Week 4 in the Big 12 handed out a little bit of everything: statement wins, shaky quarterback situations, and a few teams that are starting to look exactly like the preseason hype said they might.
Oklahoma State might be the cleanest example of that. After a Week 1 loss to Tulsa, Eric Morris and the Cowboys looked like a team that had already missed its chance to matter.
That picture looks a lot different now. Oklahoma State went into West Virginia and came away with a 41-24 win, powered by Drew Mestemaker’s huge day.
The North Texas transfer threw for 389 yards and three touchdowns, while Wyatt Young piled up eight catches for 192 yards and a score. West Virginia was up 21-13 early in the third quarter, but the Cowboys ripped off 28 second-half points and kept moving.
At 3-1, they’re starting to look like a real Big 12 contender.
That loss leaves West Virginia in a more complicated spot. A week earlier, Rich Rodriguez’s team was riding the buzz from an upset over ranked Virginia, and Michael Hawkins was the story of the moment.
Now the Mountaineers are 3-1 overall and 0-1 in league play, with a road trip to Iowa State coming next. An 0-2 start in conference play in Rodriguez’s second season would be a rough turn for a roster that was supposed to take a step forward in Year 2.
Cam Cook did his part with 29 carries for 193 yards, and maybe that workload is the formula WVU needs to lean into.
Utah also came out of Week 4 looking very much like a team that belongs near the top of the league. Morgan Scalley inherited plenty of questions, even with a preseason Top 25 team in hand: five new starters on the offensive line, a rebuilt defense and new coordinators.
Through four games, though, the Utes are 4-0 and 1-0 in conference play, and they look like a legitimate contender. Wayshawn Parker has been a force, leading the Big 12 with nine total touchdowns, while Devon Dampier has emerged as one of the conference’s best playmakers.
The defense still looks sturdy, too.
Utah’s 31-17 win over Iowa State was not without a little tension. The Cyclones trailed 24-3 at halftime, then gave themselves a chance to tie it at 24 when Jaylen Raynor and the offense got back on the field in the middle of the fourth quarter.
But the drive stalled with a three-and-out, and Parker finished things off on the next Utah possession with his third touchdown of the game. Iowa State may be 2-2 and 0-1, but it keeps showing it can hang around.
The next step is turning that into wins.
Cincinnati also got a result that says plenty about where it stands. Back at July media days, the Bearcats brought Bearcat-branded pancake mix to make a point about their offensive line.
On Saturday, they backed that up with 271 rushing yards in a 31-25 win over Kansas State. Gi'Bran Payne ran for 126 yards and Cole Tabb added 124, with each back breaking off a run of at least 30 yards.
Scott Satterfield’s team is 4-0 and 1-0 after surviving Miami-Ohio in Week 3 and then taking a quality league win at home.
Kansas State’s first big conference moment under Collin Klein did not go the way the Wildcats wanted. They led 17-10 at halftime, but two third-quarter Cincinnati touchdowns flipped the game and put the Bearcats ahead 24-17.
Avery Johnson threw it 50 times, a heavy load for any quarterback and especially one as dangerous as a runner. Klein said Cincinnati did a good job setting the edge and making the QB run difficult to execute.
Kansas State is 3-1 and 0-1, with a Week 5 bye to sort things out.
Houston’s league opener was far calmer. Willie Fritz’s team was tied 14-14 with Georgia Southern at halftime, but the Cougars moved on from their unbeaten nonconference run and now head fully into Big 12 play. They nearly pulled off an upset of Texas Tech in Lubbock a week earlier, and now they’re carrying that momentum into conference season.
TCU, meanwhile, is still searching for answers on offense. Sonny Dykes brought in Gordon Sammis to replace Kendal Briles as offensive coordinator, shifting the Horned Frogs away from Dykes’ usual offensive roots, and the early results have been rough.
Harvard transfer Jaden Craig has struggled in both of TCU’s Power Conference games, and the latest one ended in a 21-13 loss at UCF. Craig passed for 310 yards but also threw two interceptions.
The pass defense did not help matters, either. It was shaky against North Carolina in Week Zero and then failed to improve against backup UCF quarterback Keyone Jenkins, who completed 19 of 20 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown.
TCU sits at 2-2 and 0-1, and the frustration is building before October arrives.
UCF has its own reason to feel better. Scott Frost’s return to Orlando was one of the more notable offseason moves in the league, and his first big win back came with Jenkins filling in for injured starter Alonza Barnett III.
Jenkins’ performance should give the Knights confidence in their quarterback depth, even if the schedule does not offer much breathing room. Next up is a brutal stretch: at No.
25 Houston, at Oklahoma State and then home against No. 9 BYU.
Baylor handled its own business, too. DJ Lagway threw for 221 yards and two touchdowns in a 23-13 win over Colorado, and the Bears moved to 3-1 and 1-0 in the league.
Lagway’s 33-yard strike to Jadon Porter with 9:02 left in the fourth quarter put Baylor ahead for good, and Rhett Armstrong’s 54-yard field goal finished the job. After the game, Aranda said, "There's a lot to clean up, and there's a lot that we're still fighting to get right," and added, "But the thing I'm proud about is that fourth quarter.
The ability to close the deal is a goal for us every week."
Colorado’s quarterback situation is suddenly murky. Deion Sanders said it was his call to bench Julian Lewis, who went 11-of-16 for 75 yards.
Zach Wilson replaced him and finished 12-of-25 for 156 yards and a touchdown. Sanders also made a broader point about the team’s struggles, saying, "It seems as though we're better than our opponents," he said.
"But the score does not indicate that." That leaves the Buffaloes with a quarterback question and a bigger coaching one, because the losses keep piling up.
Arizona closed the week with a 34-24 win over Washington State, with Noah Fifita throwing four touchdown passes as the Wildcats erased a 14-0 deficit. At 3-1 and 0-1, they head into a big home game against Cincinnati in the after-dark window in Week 5.
In Other News...
Iowa States Loss Exposed A Bigger Problem Than One Bad Half
Iowa States 31-17 loss to Utah did more than hand the Cyclones a setback on the scoreboard. It put a spotlight on a stretch of football that looked out of sync in almost every phase, with the run game stalling, the passing attack lacking consistency and the defense getting pushed around early before settling in a bit after halftime.
The second-half response at least suggested there was some fight left in the group, but the bigger concern is how much had to go wrong before the Cyclones found their footing. Third-down struggles, missed tackles and quarterback Jaylen Raynors accuracy and decision-making all stood out as issues that cant be chalked up to one bad half, and they leave Iowa State with real work to do before the next opportunity to reset. [Read more 🡒]
Tamin Lipsey Changes Everything For Iowa State At The Perfect Time
Iowa State got the kind of offseason boost every program hopes for when Tamin Lipsey was granted a legal fifth year of eligibility and will be back in the Cyclones backcourt. His return matters even more because the team is already dealing with an injury to guard Killyan Toure, making experienced perimeter play a priority as the roster takes shape.
Lipsey brings more than familiarity. Last season, he averaged 13.5 points, 5.1 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game, production that touches nearly every part of the floor and gives Iowa State a steadying presence on both ends. For a team trying to absorb one setback while keeping its upside intact, getting him back changes the outlook in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa State Faces A West Virginia Test That Could Frustrate Fans Again
West Virginia arrives in Ames with enough speed and playmaking to make this one feel familiar for Iowa State fans, who have seen their team get dragged into tight, frustrating game scripts before. The Mountaineers still have a lot to sort out after a loss to Oklahoma State, but quarterback Michael Hawkins gives them a dual-threat threat, wideout DJ Epps can stretch a defense, and running back Cam Cook has helped keep the offense moving on the ground.
For the Cyclones, the matchup is less about flash and more about whether they can keep West Virginia from turning the game into a track meet. Hawkins' ability to hurt teams both ways, plus linebacker Isaiah Patterson's production on defense, gives the Mountaineers a few paths to make this uncomfortable, and a difficult stretch ahead means they are not likely to treat this as just another stop on the schedule. [Read more 🡒]