Week 4 did what conference play always does: it separated the teams that are just hanging around from the ones that actually look built for the long haul. With five of the eight Big 12 games this week coming inside the league, the picture got a lot clearer, and in a few cases a lot louder.
Oklahoma State, for one, looks nothing like the team that was stuck in an 18-game conference losing streak. The Cowboys went into Morgantown and handled West Virginia 41-24, a result that makes the win over Oregon look less like a fluke and more like a warning shot.
The new-look offense keeps flashing. Wyatt Young caught eight passes for 192 yards, Drew Mestemaker went 20-of-27 for 389 yards with three touchdowns and one interception, and Caleb Hawkins added 158 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Once Oklahoma State grabbed control and pushed West Virginia into obvious passing downs, the game tilted fast. The pass rush took over from there.
Next up is UCF in Stillwater, and after the last two weeks, the Cowboys have every reason to think bigger than simple respectability.
Cincinnati is starting to feel like another team worth paying attention to. The Bearcats rallied past Kansas State 31-26, and the way they did it mattered as much as the result.
Cincinnati ran for 271 yards and held Kansas State to 155 on the ground, which meant Avery Johnson never got comfortable doing damage with his legs. The Bearcats were willing to live with some passing production if it kept Johnson from taking over on the ground, and that approach paid off.
Now they’re 4-0 for the first time under Scott Satterfield and heading to Arizona with a chance to become one of the most interesting teams in the conference. More than anything, this looks sustainable because Cincinnati is winning at the line of scrimmage, not leaning on chaos.
The temperature around Satterfield is cooling fast.
UCF also forced a rethink. The Knights beat TCU in a game that, on paper, looked like it should have tilted toward the Horned Frogs.
UCF had backup quarterback Keyone Jenkins, while TCU had Jordan Dwyer back in the lineup. But the afternoon belonged to the Knights’ defensive line.
Jaden Craig was under pressure all game, and TCU’s run game was erased, finishing with just 33 rushing yards on 27 carries. UCF’s offense was uneven, and there were chances for TCU to seize the moment, including after a Jenkins fumble following a Horned Frogs touchdown.
The defense kept the game from slipping and forced punts until the offense could slowly build enough separation. Without Alonza Barnett, UCF may not have the kind of offense that can carry it every week.
But if Alex Grinch’s defense keeps controlling the line of scrimmage like this, the Knights are going to be a problem. That makes next week’s trip to Oklahoma State a lot more interesting.
Colorado’s quarterback situation is becoming harder to ignore. Deion Sanders turned from JuJu Lewis to Isaac Wilson against Baylor, but the switch didn’t solve much.
Lewis finished the first half 11-of-16 for 75 yards, while the Buffaloes managed just one conversion on six third-down tries and missed their only fourth-down attempt. He was also sacked three times for a loss of 23 yards.
Wilson was a little better, going 12-of-25 for 156 yards and a touchdown, but he didn’t exactly lock down the job either. Baylor’s defense deserves credit, but Colorado has now looked bad offensively against Georgia Tech, Northwestern and Baylor.
At some point, that stops being a rough patch and starts looking like the offense itself. Sanders now has to sort out not only who his quarterback is, but whether either one can produce enough to win in the Big 12.
And then there’s Utah, which has gone from question mark to clear contender. The Utes went to Ames and beat Iowa State 31-17 in a game that never really felt as close as the score suggests.
Even when Iowa State trimmed the lead to 24-17, Utah answered with a seven-play, 61-yard touchdown drive and never let things get shaky. Devon Dampier kept the offense moving, Wayshawn Parker delivered another big performance, and the defense made things difficult all afternoon for Jaylen Raynor and the Iowa State offense.
This wasn’t some quirky road win built on breaks. Utah controlled both sides of the ball in a tough environment.
The questions about the schedule can go away now. The Utes look like a real Big 12 championship contender, and they’ll have a bye before returning to conference play against Kansas on October 10.
In Other News...
BYU May Be Getting A Much Different UCF Than Expected
UCF has quietly become one of the more interesting defensive stories in the Big 12 this season. The Knights are giving up just 15 points per game, sitting fourth in the league in scoring defense, and they have already forced nine turnovers while backing up the numbers with a recent win over TCU.
Now comes the part that could tell us a lot more about where this team really stands. UCF is heading into a brutal stretch against one ranked opponent after another, and the next few weeks will show whether this defensive turnaround is built to last or just a strong run against a softer part of the schedule. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma States Bye Week Just Made One Lineup Battle Feel Bigger
Oklahoma States win over West Virginia did more than keep the Cowboys moving toward Big 12 contention. It also offered a cleaner look at the offensive front, with all five starting linemen on the field for every snap for the first time this season. With Joseph Hanson back at right guard and other key pieces logging major minutes, the staff got a rare chance to see what the group can look like when it stays intact.
The timing matters because the Cowboys now have a bye week to sort through the details before the schedule picks back up, including a matchup with UCF. There was also a notable defensive moment in the win, with Phillips starting at free safety and helping swing momentum with an interception, another reminder that the team is beginning to settle into a more complete version of itself just as the next stretch arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma State Finally Has The Big 12 Breakthrough Fans Needed
A long-awaited reset finally arrived for Oklahoma State with a win over West Virginia, a result that did more than just get the Cowboys back in the conference win column. It also snapped a stretch that had dragged on since November 2023, giving the program its first Big 12 victory in nearly a year and a half and its first league road win in that same span.
Eric Morris made clear how much it meant inside the building, especially for defensive end and captain Jaleel Johnson, who has lived through the entire skid and stayed with the team through it all. The Cowboys are back in the AP Top 25, too, which only sharpens the stakes as they try to turn one breakthrough into something more lasting in Big 12 play. [Read more 🡒]