Week 9 gave the Big 12 a little more shape at the top and a whole lot of noise everywhere else.
Utah kept separating itself from the pack with a road rout of Cincinnati, while BYU and Texas Tech both answered their first losses with important victories to stay in the hunt. Behind them, though, the league kept spinning in all kinds of directions: Iowa State stunned No. 24 Oklahoma State in a wild shootout, Colorado finally got into the Big 12 win column, and Baylor looked reborn in its first game after firing Dave Aranda.
With November underway and the championship race tightening, the contenders are starting to show themselves.
Utah still looks like the standard. The Utes rolled Cincinnati 49-25 to move to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in Big 12 play, and the game never really felt close.
They’ve now won 14 straight, the longest active streak in the FBS and their longest since a 16-game run from Dec. 20, 2007, to Sept. 12, 2009.
It’s also the first time Utah has started 8-0 since 2010, and the Utes have stacked up 10 straight Big 12 wins.
Devon Dampier kept driving the offense, throwing for 260 yards and three touchdowns while adding 45 rushing yards. The defense kept doing its part, too.
BYU and Texas Tech are right there in the standings, but both come with more baggage. Texas Tech has already changed quarterbacks and has been uneven.
BYU had to hang on against Arizona State and continues to feel the absence of LJ Martin. That said, Saturday’s Utah-BYU matchup could change the picture again.
Texas Tech found a spark with Thomas Castellanos taking over at quarterback. Joey McGuire made the switch from Will Hammond, and the result was a 34-26 win over Arizona. Castellanos went 11-of-24 for 144 yards, threw two touchdowns, and added 117 yards and a score on 19 carries.
The bigger story was the ground game. Texas Tech ran it 47 times for 328 yards, and that kind of production is exactly what this offense has been waiting to show with consistency.
The defensive front also settled in as the game went on. If that run game keeps showing up, the Red Raiders are going to be in a strong spot in the Big 12 race.
But there’s no margin left for another stumble.
Iowa State delivered one of the wildest finishes of the day, edging No. 24 Oklahoma State 51-49 on Kyle Konrardy’s 34-yard field goal as time expired. It snapped a two-game losing streak for the Cyclones, who had managed just 13 points across those losses.
The game also exposed Oklahoma State’s defense in brutal fashion. The Cowboys had been leaning on a bend-but-don’t-break approach, but on Saturday night it broke. Badly.
Jaylen Raynor, who had been benched last week at Arizona, came back and threw for 300 yards against Oklahoma State. That alone tells you how the night went.
The Cowboys’ offense did enough to win, with Drew Mestemaker throwing for 323 yards and five touchdowns and Caleb Hawkins rushing for 194 yards. But after Oklahoma State took the lead with less than a minute left, there was still time for Iowa State to answer, and the Cyclones did exactly that.
The unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Cowboys’ touchdown was unfortunate, but it wasn’t the reason they lost. Giving up nearly 600 yards to what has been the worst offense in the Big 12 was the real problem.
Colorado finally got its first Big 12 win, and it came in overtime against Kansas State. Deion Sanders’ team won it on Isaac Wilson’s third-and-long touchdown pass to Charlie Williams for the walk-off finish.
The win should at least quiet some of the noise around the program for now. It doesn’t necessarily change the bigger picture, but it counts, and Colorado needed it.
The Buffaloes also showed some life on the ground, rushing for more than 200 yards. Alabama transfer Richard Young led the way with 24 carries for 120 yards, more than he had totaled all season entering Saturday.
Wilson isn’t elite, but he’s getting better in the system. Colorado also kept affecting the quarterback, finishing with five sacks and nine tackles for loss. The next test is Arizona State in Tempe, and that’s where the question becomes whether this win can turn into something more.
Kansas, meanwhile, let one get away in a way that will linger. The Jayhawks were up 13-0 on the road against TCU with a backup quarterback, Cole Ballard, and the defense was playing well. Then, on fourth-and-5 from the TCU 40 with a few minutes left in the third quarter, Lance Leipold chose to go for it instead of pinning the Horned Frogs deep.
The decision flipped the game. Ballard threw a pick-six, TCU suddenly had life down 13-7, and the Horned Frogs scored on their next possession to take a 14-13 lead. Kansas did move back in front 16-14 before TCU scored the winning touchdown with a minute left.
That fourth-down call changed everything, and it was one of the roughest decisions by a Big 12 head coach this season given the situation.
In Other News...
K-State Heads Into Colorado With A Quarterback Problem Getting Worse
Kansas States quarterback situation has gone from unsettled to downright precarious heading into its trip to Colorado. The Wildcats will have to choose between Dillon Duff and Blake Barnett after Jacob Knuth was downgraded to out with an injury, leaving the staff to piece together a plan with Avery Johnson also sidelined.
It means Kansas State is on track to use its third different starting quarterback in as many games, a rough stretch for a team trying to steady itself at 4-3 overall and 1-3 in Big 12 play. The Wildcats have spent much of the season searching for consistency, and now the most important position on the field has become even more uncertain at the worst possible time. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas State Faces A Defining Test With QB Uncertainty Lingering
Kansas State heads into Friday nights road game at Colorado with a familiar problem hanging over the program: quarterback uncertainty. Avery Johnson has been ruled out for the second straight week, leaving the Wildcats to navigate another Big 12 test without their starter as they head to Folsom Field in Boulder on Oct. 31.
Colorado has stumbled through a five-game losing streak, but the setting still makes this a tricky spot for Kansas State, especially with Deion Sanders under pressure to steady a team that has not found its footing. For the Wildcats, the bigger question is how they handle the absence at quarterback and whether they can keep their momentum intact in a game that suddenly feels more complicated than the record might suggest. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas State Turns To An Unknown QB In A Brutal Spot
Kansas State is turning to Dillon Duff in a spot few quarterbacks would envy, with the freshman set to make his first career start against Colorado. Duff has yet to appear in a college game, and his path to this moment was interrupted by a preseason injury before he was finally cleared to play. Now the Wildcats are asking him to step in and handle the job in a game that will immediately test his poise.
Collin Klein has already made it clear the staff likes what it has seen from Duff behind the scenes, pointing to his work ethic and decision-making as reasons for confidence. Even so, there is a big difference between practice and a live start, especially for a quarterback being thrown into the fire this quickly. For Kansas State, the hope is that Duffs preparation translates when the pressure arrives. [Read more 🡒]