Week 4 gave the Big 12 a little of everything: road wins, statement performances, ugly turnovers and a few results that forced some hard rethinking. By the time the night wrapped up in Pullman, the league had a clearer picture of who’s surging, who’s slipping and who still has work to do.
Texas Tech set the tone with a 49-14 win over Sam Houston State, and it took a strange path to get there. The Red Raiders’ offense was a mess in the first half, with Will Hammond turning it over three times, but linebacker Austin Romaine kept the game from getting away with two pick-sixes.
From there, Texas Tech settled in. The defense blanked Sam Houston in the second half, the offense stopped tripping over itself, and the Red Raiders walked out with a 35-point win.
Baylor opened Big 12 play with a 23-13 win over Colorado, and the Bears only got better as the afternoon went on. After a slow first quarter, Baylor outscored Colorado 23-10 over the final three periods.
DJ Lagway settled in, Dawson Pendergrass helped close things out with some hard-earned late runs, and Gavin Freeman came through with a big play of his own. The throwback uniforms may deserve some credit too.
UCF delivered one of the day’s tougher-earned wins, beating TCU 21-13 in Orlando without Alonza Barnett III. The Knights’ defense took control by shutting down TCU’s run game and forcing four turnovers. Then, when it mattered most, Keyone Jenkins guided an 11-play drive in the fourth quarter that stretched the lead to eight and helped finish the job.
Houston also came away with a win, beating Georgia Southern 42-28 behind an offense that kept humming all afternoon. Connor Weigman threw four touchdown passes and ran for two more, and the Cougars piled up more than 200 rushing yards as well. For a team trying to keep pace, that’s the kind of output that travels.
Utah handled a tricky road trip to Ames and beat Iowa State 31-17, even if it wasn’t a flawless performance. Devon Dampier kept things clean, but Wayshawn Parker was the difference-maker, finishing with 239 total yards and three touchdowns while leading the Utes in both rushing and receiving.
Utah scored 24 first-half points, then had to weather a one-score game in the fourth quarter before putting it away late. Still, the result was a double-digit road win in a place where that doesn’t come easy.
Oklahoma State finally broke through in conference play, topping West Virginia 41-24 in Morgantown and ending a nearly three-year wait for a Big 12 win. Drew Mestemaker led the charge with nearly 400 passing yards and three touchdowns, with Wyatt Young doing major damage as his top target for 192 yards and a score.
The Cowboys didn’t stop there, either, rushing for more than 200 yards behind Caleb Hawkins. When that offense is rolling, it looks dangerous.
Arizona also had to work through an early hole before finishing strong in a 34-24 win over Washington State in Pullman. Down 14-0 after the first quarter, the Wildcats needed Noah Fifita to flip the game, and he did exactly that with four touchdown passes. It wasn’t always clean, but on a late night out West, the Wildcats found enough to get it done.
Cincinnati might have turned in the most eye-opening performance of the weekend, beating Kansas State 31-26 in a game that leaned hard on the run. The Bearcats rushed for 271 yards, with Gi’Bran Payne and Cole Tabb both topping 100 yards and Tabb scoring three times.
JC French only threw 13 passes, completed eight, and still came out with a win because Cincinnati was so physical at the point of attack. The atmosphere matched the moment, and the “Nipp at Night” label fit perfectly.
The Bearcats are 4-0.
Not every Big 12 team left the weekend feeling good. Colorado’s 23-13 loss to Baylor featured missed tackles, an offense that never really got going and 10 penalties that made life harder than it needed to be. The quarterback change to Isaac Wilson didn’t provide the spark Colorado needed, and the parallels to last season are getting harder to ignore.
Iowa State showed some fight after a rough start against Utah, but the damage from that first half was too much to overcome. The Cyclones fell behind 24-3, then started to find some rhythm on both sides of the ball and nearly clawed back into it before Utah’s second-to-last drive. The effort was there, but the final result still landed as a two-score loss.
West Virginia’s 41-24 loss to Oklahoma State was even harder to stomach because of what the Mountaineers did on the ground. They ran for 335 yards and still couldn’t keep up, because Oklahoma State shredded them for more than 600 total yards. The defense was the problem, just as expected, and giving up that kind of production is a tough path to any win.
Kansas State’s 31-26 loss to Cincinnati raised more concerns. The Wildcats gave up more than 270 rushing yards and never recovered after being pushed around early. The offense was decent enough, but injuries and missed chances mattered, especially in a third quarter where Kansas State ran just 10 plays and got outscored 14-0.
If there was one truly rough outing in the league, it belonged to TCU. The Horned Frogs lost 21-13 to UCF, and after getting a pass for the Ireland loss to North Carolina, this one hit harder.
The defense wasn’t the main issue. The offense was.
Jaden Craig threw two turnovers, Ed Small added two more, and TCU managed only 33 rushing yards on 27 carries. The warning signs were there before, but this was a much uglier version of the same problem.
In Other News...
TCUs Big 12 Hopes Suddenly Look Fragile For One Clear Reason
The 21-13 loss to Central Florida left Sonny Dykes sounding more concerned than frustrated, and it was easy to hear why. TCUs offensive issues have become impossible to ignore, especially on the ground, where the Horned Frogs are producing less than they did a year ago while the front five has struggled to keep the offense on schedule.
In a Big 12 race where every possession matters, those problems loom even larger with No. 9 BYU next on the list. TCU has already put itself behind the pace it needs to stay in the mix, and unless the rushing attack and protection improve quickly, the margin for error is going to keep shrinking. [Read more 🡒]
TCU Just Gave Fans A Brutal Reason To Worry Before BYU
TCU opened Big 12 play with a frustrating 21-13 loss to UCF, a game that had enough positive flashes to keep the Horned Frogs from looking hopeless, but not nearly enough clean execution to leave anyone feeling good about where the season is headed. The defense did its part by forcing multiple turnovers, and wide receiver Jordan Dwyer returned to the lineup, but the offense never found a steady rhythm and the mistakes piled up in the form of 11 penalties.
Jaden Craig still managed 310 passing yards, yet the two interceptions were part of a night that kept the Frogs chasing the game instead of controlling it. Missed opportunities were the theme, and with BYU coming next week, TCU is suddenly carrying a fair amount of baggage into a matchup that will demand much sharper execution on both sides of the ball. [Read more 🡒]
UCFs Big 12 Win Still Left One Early Concern
TCUs first Big 12 outing of the season ended in a 21-13 loss to UCF, and the box score left at least one obvious question hanging over the Horned Frogs offense. The Frogs actually outgained UCF in total yards, but they never turned that advantage into enough points, in part because the running game never got going and the offense kept putting itself behind the sticks with turnovers and penalties.
Jordan Dwyer, Jeremy Scott and Jeremy Payne each helped move the ball at different points, but inconsistent protection and four turnovers repeatedly interrupted any rhythm. There were encouraging signs on the other side of the ball, too, as TCU held UCF down on the ground and finished with two sacks, yet the defenses work was not enough to cover for an offense that kept missing chances. [Read more 🡒]