By Jacob Seliga
Lead Writer
For the first time since the middle of September, the Big 12 conference had a full slate of games with nobody on a bye during Week 8.
As the rest of the country drew the attention of the casual viewer, true college football fans paid attention to showdowns throughout multiple nights that had electrifying performances and impressive results.
This is the Big 12 week in review.
Bouncin’ Back
Baylor, Kansas, Colorado and TCU all entered the week needing a fresh start after a string of tough losses amongst the group. Colorado suffered a heartbreaking loss at home to Kansas State, TCU suffered an embarrassing loss to Houston, and both Baylor and Kansas had yet to win a conference game entering the week. All four teams bounced back in impressive ways.
Colorado traveled to Tucson to face an inconsistent Arizona team for the Wildcats' homecoming and sent a preseason top 25 unit to 3-4 with a 34-7 drubbing. The Buffaloes offense struggle at times, but the defense shined against a great receiver and quarterback pair between Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillian.
Kansas, coming off their bye week, saw the Jayhawks play their best game of the season so far. In front of a loud crowd at Arrowhead Stadium, they were able to put in a great offensive performance without turning the ball over. Devin Neal put in a strong rushing game with 108 yards and two touchdowns, and defensive back Cobee Bryant led the way as he intercepted three Houston passes on the day.
In front of his hometown crowd and facing one of the hottest teams in the country, Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson put in the best performance of his career against Texas Tech as he threw for 274 yards and five touchdowns against a Red Raider defense that appeared to have improved from their early season struggles. After a back and forth affair in the first half, the Bears outscored Texas Tech 35-14 in the game's final 21 minutes.
TCU, prior to their bye week suffered, a questionable and embarrassing loss to Houston at home that called into question head coach Sonny Dykes job. With a road trip to Salt Lake City to face an angry, yet injured, Utah team, TCU out-physicaled the Utes in a 13-7 dogfight that was never really close. On both sides of the line, the Horned Frogs wanted it more as offensively TCU out-gained Utah 403-267 and on defense the front seven had four sacks and eight tackles for loss.
Cyclones & Cougars hold on
Entering Week 8, the top two teams in the Big 12 were the BYU Cougars and the Iowa State Cyclones. With the other 14 teams in the conference sporting at least one loss in conference play already, the race to make it to Arlington and play for a spot in the conference championship game continues to narrow the longer these two teams remain without a loss. Therefore, every team will be giving them their best shot and both teams needed each and every second to hold on last week.
On Friday night, Oklahoma State traveled to Provo to face the Cougars. A revamped Cowboy offense following the bye was able to move the ball with ease against a really solid BYU defense. For the first time all season, running back Ollie Gordon II looked like his All-American self and rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns. Oklahoma State led 35-31 with 1:06 to go following an Alan Bowman touchdown to Brennan Presley. But just as they’ve done all year, the Cougar offense, led by Jake Retzlaff, was able to move the ball quickly down the field, going 75 yards in 56 seconds to improve to 7-0.
After a strong 3-0 start, the UCF Knights had fallen back down to earth, suffering three straight losses before a trip to Ames, Iowa on Saturday night.
Behind sophomore quarterback Jacurri Brown and potential All-Conference running back RJ Harvey, the Knights ran all over a stout Cyclone defense to the tune of 354 yards on 9.1 yards per carry and four touchdowns. With Iowa State’s defense having its worst performance of the season, the Cyclones, after forcing a Knight punt, marched down the field with under two minutes to go behind quarterback Rocco Becht. He orchestrated an 11 play 80-yard drive. capped off by a 1-yard QB sneak to win a 38-35 contest.
Game of the Week: Cincinnati (5-2) at Colorado (5-2), 7:15 PM, ESPN, Saturday
Entering the season, both teams were projected to be in the bottom half of the Big 12 Conference. Now in Week 9, both teams find themselves in position to clinch a bowl spot and are very much alive in the race to play for the conference championship. In Week 8, the Bearcats dominated an Arizona State team that came to town on fire and Colorado rolled through a talented Arizona team. In terms of stakes and what is on the line, there’s no better matchup in the Big 12 this upcoming week.
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