The college football season is back and the Big 12 Conference was in full swing with 16 games on the schedule from Thursday to Saturday. It’s a new era for the Big 12, without Oklahoma and Texas, while adding Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State this offseason.
The Big 12 didn’t have the most compelling opening week of football, with only a handful of FBS opponents, but it was an opportunity to get off to a hot start around much of the conference. So how did everyone do?
Here are the Top 5 takeaways from Week 1 of the Big 12 football season.
No Dakotas Letdown
There were concerns leading up to Week 1 that the Big 12 would have a Dakotas letdown. The Conference was playing against some of the best FCS programs. But thankfully, that letdown never came. Colorado held off North Dakota State on Thursday night 31-26, Oklahoma State beat reigning FCS Champion South Dakota State 44-20 and then Iowa State beat North Dakota 21-3.
Now granted, Colorado appears to be a team that still has a lot to figure out, and Iowa State fans are programmed for a game against an FCS team that ends up looking much uglier than it should, but in the end, there were no embarrassments here. Any of those three losses would’ve been a black eye for a conference entering a new era without a perceived “blue blood”. So for the Big 12 to avoid one of those losses was a big sigh of relief after Week 1 of the Big 12 season.
A HUGE Morgantown Letdown
Meantime, there’s no other word to describe West Virginia’s loss to Penn State than “letdown”. This game had been talked about all offseason, and hyped up all offseason, by West Virginia fans. At No. 8 in the nation, Penn State represented the highest-ranked opponent the Mountaineers had faced in a home season opener since No. 1 Ohio State on Sept. 5, 1998. And WVU put up an absolute dud of a performance.
WVU could not take advantage of early Penn State miscues (returning a fumble moments after picking up a PSU fumble). Overall, the Mountaineers had three turnovers and the team looked like the moment was simply too big for them. Quarterback Garrett Greene struggled (15/28, 161 yards), and was unable to get anything going on the ground (5 rushing yards). As a team, WVU barely averaged two yards per carry, despite returning most of its offensive line in what is supposed to be one of the stronger units on the team.
Granted, Penn State might end up being a College Football Playoff team, so I won’t overreacted to what this loss means in a Big 12 race, but for WVU fans who were hoping for their first home win over Penn State since 1988, it was evident fairly early on it was going to be a long afternoon. Oh, and the multi-hour weather delay didn’t help the cause either.
Strong New Quarterback Play
The fresh-faced quarterbacks around the Big 12 Conference generally had strong performances in Week 1. On Thursday night, UCF quarterback KJ Jefferson had a couple of notably ugly passes, but overall performed well enough, going 7/14 for 164 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception. But where UCF is going to make the most noise is on the ground, as the team rushed for over 450 yards, while Jefferson finished with 11 carries for 39 yards and a touchdown.
Elsewhere, Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who transferred from Indiana, had a strong first outing for the Bearcats against Towson, finishing 22/31 with 383 yards and two touchdowns. Baylor QB Dequan Finn, transfer from Toledo, threw for two touchdowns and rushed for one in his debut in a 45-3 win over Tarleton State. At Kansas State, Avery Johnson isn’t a new face, but it’s his first season as the starter and got pulled in garbage time as Kansas State beat UT Martin 41-6 and Johnson finished 14/21 for 153 yards and two passing touchdowns (one interception), while also rushing for 37 yards. And lastly, it was a bit of a surprise when Jake Retzlaff was named BYU’s starter over Gerry Bohanon before the game vs. SIU, and he finished 20/30 for 348 yards, with three touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Four Corners Go 4-0
The four newcomers to the Big 12 Conference went a combined 4-0 in Week 1. Utah smashed Southern Utah 49-0 on Saturday, while Colorado hung on to beat North Dakota State. Then on Saturday night, Arizona handled New Mexico 61-39 and Arizona State crushed Wyoming 48-7.
It was an impressive first showing as members of the Big 12 for each of these teams. And in fact, Arizona State could very well have been the performance of the week in the Big 12. The Sun Devils were only favored by a touchdown against the Cowboys. But it was a route from start to finish in Tempe, with Kenny Dillingham getting Year 2 of his ASU tenure off to a fantastic start.
Meantime, Arizona star wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan had a school-record 304 yards receiving and matched another with four touchdown catches for the Wildcats the season opener. The defense was shaky at times, but Arizona fans are likely saying to themselves, “Jedd Who?”
Texas Tech’s Near Disaster
The Texas Tech Red Raiders opened their college football season against Abilene Christian on Saturday in Lubbock. Tech entered the game as a 32-point favorite over the Wildcats. But ACU gave Texas Tech all it could handle, and then some, as the Red Raiders needed overtime to win 52-51.
Tech’s defense gave up 615 total yards and over 500 passing yards, while allowing the Wildcats to go 11-16 on third downs. Texas Tech also hurt itself with 11 penalties for 79 yards.
It’s the second-straight season for Texas Tech going to overtime in Week 1. The Red Raiders lost in overtime to Wyoming last year to open the season. But at least this year, Tech can breath a sigh of relief to improve to 1-0 heading into Washington State next week.
