The Big 12 calendar has turned to November, and the league picture is tightening fast. One unbeaten team is still standing, Utah looks like the conference’s clearest path to the College Football Playoff, and BYU and Texas Tech are trying to stay in the chase with one loss apiece. BYU gets its shot at the Utes on Saturday in what should be the weekend’s biggest Big 12 game, while a pack of two-loss teams is ready to pounce if the final month turns messy.
Here’s a look at the biggest risers and fallers after Week 9.
Baylor is the week’s most jarring stock-up story. Just seven days after a crushing loss to Kansas, a defeat that came when the Jayhawks blocked a potential game-winning field goal and helped trigger Dave Aranda’s firing, the Bears went to Orlando and flattened UCF, 41-9.
Joe Klanderman, now the interim head coach, got a response from a team that looked ready to drift off the rails. It’s fair to wonder whether that surge was more about emotion and urgency than a long-term fix, but the result still matters.
Baylor needed it badly, especially with three ranked teams still left on the schedule and bowl eligibility hanging in the balance.
Colorado also moved in the right direction by finally getting its first Big 12 win of the season, edging Kansas State, 27-24. The Buffaloes were the last team in the conference to pick up a league victory, so this one carries obvious weight.
Kansas State was without starting quarterback Avery Johnson, who is out with an injury and could miss the rest of the season, but Colorado still had to go get the job done. It may not solve everything, but it does give the Buffs something better to carry into this week’s matchup with Arizona State.
Iowa State’s offense deserves a spot on the rise list after a wild 51-49 win over Oklahoma State in an old-fashioned Big 12 shootout. After getting rolled by Arizona in Week 8, the Cyclones came home for Halloween and lit up the scoreboard.
Aiden Flora ran for more than 200 yards, and Jaylen Raynor, coming off a week in which he was benched, threw for more than 300. Iowa State piled up nearly 600 total yards and still needed a game-winning field goal as time expired to escape.
The defense? That side of the ball was torched by Oklahoma State, so the praise here belongs strictly to the offense.
On the other side of that game, Oklahoma State’s defense takes a hit. The Cowboys have gotten by with a unit that’s usually done enough to keep them in games, but that wasn’t the case against Iowa State.
Giving up 51 points and nearly 600 yards is bad enough. The bigger issue was how often the defense looked lost, with busted assignments and missed plays piling up.
The offense can keep Oklahoma State competitive, but defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity has a lot to clean up before a tough week against Kansas State.
Arizona State slides on the down list after another uneven showing, this time a 27-20 loss to BYU. The Sun Devils have become one of the Big 12’s most up-and-down teams, and the numbers back it up: they’re one of seven FBS teams that hasn’t won consecutive games this season.
Three of their four losses came against ranked teams at the time, with Baylor the lone exception. That’s not the kind of profile that inspires confidence, especially with Kenny Dillingham being linked to the Florida State job.
UCF also falls hard after a stunningly lopsided 41-9 loss to Baylor. Coming off that big Week 8 win over BYU, the Knights had a chance to build momentum, but instead they took a brutal step backward.
A loss would have been understandable. Getting blown out by 32 points was not.
If Alonzo Barnett III is ready, Scott Frost needs to play him. Barnett’s eligibility ends after this season, and with the Knights still chasing a bowl game, there’s no reason to keep bouncing between quarterbacks if he’s healthy.
In Other News...
Wyatt Young Now Faces One Oklahoma State Question After Painful Loss
Wyatt Young turned in one of the better performances of the night for Oklahoma State against Iowa State, hauling in seven catches for 74 yards and two touchdowns. But the wide receivers outing was overshadowed by a late unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that became a costly part of a painful loss, the kind of mistake that lingers long after the final whistle when the margin is so thin.
Young apologized publicly after the game and also made sure to do the same privately with his coach and teammates. Now the focus shifts to how Eric Morris handles it from here, with the head coach confirming that some form of punishment is coming as Oklahoma State tries to move on from a defeat made even harder to stomach by what happened in the closing moments. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma State Just Showed A Promising Answer At Point Guard
Oklahoma State opened its season with a comfortable 91-60 win over Incarnate Word, and the Cowboys got encouraging early signs beyond the final score. Four players reached double figures, and the first half offered a much cleaner defensive look than what the team showed at times a year ago, even if the second half was looser and allowed more points than the opening stretch.
The more intriguing development came at point guard, where sophomore Jacob Walker stepped into a bigger role with senior Kanye Clary unavailable. Walker handled the offense well in his Oklahoma State debut and gave the Cowboys a workable answer in a spot that had been a question entering the night, leaving the staff with something to evaluate as the schedule gets more demanding. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma States Defense Has A Problem Fans Cant Ignore
A defense that had looked steady earlier in the season suddenly found itself dealing with the kind of breakdowns that can unravel a game in a hurry. Linebacker Ethan Wesloski acknowledged communication issues on the field, and head coach Eric Morris said Skyler Cassitys unit simply was not getting the stops it had been getting before, especially when it came to getting off the field on third down.
For Oklahoma State, that matters beyond one rough stretch because the Big 12 leaves little room for a defense to lose its edge. The Cowboys have leaned on that side of the ball to stay competitive, but when the dialogue between players and coaches gets shaky, the margin gets thinner fast and the questions around individual performances only get louder. [Read more 🡒]