Week 2 in the Big 12 delivered just about everything: statement wins, ugly setbacks and a few results that told you a lot about where teams stand right now.
The weekend began Friday night in Lawrence and stretched all the way to late Saturday in Salt Lake City, and by the time it was over, the conference had a handful of wins it can feel good about - and a few losses it would rather forget.
Oklahoma State authored the loudest result of the bunch, knocking off Oregon 39-31 and finally ending a drought that had lasted more than two years against a Power Four opponent. The final margin doesn’t really capture how this one looked.
The Cowboys controlled the game, piling up 554 total yards while holding Oregon to 251. Drew Mestemaker passed for more than 300 yards, and he paired with Caleb Hawkins to fuel a ground game that produced 237 rushing yards.
It was a huge win for Oklahoma State, and for the Big 12 too.
Utah made its own kind of noise in Salt Lake City, rolling past Arkansas 43-10. It’s not every day a Big 12 team beats an SEC opponent by more than 30, and the Utes did it with a defense that took over the game.
Devon Dampier and the running game were solid, but Utah’s front was the real story. Arkansas never found much of anything offensively, and the Utes controlled the line of scrimmage from start to finish.
Kansas State also looked the part in a 34-7 win over Washington State. The Wildcats nearly ran for 300 yards, Avery Johnson had a strong night aside from one costly mistake, and the defense smothered the Cougars. Washington State managed only 166 total yards, and Kansas State followed up its Week 1 cruise with another convincing showing against better competition.
BYU may have made the strongest case of all. The Cougars beat Arizona 28-17, and Bear Bachmeier was a big reason why.
He threw three touchdown passes and added another score on the ground, while LJ Martin came close to 100 rushing yards. After allowing 10 points early, BYU’s defense settled in and gave up only seven the rest of the way.
Right now, BYU looks like the best team in the Big 12 in my eyes.
Texas Tech picked up a 35-24 win over Oregon State, though it was far from clean. The Red Raiders gave up more than 400 passing yards and never seemed fully comfortable on offense.
Even with the win, there are still clear issues to sort through before Big 12 play heats up. After two games, this team does not look better than it was a year ago - at least not yet.
The league’s “Bad” section starts with Iowa State, which dropped a tight Cy-Hawk battle to Iowa, 16-13. The Cyclones jumped out to a 10-0 lead and seemed to have some control early, but by halftime the game was tied at 10.
Iowa State’s defense kept doing its part, but the offense couldn’t generate enough in the second half. For much of the day, the Cyclones matched Iowa’s style of game pretty well.
When the finish line arrived, though, they couldn’t close it out.
Kansas had a rough night in a 38-21 loss to Missouri. Isaiah Marshall struggled as a passer, Kansas turned it over three times, and Missouri made the Jayhawks pay for back-to-back giveaways in the third quarter before pulling away.
The defense had its own problems, with Austin Simmons doing damage through the air and Missouri averaging more than four yards per carry. After the game, Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz also made it clear he was bothered by the pregame hype video Kansas put out and wanted to make the Jayhawks pay for it.
With the loss, Lance Leipold is now 0-7 against Kansas State and Missouri.
Arizona also landed in the bad column after falling 28-17 at BYU. Provo is a tough place to go, and the Wildcats found that out the hard way.
They came out well enough, scoring 10 points in the first quarter, but Noah Fifita and the offense couldn’t keep it going. Defensively, Arizona had trouble slowing BYU both in the air and on the ground, and the Cougars kept extending drives and controlling the football.
Arizona may be better than people think, but it still has to make more plays in the biggest moments.
Then there was the ugly.
UCF’s 12-7 loss to Pitt was a mess offensively. The weather in Pittsburgh was rough, and that clearly affected the passing game, but the Knights couldn’t run the ball either.
They finished with just 20 rushing yards on 22 carries. The defense held up, but it didn’t matter because the offense never showed up.
It was pathetic, to say the least.
Arizona State’s 48-20 loss to Texas A&M was different, because for three quarters the Sun Devils were hanging around. Cutter Boley flashed, Arizona State outrushed Texas A&M, Reed Harris had a moment on a national stage, and the defense was competing.
But four turnovers and nine penalties are a brutal combination against a top-10 road team. Texas A&M eventually slammed the door with a 24-0 fourth quarter, turning a competitive game into a blowout.
In Other News...
Oklahoma States Oregon Win Changed One Big Thing For This Offense
Oklahoma States win over Oregon carried more than just the usual marquee-game boost. In the aftermath, the Cowboys head coach pointed to the way his players responded after their previous performance and said the victory mattered because it showed the offense could reset, play with confidence and put together a plan that traveled well against a high-profile opponent. He also made a point of praising quarterback Drew Mestemaker, while noting how the defense held up and how the staff approached the challenge of facing Oregon.
On the other side, Oregon coach Dan Lanning spent the postgame sorting through a game that never felt clean for his team, from defensive issues to execution problems to the difficulty of playing in that environment. From Oklahoma States perspective, the broader takeaway is even more interesting than the final result: the Cowboys did not just beat a ranked opponent, they appeared to discover something about what this offense can be when the pieces are in the right place. The next question is whether that newly sharpened identity shows up again when the schedule demands it. [Read more 🡒]
Dan Lanning Gave Oregon Fans A Feel Good Moment They Needed
Before Oregon kicked off against Oklahoma State, Dan Lanning used a spot on ESPNs College GameDay to give Ducks fans something a little bigger than the usual pregame hype. His appearance ended with a crossbar challenge that carried real significance, sending a $500,000 donation to the Sam Day Foundation, a childhood cancer research group, and giving the morning a feel-good jolt before the game itself.
Lanning also had football on the mind, even with the charity moment grabbing the spotlight. He pointed to the need for Oregon to be sharper in the details and cut down on penalties as the Ducks prepared for their matchup, where they entered as heavy favorites over the Cowboys. For Oklahoma State, it was another reminder that the national attention around this game was being driven by Oregons side of the story before the opening kickoff. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma State Just Got A New Oregon Concern To Watch
Oklahoma States win over Oregon came with one notable asterisk for the Ducks, who were already forced to adjust their offense without starting tight end Jamari Johnson. Oregons attack never really found a rhythm in the loss, and the combination of modest yardage and too many penalties made the setback look more familiar than anyone in Eugene would have liked.
Now there is at least some uncertainty attached to Johnson moving forward, with Dan Lanning saying the tight end was banged up in the previous game and will be monitored in practice this week. Oregon had to turn to Andrew Olesh in Johnsons place, and for the Cowboys that is the part worth watching next, because the Ducks offense looked compromised enough already without needing another week of questions at a key spot. [Read more 🡒]