By Jacob Seliga
Lead Writer
In what was for many the opening week of conference play in the Big-12, chaos reigned supreme from coast to coast with upsets, Hail Mary’s, and statement making performances.
This is the Big-12 week in review.
To cover or not to cover?
With 2 seconds remaining and the ball barely past midfield, it appeared Baylor was going to walk out of Boulder with a huge victory over Colorado.
All that remained was a very unlikely Hail Mary attempt to the end zone in the rainy and windy Colorado night. Sheduer Sanders rolled out of the pocket to his left and found LaJohntay Wester in the end zone in one-on-one coverage, who pulled in the pass for a Buffaloes touchdown that tied the game in regulation before a forced fumble by Travis Hunter in overtime sealed a Colorado victory.
This was a backbreaking loss for Dave Aranda and the Baylor Bears, who showed fight in their Week 2 loss to a good Utah team. But once again, coaching was an issue. The lack of awareness to not roll another defensive back over the top instead of underneath to prevent Wester from having a one-on-one is baffling, and once again in East Texas the seat is hot.
Continuity is key
Utah, as a member of the Pac 12 Conference, was consistently one of the top, if not the top, team in the conference over the last half decade. That consistent success appears to be continuing in the Big 12 as the Utes, once again without quarterback Cam Rising, went on the road to Oklahoma State and defeated the Cowboys 22-19.
The rushing attack for Utah was the difference as Micah Bernard rushed for 182 yards and outperformed Ollie Gordon, whose lackluster start to 2024 continued to the tune of 42 yards in Week 4. Isaac Wilson didn’t have a great game on the stat sheet but his ability to make the right throw at the right time, such as his touchdown throw to Brant Kuithe that put the game out of reach, paid off as did his connection throughout the game with Dorian Singer. It appears as Utah, as of now, is poised to make a run in its first year in the conference and is the clear team to beat.
An old fashioned whooping
With the new Big 12, there’s a small group of the conference positioned west of the Rocky Mountains who’ll carry on the tradition of chaos “after dark.” And although this week's member of chaos wasn’t a traditional member of the after dark group, their “upset” shook the conference as a whole.
Entering this week, Kansas State looked as if it was the best team in the conference coming off a dominating victory over Arizona in the game of the week. BYU did not care, as the Cougars rolled over the Wildcats 38-9 with a tenacious defense and great special teams play. Through four weeks, BYU has been arguably the biggest surprise in the conference, as it was projected to be one of the bottom feeders. Now the Cougars road victory at SMU looks better as the weeks go on.
With a road trip to Baylor this week, the newly-ranked Cougars will have a chance to enter their bye week 5-0 before welcoming Arizona to town. It’s too early to see if they’re a contender to win a conference title, but with their defense they can beat any team on any given Saturday.
The ultimate role reversal
In Week 3, West Virginia blew a double digit lead with under four minutes to go against rival Pitt to fall short in the “Backyard Brawl." That same week, Kansas saw its second straight fourth quarter lead disappear against UNLV in a shocking loss.
That made the fourth quarter of the Mountaineers and Jayhawks matchup must see TV.
After a two-hour delay, the Jayhawks found themselves leading 21-17. And that’s where the chaos began. Luke Grimm ran in a Kansas touchdown with five minutes left and that appeared to be all she wrote in the matchup. But after two touchdowns and a two-point conversion in three and a half minutes, the Mountaineers escaped with a home victory that sent a Kansas team that appeared destined for big things this year spiraling to 1-3.
Game of the week: Colorado at UCF
This week the Buffaloes, after escaping with a win over Baylor, travel across the country to face a tough UCF team that is coming off a bye week.
Both of these teams are considered middle of the pack teams in the conference, but both have high upside due to their stellar offenses that have shown inconsistency as the year has gone on. This game has the potential to be a high scoring shootout and could be the most entertaining game all year.
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