It was quite an interesting Week 2 of college football in the Big 12. There were some wacky results and wild finishes. In the end, there was some good, some bad, and some ugly. Let’s take a look at those:
The Good
Iowa State going on the road and beating the 21st-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes is a big-time “good” for the conference. The Cyclones used a field goal in the final seconds of the game to secure the win. Rocco Becht threw for 272 yards and two touchdowns while the Cyclones’ defense was strong as well, holding Iowa to just 99 passing yards in the game.
Utah was really good in the first quarter of the 23-12 win over the Baylor Bears. The problem was they didn’t score any more points on offense following that. The biggest reason for that is the loss of quarterback Cam Rising to injury during the game. Utah will now await the status of their signal caller, although early reports indicate the injury is not that serious. Micah Bernard was strong on the ground with 118 yards in the game.
The Bad
The Kansas Jayhawks being unable to go on the road and beat Illinois is part of the bad. Kansas came into the game ranked 19th in the nation, and were the favorites at a Big Ten team projected near the bottom of the standings. Jalon Daniels was bad, with four turnovers in the game. The offensive play calling was bad, not giving Devin Neal more than 14 carries while averaging over seven yards per carry.
The Arizona Wildcats went to the locker room at halftime trailing the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 10-6. Fortunately for the home team, they scored 16 second-half points and won the game 22-10. But, a pretty bad performance for one of the teams projected to battle for a Big 12 title. After going insane in Week 1 with over 300 yards, Tetairoa McMillan was held to just two receptions and 11 yards in this game.
The Ugly
Talk about ugly? The Cincinnati Bearcats went into the fourth quarter of a big-time rivalry game against Pittsburgh leading 27-13. The Bearcats allowed the Panthers to score the final 22 points of the game, including 15 in the fourth quarter to win the game. The Bearcats have got to be wondering what in the world went on for them to lose that game. Brendan Sorsby was pretty strong in the win, which makes the rivalry loss even more ugly.
Colorado had an ugly performance on Saturday as Matt Rhule and the Nebraska Cornhuskers made quick and easy work of the Buffaloes in this one. Shedeur Sanders finished with 244 yards a touchdown and an interception but went for -30 yards in the game on the ground. Colorado is going to have to figure out if they are anything more than Sanders and Travis Hunter because right now, there are many questions about the squad.