Utah stands alone as Big 12 chaos heats up
The chaos didn't appear in many results across the Big 12 this weekend, but a peek at the standings ahead of the final month of regular season play points toward a prizefight between championship hopefuls.
All rankings reflect Week 9 AP rankings.
Baylor 41 | UCF 9 (Friday)
The bears kept their longshot chances at a championship game on life support with a dominating win in Orlando against the Knights. DJ Lagway threw for 319 yards and 4 touchdowns in Joe Klanderman's first game as interim head coach as the Bears defense held the Knights to three field goals by Will Stone. Baylor's road to a potential championship game berth will come through a gauntlet in November, but head-to-head matchups with three of the top four teams in the standings would help their tiebreaker case if results go their way.
No. 8 BYU 27 | ASU 20
Arizona State started a true freshman in quarterback Jake Fette and running back Cardae Mack for the first time in program history, and the Sun devils presented a tougher challenge for the Cougars than anyone expected, including our own panel of experts. BYU's defense managed to do just enough to hold off a second half charge by the Devils that saw Fette throw both touchdown passes of the game in an attempt to overcome a 17-3 halftime deficit. Arizona State's already slim conference championship hopes came to an end on the field in Provo, while the Cougars set up the first of possibly two Holy War matchups this season.
No. 6 Utah 49 | Cincinnati 25
Utah jumped out to a commanding 42-6 lead at halftime and held serve throughout the second half to remain the only undefeated team in the Big 12 conference. It was an all hands on deck effort as no one player overwhelmed the offensive performance on the way to 534 total yards of offense. Utah's 14 game winning streak is the longest active streak among FBS teams, and the longest for the Utes since winning 16 from December 20, 2007 to September 12, 2009.
No. 13 Texas Tech 34 | No. 22 Arizona 26
The only ranked matchup of the week for the conference featured a change of pace at quarterback as Tommy Castellanos got the start after Will Hammond struggled in the loss at Cincinnati last week. Noah Fifita did everything in his power to give the Wildcats a chance on the road, throwing for 417 yards and 1 touchdown, but the rushing tandem of J'Koby Williams and Castellanos combined for 292 yards on the ground, tallying 24 second half points to avoid a crippling second conference loss.
Iowa State 51 | No. 24 Oklahoma State 49
An elite uniform matchup produced an incredible shootout that leaves a surprising Oklahoma State team on the outside looking in for a chance at playing in the Big 12 championship game. Drew Mestemaker's 7th 300 yard passing game of the season wasn't enough to overcome Iowa State's 581 yards of total offense, as Kyle Konrardy's third field goal of the game at the buzzer was the final blow. Aiden Flora set a career high for the third time this season, gashing the Cowboys for 221 yards on the ground and two touchdowns.
Colorado 27 | Kansas State 24 (OT)
Dillon Duff's first career start for the Wildcats ended after just three series as Blake Barnett and Isaac Wilson battled beyond regulation for Colorado's first conference win of the season. Neither unit was particularly impressive, trading scores across all four quarters. A combined 13 punts came as a surprise despite 754 yards of combined offense, the difference coming with a defensive stand on Kansas State's opening possession of overtime, opening the door for the most important catch of the season for Charlie Williams, being the overtime winner.
TCU 22 | Kansas 16
The duel of the basement in the conference, TCU overcame a 13-0 halftime deficit despite being held under 300 yards of total offense. Max Carroll's 60-yard interception return for touchdown jump-started the Horned Frogs, holding Kansas to a 4th quarter field goal to allow Jaden Craig the chance to record the game-winning score with 1:11 remaining in regulation.
Week 10 At a Glance
No more bye weeks remain, all 16 members of the Big 12 will be in action for the final four weeks of the regular season. Rankings reflect updated AP rankings after Week 9 action, times listed in Mountain Standard Time.
Friday, November 6th
TCU at No. 24 Arizona | 8:15pm | ESPN
Saturday, November 7th
No. 7 BYU at No. 3 Utah | 10:00am | ABC
Iowa State at Baylor | 10:00am | FS1
Oklahoma State at Kansas State | 11:00am | TNT
Cincinnati at No. 17 Houston | 1:30pm | FOX
UCF at Kansas | 1:45pm | ESPN2
Colorado at Arizona State | 5:30pm | ESPN2
West Virginia at No. 13 Texas Tech | 7:30pm | ESPN
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