Week two brought a little of everything for the Big 12: a few statement wins, a few ugly misses, and more than enough chaos to reshuffle the league’s early-season stock report.
The conference’s biggest movers came in the games that mattered most against power opponents. Oklahoma State, Utah and BYU all came out looking better for it.
UCF, meanwhile, walked away with the kind of loss that can linger. Kansas also let one slip, and Texas Tech’s win came with enough warning signs to keep it in the middle for now.
Oklahoma State was the biggest surprise of the weekend. After a 90-minute lightning delay, Drew Mestemaker broke loose for a 75-yard run on the Cowboys’ first offensive snap, and from there the game tilted hard in their favor.
The result was not just a win, but control from start to finish. Head coach Eric Morris said afterward that he liked how his players responded in practice that week, and this was one of those rare times when that kind of buildup actually showed up on game day.
Utah also delivered in a big way. A lot of people around the SEC, including Arkansas fans, seemed to think a trip to Salt Lake City would be manageable.
Instead, the Utes buried the Razorbacks with a 22-point second quarter and never let the game swing back. Of the three Big 12-SEC matchups, this was the only one the league won, and Utah made sure it wasn’t close.
BYU did its part too, opening Big 12 play with a steady 28-17 win over Arizona. The Cougars scored a touchdown in every quarter, kept applying pressure and gradually pulled away.
Arizona came in trying to make a point, and for most of the afternoon it played like it. But BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier - who our Pete Mundo believes is the best quarterback in the conference - answered with a performance that suggested he might be that dude.
UCF is headed in the opposite direction. The Knights went to Pitt with a chance to make a statement and instead got dragged into a low-scoring game that looked better on paper than it played out.
Pitt led 12-0, UCF didn’t score until the fourth quarter, and the Knights’ run game never found much of a rhythm. To make matters worse, UCF will be without quarterback Alonza Barnett III for a few weeks because of a hamstring injury, per the Orlando Sentinel’s Matt Murschel.
That makes the road to a winning season much steeper.
Kansas also came up short after hanging around for three quarters in a 38-21 loss to Missouri. Isaiah Marshall had a rough day throwing the ball, finishing 13-for-30 with two interceptions, and the ground game couldn’t provide much support.
Eventually, the defense wore down and the Jayhawks let a chance to knock off a Top 25 team slip away. And no, the pregame hype video did not help.
Texas Tech belongs in the hold category after a 35-24 win at Oregon State. The Red Raiders got the job done, but the defense gave up 413 passing yards, which is not what Joey McGuire and his staff want to see.
The offense did enough to balance things out and carry Tech through. There are still plenty of moving parts there - a new starting quarterback, new pieces on defense, new talent on offense and the pressure that comes with being the defending champion.
Even so, Texas Tech still looks like a real title contender. Friday night should tell us a little more.
The TV situation around the Oklahoma State-Oregon game was its own mess. ESPN had its hands full with the Houston-Oregon State game, then had to juggle the women’s singles championship at the U.S.
Open as well. Add in the lightning delay in Stillwater, and viewers ended up stuck with Skycam, no score bug and very few replays at one point.
The network has to do better than that.
In Other News...
BYU Fans Just Earned Praise Cougar Supporters Will Love
BYUs home crowd picked up some unexpected praise after the recent game at LaVell Edwards Stadium, this time from Les Fifita, the father of Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita. After the Wildcats visit to Provo, he publicly thanked BYU fans for the kindness and hospitality his family experienced, describing a game-day atmosphere that went well beyond the usual back-and-forth of a high-profile college football matchup.
Fifita said BYU supporters welcomed his family, offered food and drinks, and treated them with respect throughout the event. He also tied the experience to something bigger than one Saturday afternoon, saying it shaped how he thinks about running a youth football league, a reminder that the reputation of a fan base can travel well beyond the stadium. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Is Suddenly In A Big 12 Conversation Fans Will Love
BYUs strong start has put the Cougars in a familiar but still noteworthy spot for this early stretch of the season: part of the broader Big 12 conversation while bigger-name programs keep soaking up the national spotlight. LSUs emphatic win over Clemson and Texas comeback at Ohio State have dominated the headlines, and even Alabamas physical showing against Kentucky has drawn more attention than most of the teams quietly building momentum. In that kind of crowded landscape, BYU has managed to keep itself in the mix with a start that deserves a little more notice.
The challenge now is whether the Cougars can turn that early traction into the kind of resume that forces the rest of the Big 12 to take them seriously. Notre Dame, Indiana and Miami have all spent time in the same category of teams off to strong openings but not yet fully embraced by the larger national discussion. For BYU, the next few weeks will go a long way toward showing whether this is just a good start or the beginning of a much louder conference race. [Read more 🡒]
Bear Bachmeier Is Putting BYU In Rare Quarterback Company
Bear Bachmeiers start at BYU has already put him in rare company, with his 14-2 record through 16 starts matching the mark former quarterback Brandon Doman posted at the same point in his own college career. The comparison is more than a curiosity, too, because Doman sees the same steady traits in Bachmeier that helped define his own run in Provo, pointing to his leadership, composure and consistency as signs of a quarterback who has settled into the offense with confidence.
The broader conversation around Bachmeier also has a familiar BYU feel because of the way he has paired with LJ Martin to give the Cougars a productive offensive tandem. It is the kind of quarterback-run game combination that invites memories of Domans era with Luke Staley, and it is part of why Bachmeiers place in program history is beginning to draw attention even with plenty of season still ahead. [Read more 🡒]