What a Saturday the Big 12 just had. Week 7 brought a little of everything: a massive upset in Provo, a dominant showing from a conference heavyweight, a ranked fight in Houston, rivalry business in Manhattan and a walk-off field goal in Morgantown.
The headline belongs to BYU. The Cougars walked into Saturday night as double-digit underdogs against No.
2 Notre Dame, with College GameDay in Provo and the whole country watching. They answered with the kind of finish that changes a season’s conversation.
Bear Bachmeier drove BYU on a late touchdown march to grab the lead, and the defense stood firm in the final seconds, keeping Notre Dame out inside the 10-yard line to secure a 28-24 win.
That result carries real weight for the league. BYU’s upset of Notre Dame is being treated as the biggest win in the history of the 16-team version of the Big 12, and it’s not hard to see why.
It matters for credibility. It matters for the College Football Playoff picture.
And it matters because it gives BYU, and by extension the conference, a marquee non-conference win that can strengthen resumes across the board.
Bachmeier was at the center of all of it. He finished 23-of-36 for 224 yards, a touchdown and an interception, and he added 45 rushing yards and two scores on 13 carries.
He wasn’t just good. He carried the offense.
Texas Tech also delivered a performance that looked like the version of the Red Raiders plenty of people expected to see this season. The tone changed early when Ben Roberts returned an interception for a touchdown in the first quarter, and Texas Tech never let Arizona State back into it on the way to a 53-25 win.
J’Koby Williams piled up a career-high 165 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while Will Hammond looked settled for the first time all year, completing 18 of 26 passes for 232 yards, one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown. Tech needed that kind of outing, and it may be the spark that gets the Red Raiders rolling in the back half of the season.
In Manhattan, Kansas State kept its grip on the Sunflower Showdown. The Wildcats erased a 17-7 first-half deficit and beat Kansas 35-24 to make it 18 straight in the series.
Once Kansas State found its footing, it controlled the game with sheer production: 357 rushing yards and 568 total yards, along with 7.6 yards per play. Joe Jackson led the ground attack with 159 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries, while Avery Johnson added 132 rushing yards on just 12 attempts and also threw for 209 yards and a touchdown.
The win also gave Kansas State its first conference victory and moved the Wildcats to 1-2. In Year 1 under Collin Klein, this still looks like a team in transition. But rivalry wins have a way of cutting through that noise, and this one keeps the streak alive for a coach who was part of it as a player and now continues it from the sideline.
Houston earned a hard-fought one in a ranked game that had plenty of bite. The Cougars held off an Oklahoma State rally and escaped with a 35-32 win in front of a sell-out crowd.
Conner Weigman was the difference, throwing five touchdown passes and winning the duel with Drew Mestemaker, who kept flashing the kind of ability that has him climbing NFL Draft boards. Mestemaker was sharp, but Weigman made the bigger plays late.
With Houston protecting a three-point lead and under two minutes left, Weigman kept the Cowboys from getting another shot by running on a second-and-6 to help close it out.
For Houston, it was the kind of night the program has been building toward for more than a decade. The fan base showed up, and the Cougars gave them a result to match.
Not every Big 12 contender had a clean day. Baylor’s trip to the Revivalry turned into a mess.
The Bears entered the game with four straight wins and some real momentum in the conference, but Saturday unraveled quickly. DJ Lagway was inconsistent, the run game never found traction and the performance left Dave Aranda in the spotlight again.
After the loss, Aranda said, “We have to win. I understand when there’s not success, but I believe in this team.
I believe in the guys in the locker room. They care about winning.
They care about Baylor. IT means a lot to them.”
Baylor is still 2-1 in Big 12 play, and the schedule ahead gives the Bears Kansas, UCF and Iowa State next. After that comes BYU, Texas Tech and Houston.
The question hanging over the program is how much runway Aranda has left. Saturday didn’t help his case.
It was a rough showing in a rivalry game after a promising stretch, and it landed badly.
In Other News...
BYU Win Over Notre Dame Just Sparked A Brutal New Debate
The aftermath of BYUs win over Notre Dame has quickly shifted from celebration to scrutiny, with the Big 12 acknowledging that the game clock should have shown one second remaining after an incomplete pass by Irish quarterback CJ Carr. Instead, the replay officiating crew cleared the play and the contest ended, leaving Notre Dame without the chance to run one more snap from BYUs 8-yard line.
Now the conference is set to conduct a full review of the end-of-game officiating process, which only adds to the frustration around a finish that already had people debating what should have happened next. For BYU, the result still stands for the moment, but the closing sequence has become the kind of replay controversy that can linger long after the final whistle. [Read more 🡒]
BYUs Notre Dame Win Just Took A Controversial Turn
BYUs 28-24 win over Notre Dame now comes with an awkward asterisk after the Big 12 acknowledged that the final sequence was handled incorrectly. According to the conference, there was still time left when Notre Dames last pass hit the ground, but the replay officiating crew cleared the play anyway, ending the game before the Fighting Irish could get another snap.
The admission doesnt change the result, but it does put the finish under a brighter spotlight than anyone in Provo expected. The Big 12 said it will review its end-of-game officiating procedures after the mistake, leaving a major win for the Cougars attached to a conference-wide replay issue that is sure to linger a while. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Was Left Fuming After A Brutal Endgame Officiating Controversy
Notre Dames frustration from the Week 7 finish against BYU came from more than one call, or no-call, in the games closing moments. A missed defensive pass interference flag and a series of clock management mistakes by the officials shaped the final sequence, turning the ending into the kind of controversy that tends to linger long after the final whistle.
The Big 12 later acknowledged there was still one second left on the clock after the final play, meaning the replay officiating crew should not have ended it when it did. The result left Notre Dame fuming and added another layer to a night already marked by debate, with former NFL player Breiden Fehoko also stoking the conversation by publicly claiming officials rig games at both the NFL and college levels, a charge that remains unverified. [Read more 🡒]