Big XII Football Recap: Week 2

The most entertaining game of the weekend featuring a Big XII team was not the Texas defeat of Alabama, that game was kind of boring, it was Texas Tech taking on Oregon. The game was tight the whole way. There was a late lead change. A late pick 6 and Tech still had a chance to tie the game late.

Overall the slate games featured several interesting matchups, Texas/Alabama, Tech/Oregon, and KU/Illinois. It also featured no doubt drivel, West Virginia/Duquesne, K-State/Troy, and BYU/Southern Utah. On the weekend the Big XII was 10-4.

Illinois 23, Kansas 34: You can find our recap of the game and View from the Stands for your review. In brief, It was nice to have Jalon on the field, KU’s defensive line looked good, and KU beat a Big Ten team they were given less than a 40% chance of beating when the season began. A good night of football for the Hawks.

Texas 34, Alabama 24: The headline game of the day saw future SEC foes square off in Tuscaloosa. The big surprise was not only that Texas won, but they only trailed in the game for about a minute and a half.

Oregon 38, Texas Tech 30: Texas Tech was in contention and leading a large part of the game. A late-game push by the Ducks that included 20 fourth-quarter points, the last of which was a pick-6, doomed the Red Raiders.

Utah 20, Baylor 13: In the first of two games Saturday that saw a future Big XII member play a current member, the Bears played the Utes tough, but extended their losing streak to six games. It sounds like the Bears were better than what we saw against Texas State last week. Maybe the streak ends next week against Long Island.

Houston 41, Rice 43: In one of two Big XII games featuring former USC quarterbacks at a new school, JT Daniels had a career day, passing for over 400 yards against the Cougars. At the end of the third quarter, Houston was down 28-7. A big fourth-quarter for Houston including two touchdowns in the final four minutes got the game tied and sent it to overtime tied at 28. But ultimately Houston could not take care of business in OT and they lost to the Owls.

Duquesne 17, West Virginia 56: After a bit of a slow start including a two-hour weather delay, the score was 14-10 midway through the second quarter. When the delay ended, the Mountaineers cranked it up. They scored three more touchdowns to take a 35-10 lead at halftime. The second half saw more of the same. Three more touchdowns gave to Mountaineers the cover and the win.

Southern Utah 16, BYU 41: The Cougars cruised to an easy victory over in-state opponent Southern Utah. Former USC quarterback Kedon Slovis led the way for BYU. The Cougars face their first formidable opponent next week when they meet Arkansas.

Iowa 20, Iowa State 13: So was that the definition of the CyHawk football? “Good” defense and very little offense. In the end, a blocked field goal and a pick-six were too much for the Cy to overcome.

SMU 11, Oklahoma 28: Four more touchdowns for Dillon Gabriel led the way for the Sooners in a win over the Mustangs. In a game where the SMU offense outgained the OU offense, a blocked punt and two turnovers made all the difference.

Cincinnati 27, Pittsburgh 21: Corey Kiner had 20 rushes for 153 yards as the Bearcats ran away and hid from Pitt. Cincinnati was up 27-7 after 3 quarters and Pittsburgh was unable to mount a comeback. Pitt only generated a little over 250 yards of total offense on the day.

UCF 18, Boise State 16: Unlike last week, the Golden Knights offense did not fly high. Stalled drives and turnovers caused problems for UCF. But one touchdown and four field goals, including a 55-yarder as time expired were enough to win on the blue turf in Boise.

Nicholls 6, TCU 41: I guess you call this a workman-like performance. The Horned Frogs faced a lesser opponent this week in Nichols State and TCU rolled as expected.

Oklahoma State 27, Arizona State 15: It was 104 degrees in Tempe when this game kicked off, but that was not an indicator of the offense you may have seen during the game. Those were not hot at all. The Cowboys scored 25 points on 78 yards passing and 128 yards rushing. Arizona State is not a good team, and the Cowboys were not much better.

Troy 13, K-State 42: What more can you say except Troy got the beatdown they paid for? Well, I am sure the guys over at Bring on the Cats have something.