The Big 12 is as exciting as any college football conference in America. Every weekend there are comeback wins, last-minute victories, and incredible individual performances.
The Arizona State Sun Devils’ lone blemish this year was a one-score loss in Lubbock to the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Outside of that, the Sun Devils have spent the year laughing at a preseason ranking that had them dead last in the Big 12. ASU is 5-1, doesn’t play a ranked team until mid-November, and has a realistic shot at 10 wins on the season.
But standing in their way this weekend are the Cincinnati Bearcats. Cincy has a similar one-score loss to the Texas Tech Red Raiders in Lubbock, but they also let the No. 20 Pittsburgh Panthers, an undefeated Power 4 team, come back and beat them by one point. Cincinnati faces a similarly tough November, but also has a chance at really shocking the world by breaking through the nine-win mark.
The matchup between ASU and Cincinnati is the game of the weekend in the Big 12 because it will propel ONE of these teams to a year that far exceeds expectations and the other, well… the other may be who we thought they were.
This game features two of the most electric athletes in the Big 12 who aren’t getting enough national attention. The running backs, ASU’s Cam Skattebo and Cincinnati’s Corey Kiner, are different runners stylistically but they are similarly dominant. Skattebo is averaging 5.8 yards per carry and more than a touchdown per game. Kiner gets 5.9 yards per game himself.
The difference is going to come down to who gets more out of their quarterback, and Brendan Sorsby of Cincinnati may be the Sun Devils’ spoiler. When given time to throw, Sorsby has scorched teams. His 13 touchdowns to three interception ratio is strong and could easily be the difference maker in this exciting Big 12 matchup.