Week 3 in the Big 12 delivered a little bit of everything: a few teams survived, a few teams slipped, and Colorado produced the kind of performance nobody wanted to see on a national stage.
The weekend started Friday night in Lubbock and stretched all the way to late Saturday in Tucson, and by the end of it the conference had a clear split between the good, the bad and the flat-out ugly.
Texas Tech came out of its 28-26 win over Houston with the kind of result that matters in September. The Red Raiders were not dominant, and they were definitely not clean, but they found a way.
Will Hammond did not carry the load. Instead, Texas Tech leaned on the ground game, piling up 168 rushing yards behind Cameron Dickey and J’Koby Williams.
Kenny Johnson also made his presence felt with several key plays in a game that stayed tight throughout. When it came down to one last defensive stand, the Red Raiders made it.
Joey McGuire still has plenty to sort through, but Tech survived a real test and stayed unbeaten.
West Virginia had a much louder statement. The Mountaineers took down No.
25 Virginia 38-27, and Michael Hawkins Jr. was the engine behind it all. He accounted for five total touchdowns and ran for 123 yards, while Cam Cook helped keep the rushing attack rolling against a Virginia defense that had trouble slowing it down for long stretches.
West Virginia’s defense also settled in after a shaky start, giving up 14 points in the first quarter before allowing just 13 the rest of the way. This was the kind of win people are already calling one of the program’s best in years, and it sure looked like a defining moment for Rich Rodriguez and his team.
Arizona State also walked away with a win, beating Kansas 24-17 in London at Wembley Stadium. It wasn’t polished, but it got the job done.
Cutter Boley had trouble finding rhythm, which pushed the Sun Devils toward their run game, but the biggest edge came from defense. Arizona State forced three Kansas turnovers, and that ended up being the difference.
It’s still hard to know exactly what to make of this team, especially with the strange setting overseas, but after what happened at Texas A&M, the Sun Devils needed a win and got one.
Cincinnati’s 35-31 comeback over Miami (OH) was a different kind of ugly-good. Falling behind 28-7 in the third quarter is a mess.
Beating Miami of Ohio by four points does not exactly scream progress. But the Bearcats refused to fold.
JC French helped string together some huge drives, and Cincinnati’s defense locked in after halftime, allowing only three points over the final two quarters. It took some grit, and maybe a little luck, but the Bearcats escaped.
It wasn’t a good performance. It was a comeback, and that kept them from suffering one of the worst losses the Big 12 saw all weekend.
Houston landed in the bad category despite pushing Texas Tech to the edge. The Cougars were every bit in the fight on the road against a Top 15 opponent.
Connor Weigman played well, the run game held up, and Houston looked like a team that could hang near the top of the league for long stretches. The Cougars jumped out to a 10-0 lead before losing some momentum, but they never disappeared from the game.
In the end, it came down to a two-point conversion attempt that didn’t go through. There was plenty to like about Houston’s effort, but effort only goes so far when the result is still a loss.
Kansas also ended up in the bad pile after falling 24-17 to Arizona State. If the Jayhawks had not made things interesting late, they might have slipped into the ugly category too.
The offense struggled to get out of its own way, and Isaiah Marshall’s fit at quarterback is starting to look shaky. Turnovers only made the problem worse.
The defense did its part with several stops, but it could only hold on for so long. Kansas has now dropped back-to-back games after opening the season with optimism, and the offense needs to clean things up quickly before the season starts slipping away.
Then there was Colorado.
The Buffaloes’ 41-7 loss to Northwestern was the kind of game that leaves a mark. Julian Lewis struggled, Colorado gave the ball away four times, and the defense did not do nearly enough to slow things down.
There’s no dressing this one up: Colorado got whipped, and it never felt close. On a national stage, it was one of the roughest showings a Big 12 team has had in a long time.
The team that went on the road and beat Georgia Tech was nowhere to be found in Evanston. Now the focus shifts to how Colorado responds, especially after a performance like this.
The trip to Waco next weekend suddenly carries a lot more weight.
In Other News...
Lance Leipold Is Facing A Kansas Problem Fans Can't Ignore
Arizona State left Kansas with another loss to sort through, and this one had the familiar feel of a game the Jayhawks let slip away. The offense never found a steady rhythm, quarterback Isaiah Marshall dealt with inconsistency around him, and the special teams phase added to the mess as center Kasen Carpenter and others were part of a unit that struggled to keep Kansas on script.
For Lance Leipold, the frustration is starting to pile up because the results keep looking too much alike. The Jayhawks have been close in enough of these games to make the margin feel especially costly, and the latest setback only sharpened the sense that small mistakes are carrying outsized consequences at the worst possible time. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Had A Few Bright Spots In An Ugly London Loss
Kansas came away from Wembley Stadium with an ugly 24-17 loss to Arizona State in the Union Jack Classic, and the score line only told part of the story. The Jayhawks had a few individual bright spots in a game where the offense sputtered and special teams hurt them, but the overall performance never found much rhythm as mistakes piled up on both sides of the ball.
Tate Nagy provided one of the few positive plays on offense with a touchdown and 61 receiving yards, while the defense got steady work from Leroy Harris III, who was around the ball often. Even so, Kansas could not overcome the combination of poor punting, multiple fumbles and a general lack of consistency, leaving plenty for the Jayhawks to sort through after a disappointing trip overseas. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Just Turned A Winnable Trip Into A Bowl Pressure Problem
Kansas turned a long trip to London into a missed opportunity Saturday, falling 24-17 to Arizona State at Wembley Stadium and slipping to 1-2 on the season. The Jayhawks had their share of momentum swings in the Union Jack Classic, including a 72-yard punt return touchdown by Tate Nagy, but they also gave away too many chances in a game that could have helped steady an early-season push.
Instead, the loss leaves Lance Leipolds team looking at a tougher road to bowl eligibility than it had before kickoff. With turnovers and decision-making under scrutiny and a challenging schedule ahead, Kansas now has little margin left to turn promising moments into the kind of wins it needs to stack fast. [Read more 🡒]