Two weeks into the season, the Big 12 numbers are already telling a story that the standings don’t fully capture. The wins and losses matter, sure, but the box scores are starting to separate the teams that are really humming from the ones merely surviving.
Houston has been the league’s loudest offensive team so far. The Cougars are first in the Big 12 in scoring offense at 55.0 points per game and also top the conference in total offense at 562 yards per game and 8.3 yards per play, just ahead of Utah in both categories. A blowout win over Southern helped inflate those totals, but Houston has also been sharp on third down, converting 71.4% of its chances.
On the other end of the spectrum, Kansas State has been a wrecking crew defensively. The Wildcats are allowing only 144 total yards per game, easily the best mark in the conference, and opponents are managing just 2.7 yards per play while still waiting for an offensive touchdown. The sample includes Nicholls and Washington State, so the opposition hasn’t exactly been elite, but the statistical gap between Kansas State and everyone else is enormous.
Baylor’s 1-1 record doesn’t jump off the page, yet the defense has quietly been one of the league’s most productive units. The Bears are giving up just 10.0 points per game, which ranks third in the Big 12, and they lead the conference with nine sacks through two games. The narrow loss to Auburn and the win over Prairie View A&M don’t fully reflect how disruptive this group has been.
Arizona State has a similar case. Quarterback Cutter Boley sits atop the league in passing efficiency at 193.8, and he’s already thrown for 641 yards and eight touchdowns.
Reed Harris is putting up 163 receiving yards per game, which is an eye-catching number on its own. The 28-point loss to Texas A&M masks a lot, especially since Arizona State actually outgained the Aggies in total yardage.
The record says one thing; the offense says another.
West Virginia is 2-0 after beating Coastal Carolina and UT Martin, and the Mountaineers have done it with a heavy dose of the run game. Michael Hawkins Jr. has thrown for 287 yards and three touchdowns, but he’s also rushed for 199 yards and three scores. Through the air, he’s completed 16 of 21 passes, and the early success has come with West Virginia leaning hard on Hawkins and Cam Cook to carry the offense.
TCU’s 1-1 start also looks a little different once you dig into the numbers. The Horned Frogs are second in the conference in rushing defense, allowing 55.0 yards per game, and fourth in scoring defense at 11.0 points per game. That one-score loss to North Carolina in Dublin suddenly looks more respectable in the context of a defense that has been among the stingiest in the league.
There’s also a clear ball-security trend developing among several Big 12 teams. BYU, Texas Tech and Cincinnati have all been careful through the air, with zero, one and zero interceptions thrown, respectively. BYU has gone a step further by picking off four passes without throwing one itself.
Oklahoma State is the outlier in that group. The Cowboys pulled off a stunning upset of Oregon, but they’ve also thrown four interceptions, which points to a turnaround built more on explosive plays than steady quarterback play. That’s the kind of thing that can get exposed quickly once conference games start deciding tighter margins.
Two weeks in, a few early themes are hard to ignore. Houston’s offense is operating at a level that doesn’t match its ranking.
Kansas State’s defense is in a class of its own. And Baylor, Arizona State and TCU all have underlying numbers that look better than their records.
The next two weeks should help show which of these stats are real and which came from favorable matchups, but for now they give a solid first look at where the Big 12 is headed as league play begins.
In Other News...
TCU Gets A Chance To Prove Last Week Was No Fluke
TCU gets another home game Saturday, and this one comes with a simple test of whether last week was the start of something real. The Horned Frogs are trying to move to 2-1 after blitzing Grambling State 63-7, a game in which quarterback Jaden Craig turned in a career day and gave the offense the kind of rhythm every team hopes to find early in the season.
Arkansas State arrives with a 1-1 record and a fresh dose of confidence after a 52-7 win over West Georgia, so this is not just a tune-up for the Frogs. It is another chance to show that the previous rout was more than a one-week burst, with the Red Wolves offering a sturdier measuring stick before TCU settles deeper into its schedule. [Read more 🡒]