found senior receiver Brennan Presley for a 28-yard score. The effort lessened the scoring gap to 22-11, which Utah built slowly without star quarterback Cam Rising.
The Cowboys scored again with 1:47 remaining and, after a defensive penalty on a failed first attempt, converted another two-point attempt to make the score 22-19, where the game would stay after Utah rushed three times for a first down.
OSU senior Alan Bowman looked about as good as true freshman Isaac Wilson, who threw for one more yard and one more reception on four less attempts than Bowman. More concerning for OSU fans was that Utah senior running back Micah Bernard, who had 16 carries for 76 yards total last season, outplayed Doak Walker Award recipient Ollie Gordon II. Bernard had 25 carries for 182 yards, while Gordon had 11 carries for 42.
Oklahoma State takes on Kansas State in Week 5, and Utah will host Arizona at 10:15 p.m. on Saturday.
Kansas @ WVU: Mountaineers make late comeback as Jayhawks continue to struggle
Both teams needed a win in this one, and the home team came out on top, despite being down 11 with 5:39 remaining.
After losing a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter against Pittsburgh last week, West Virginia projected its pain onto Kansas in Week 4, countering the Jayhawks’ fourth-quarter touchdown with a touchdown and two-point conversion from tight end Kole Taylor on the next possession.
Kansas running back Devin Neal attempted three runs but gained a net five yards, forcing Kansas to punt. Greene found Rodney Gallagher III for a 15-yard touchdown to end the two-minute drive and go up four after the extra point.
With 26 seconds remaining, quarterback Jalon Daniels found Lawrence Arnold for a 36-yard play, but the Mountaineers pressured him on the next play to knock the football out from Daniels for a fumble and their first conference win, 32-28.
After being ranked No. 22 in the nation in Week 1, the Jayhawks are now 1-3 after continued disappointing play from Daniels. WVU quarterback Garrett Greene found his groove in the passing game on Saturday after similar struggles this season, going for 295 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions on 15-for-30 throwing. Greene ran for 87 yards on 17 carries, while Daniels was not afforded the same luxury, running just 11 yards on seven carries.
Neither team’s early-season concerns are solved after Week 4, but WVU is on Cloud Nine entering its bye week. Kansas will return home in need of a momentum shift against TCU on Saturday.
Houston @ Cincinnati: Bearcats shut out the Cougars at home
Joining Kansas State as one of two Big 12 teams to score in the single digits this week was Houston, who did not score at all against Cincinnati.
The Cougars looked decent defensively through three games, holding Oklahoma to 16 points in Week 2 and beating Rice 33-7 last week, but against Cincinnati, Houston allowed two touchdowns in the first quarter and never saw the scoring stop.
Offensively, the teams’ run games were somewhat even, with Cincinnati gaining the slight advantage in yardage, 149-141, but unlike Houston, the Cougars found the endzone twice through their run game. Houston’s largest offensive concern was that senior quarterback Donovan Smith could not keep up with sophomore Brendan Sorsby, due primarily to a lacking receiver core.
Sorsby was 12-for-15 in the game but threw for two touchdowns, both to 2023 All-Big 12 Honorable Mention Xzavier Henderson, and 188 yards. Smith threw 11-for-16 to gain 73 yards and threw an interception.
Houston hosts Iowa State in Week 5 and will enter the game 1-3 after the loss. Cincinnati is 3-1 with only a 28-27 loss to Pittsburgh in the losing column. The Bearcats will play at Texas Tech on Saturday.
Arizona State @ Texas Tech: Sun Devils fall in first ever Big 12 matchup
Arizona State lost its streak of wins and 30-point games against Texas Tech this week, falling 30-22.
The Red Raiders got off to a hot start, leading 14-0 after the first quarter, and Arizona State simply never caught up. The Sun Devils made greater use of the passing game while Texas Tech found its advantage in the run game in terms of yardage, but the opposite was the case when it came to scoring.
Texas Tech scored one rushing touchdown, a three-yard run from tight end Jalin Conyers, and two touchdown passes from junior Behren Morton, who threw for his lowest yardage total of the season with 201. Tahj Brooks rushed for 117 yards, 23 more than Arizona State’s entire team, in 27 carries but did not score.
Arizona State freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt had his best game in terms of yardage, throwing for 282 yards, but had no touchdowns and an interception. Leavitt did rush for one touchdown as part of his nine carries for 25 yards, joining senior running back Cam Skattebo, who ran for 60 yards and two touchdowns in 18 carries.
Both teams are now 3-1 overall, with Texas Tech holding a loss to Washington State. Texas Tech will welcome Cincinnati to Lubbock, Texas next week while Arizona State takes its bye week to recover from the loss.
Baylor @ Colorado: Colorado holds on in exciting overtime game
Baylor’s 21-10 second quarter advantage failed to hold off the Buffaloes in regulation, thanks to a remarkable 43-yard touchdown catch from Florida Atlantic transfer LaJohntay Wester with no time on the clock to force overtime.
Colorado made sure Wester’s efforts counted in the final period, posting continuous short gains for the touchdown and forcing a Baylor fumble from quarterback Sawyer Robertson in the endzone to win the game.
Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, along with the game-saving Hail Mary to Wester, threw 25 completions on 41 attempts for 341 yards and two touchdowns. Sanders is now second in the Big 12 in passing yards, just behind TCU’s Josh Hoover, with an average of 335 per game.
Baylor outplayed Colorado in the run game, as Robertson, who started ahead of senior Dequan Finn, uncharacteristically shined in the run game. Robertson was the game’s leading rusher, with 82 yards and a touchdown on nine carries, including a 45-yard touchdown run.
The highlight-heavy game put Colorado at 3-1 and Baylor at 2-2. Colorado will take on UCF on Saturday as Baylor plays host to BYU.
Photo by Tyler Tate, Associated Press
