The college football season is back and the Big 12 Conference had 15 games on the schedule between Friday night and Saturday. It’s a new era for the Big 12, without Oklahoma and Texas, while adding Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State this offseason.
After a mediocre, at best, Week 1 slate, the Week 2 schedule was incredible for this conference, with several games against Power 4 teams. So how did everyone do?
Here are the Top 5 takeaways from Week 2 of the Big 12 football season.
11AM (CT) College Football Chaos
The Saturday started off with three games. Kansas State took on Tulane, Oklahoma State hosted Arkansas and Cincinnati was home vs. Pittsburgh. In each of these three games, the eventual winner trailed by at least double digits.
Arkansas jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead over Oklahoma State, but the Cowboys fought back, despite their own major miscues and errors, to beat the Razorbacks 39-31 in double overtime. Kansas State trailed Tulane 20-10 at halftime, before coming back late to beat the Green Wave 34-27. And then, Cincinnati had a 21-point lead against Pittsburgh, but blew the game and lost 28-27 at home.
There were controversial calls in each game. Oklahoma State was arguably hosed on a missed offsides call late in regulation (instead, it was a Delay of Game) that would have kept the drive alive and possibly allowed OSU to kick a closer field goal at the end of regulation to win the game (OSU made a 40-yarder, but the penalty gave Arkansas the ball back with 55 seconds left, which they took down the field and tied with their own FG to force overtime).
Kansas State was on the receiving end of a call late in the game when it looked like the Green Wave had scored a touchdown to come within an extra point of tying the game. But instead, offensive pass interference was called.
This looks like pretty clear offensive PI to me, but it was obviously a controversial call for Tulane fans late in the game as they were trying to pull off the upset.
And in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh faced a third-and-4 deep in their own territory on the game-winning drive, but a delay of game on the Bearcats defense gave the Panthers a first down. A 34-yard completion to wide receiver Konata Mumpfield three plays later moved the Panthers into the red zone and into position for Sauls’ winning field goal.
A Cy-Hawk Classic
Iowa State trailed this game 13-0 at halftime and looked totally out of sorts. But the Cyclones opened up the passing game, trusted Rocco Becht, and the Cyclones came back for a 20-19 victory in Iowa City, winning the Cy-Hawk trophy for the second time in the last three seasons.
One of the reasons this one is so rare, is that we just haven’t seen Iowa blow a lead like that in the second half in a long time. According to CBS Sports, it’s the first time Iowa has blown a 13+ point 2nd half lead since playing Nebraska during the 2014 season.
This is the kind of game that can launch a young team and give them the confidence they need to grind atop what we all know is going to be a wide-open Big 12 Conference.
Oh and if you haven’t seen Brock Purdy’s celebration, do yourself a favor. Watch it (It’s on our X page: @Heartland_CS).
Key Injuries to Watch
Utah quarterback Cam Rising, Oklahoma State pass rusher Collin Oliver and Baylor quarterback Dequan Finn all suffered injuries in their Week 2 match ups. Oliver is out for the season, according to head coach Mike Gundy. Rising appears to have suffered a minor hand injury. And Finn suffered an apparent arm injury.
Oh, and then there’s Texas Tech running back Tahj Brooks, who warmed up, but did not end up playing for the Red Raiders against Washington State.
Overall, these are some of the biggest names in the Big 12 Conference who got injured in Week 2 or who didn’t make the field. No matter what happens, these are injuries to watch closely as we move through the month of September.
Kansas, Colorado and Texas Tech Messes
Two weeks in, Kansas and Colorado look like two of the Big 12 teams who have received too much hype. Kansas was a five-point favorite and lost at Illinois 23-17, while Colorado was a seven-point underdog at Nebraska but was never in the game in a 28-10 loss to the Huskers.
But both teams appear to have vastly different issues. Kansas’ issue is Jalon Daniels. He was totally out of sorts on Saturday. He finished 18/32 for 141 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions, along with one fumble lost. The line play was solid enough, but Daniels was not the player we projected him to be before the season. The play-calling was odd, as well. Devin Neal was tearing it up for KU, but only got 14 carries, while still finishing with over 100 rushing yards.
Meantime, Colorado is a mess on both lines. The Buffaloes ran for 16 total yards on 22 carries while giving up six sacks and 10 tackles for loss. On the other side, Colorado didn’t have any sacks on the night, while the Huskers racked up 149 yards on the ground (4.3 YPC).
Lastly, Washington State was favored vs. Texas Tech, but man did they hand it to the Red Raiders in a 37-16 loss. One thing about playing on the road is that you can’t beat yourself. That is exactly what Texas Tech did on Saturday night between the turnovers and penalties. Quarterback Behren Morton threw two interceptions and then Tech fumbled twice to make it four turnovers. As bad as that was, the ten penalties may have been even worse. To think Tech is a play or two away from being 0-2 to start the season is not the kind of thought Joey McGuire wants to have in mid-September.
5-5 in the Ten Key Games
I wrote earlier in the week that the Big 12 had ten really important games this week. I wrote on Tuesday, “When looking at these ten games, the Big 12 would sign up for 6-4 in a heartbeat, but 5-5 will get the job done as well. That would be winning the three must-wins (Kansas, Oklahoma State, K-State) and then either two of the four toss ups, or one toss up and one surprise upset. But if the Big 12 finds itself going 4-6 or worse this weekend in those ten crucial games, you can kiss the Big 12’s chances of having two teams in the College Football Playoff goodbye.”
So the Big 12 won five of these games (BYU, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Iowa State, Arizona State) and lost five games (Cincinnati, Colorado, Texas Tech, Houston, Kansas).
The big disappointments in the Big 12 were Kansas and Cincinnati, but then on the other side, BYU and Iowa State exceeded expectations (albeit slightly for the Cyclones). However, so did Houston in its loss to the Sooners.
Overall, the Big 12 didn’t hurt itself in these key non-conference games, and if things break just right, they can still get two teams into the College Football Playoff.
