The Big 12 has crossed the season’s halfway mark, and the hierarchy is starting to come into focus. Three teams are still unbeaten in league play and overall, and all three are sitting in the Associated Press Top 10 this week.
Two more have taken their first Big 12 loss but are still very much in the mix. Everyone else is chasing.
That split showed up loud and clear in the latest round of results, with BYU, Houston and Texas Tech climbing while Baylor and Arizona State took hard hits.
BYU kept its perfect run alive with a 28-24 home win over Notre Dame on Saturday, and the finish was messy enough that people are still talking about it. But the Cougars did it without their top running back, LJ Martin, who was out injured for a second straight game.
The bigger takeaway was the way Preston Rex stepped in at running back. That matters because it eases the load on quarterback Bear Bachmeier in the run game, which is exactly the kind of development BYU needed.
The Cougars also showed some real toughness in the win. And if you’re looking for a team building a case for the College Football Playoff, BYU just added a pretty loud piece of evidence - whether it wins the Big 12 or not.
Houston’s rise came in a different style, but it was just as loud. Against Oklahoma State, Conner Weigman put on a show, throwing for 343 yards and five touchdowns in a 35-32 win.
Willie Fritz wants to run the football, sure, but he trusted his fifth-year quarterback to air it out, and Weigman delivered. It felt like a breakout moment for him, the kind of performance that lets the rest of the conference know what Houston has under center.
That momentum matters even more with Utah coming to town this week and College Gameday on site. Fritz gets a chance to put his program on a bigger stage, and after this win, it’s a deserved one.
Texas Tech may have made the loudest statement of all. Coming off the bye, the Red Raiders hung 53 points on Arizona State, and 43 of those came in the first half.
Will Hammond looked more settled, the offense looked sharper, and Tech did it without running back Cameron Dickey, who is dealing with a high ankle sprain. The defense has already been strong all season, and at times it’s been elite.
If the offense has turned a corner, that’s a nasty combination.
Not everyone came out of the weekend feeling better about where things stand.
Oklahoma State’s loss to Houston didn’t bury the Cowboys, but it did shine a harsh light on the defense. The secondary had its worst outing of the year, and Weigman picked them apart behind a unit that had no answer. Houston piled up more than 500 yards, and that’s the kind of game that leaves head coach Eric Morris with plenty to sort through.
Still, the offense did enough to keep hope alive. Drew Mestemaker and company scored 32 points and put up points on four of their final five possessions. That side of the ball should keep Oklahoma State in games the rest of the way.
Baylor, though, had a chance to make the kind of move that changes a season. Instead, the Bears followed a four-game winning streak and a bye week by scoring just six points against TCU in the Revivalry at home.
After nearly beating Auburn to open the year, Baylor had a clean path to 6-0 before the stretch run. With BYU, Texas Tech and Houston still ahead, the chance to be undefeated in Big 12 play in November was right there.
Now, it feels like a missed opportunity. The Bears let it slip, and that leaves Dave Aranda with a lot to think about.
Arizona State’s setback looked even uglier. The Sun Devils had to make a quarterback change in the second half, turning from Cutter Boley to Mikey Keene, and that move said plenty about where the offense is right now. It’s sputtering, the defense is giving up points, and the résumé doesn’t have much to point to beyond a win over Kansas in London.
At this point, Arizona State no longer looks like a true Big 12 contender. I was wrong about that team.
In Other News...
Houston Gets Timely Defensive Lift Before Massive Utah Test
Houston is set to get a timely boost on the back end heading into one of its biggest defensive tests of the season. Willie Fritz said senior cornerback Jalen Mayo is expected to be available for the Week 8 matchup with Utah after missing the previous game, a welcome development for a secondary that will be asked to handle plenty of pressure against a Utes offense that leads the Big 12 in scoring.
Mayo has been one of Houstons more important playmakers in the defensive rotation, and his presence matters even more with Utah coming in as a team that can force opponents to stay sharp snap after snap. For the Cougars, getting him back in the mix adds stability at a position group that will be under the microscope from the opening series. [Read more 🡒]
Houston Faces A Rare Chance To End A Brutal Road Drought
A trip to No. 10 Utah gives Houston a chance to step into a rare kind of spotlight, the sort the program has not seen in decades. Fifth-year quarterback Conner Weigman is expected to lead the offense into a matchup that carries far more weight than a typical conference road test, with the Cougars facing one of the nations best and the kind of setting that can reshape a season.
For Houston, the stakes go beyond a single game result. The Cougars are staring at an opportunity to break through against elite road competition and chip away at long-standing history that has hung around the program for years. It is the kind of challenge that tends to say plenty about where a team stands, and maybe even more about where it is trying to go. [Read more 🡒]
Houston Got Its SMU Payback In A Rout Fans Still Remember
The No. 11 Cougars went into the Cotton Bowl on Oct. 21, 1978 and walked out with a 42-28 win over SMU that still lingers in Houston memory. In front of 64,871 fans, Houstons defense set the tone early and often, piling up turnovers against the Mustangs while Tommy Ebner, Danny Davis, Delrick Brown, Leonard Mitchell, Emmett King and Randy Love all had a hand in the night that pushed the Cougars to an outright Southwest Conference title.
It was the kind of road win that carried real weight, not just because of the score but because of what it meant in the bigger picture. Houston finished 7-1 in league play and earned a Cotton Bowl berth, with the defenses barrage of interceptions serving as the defining edge in a rivalry game that the Cougars clearly did not forget. [Read more 🡒]