Big 12 football is finally back and the conference had a lackluster day. Iowa State and Kansas State lost to Louisiana and Arkansas State, respectively. To make matters worse, Kansas lost to Coastal Carolina for the second consecutive year, the third Sun Belt team to defeat a Big 12 team.
Outside of Texas, Oklahoma and West Virginia, Texas Tech was the only other conference team to win. However, a two-point victory over FCS level Houston Baptist provides little inspiration.
How the Longhorns, Sooners and Mountaineers got on with their opening weekend games:
Texas Longhorns vs UTEP Miners: Full game recap
Texas opened its 2020 season with a dominant victory over UTEP. Quarterback Sam Ehlinger had a historic day, having a career-high in passing yards and passing touchdowns.
Playing the entire first half plus one drive in the second half, Ehlinger set a career-high in passing yards and passing touchdowns. His final stats sit at 25-of-33 with 426 yards and five touchdowns. Backup quarterbacks Casey Thompson and Hudson Card played the majority of the second half.
Wide receiver was a major question entering the season and Joshua Moore answered them. The redshirt sophomore opened the game with a 78-yard touchdown. Ehlinger found him five more times for a total of 127 yards.
Tarik Black also had a solid debut, securing five receptions for 80 yards. No other Longhorn receiver had more than three receptions.
Spencer Rattler, defense shine in Oklahoma’s 48-0 win over Missouri State
Only one other Big 12 team compared to Texas’ opening day, and it was Oklahoma. Redshirt freshman Spencer Rattler had an incredible day, throwing for 490 yards and four touchdowns.
Months of building excitement led to a lopsided victory on Saturday night, as Oklahoma defeated Missouri State 48-0 in its season opener.
Spencer Rattler was at the center of an offensive supernova for Lincoln Riley and the Sooners.
Rattler met the occasion with rare fortitude for a redshirt freshman. The former five-star went 14-for-17 for 290 yards and four touchdowns, all in the first half of the contest.
RECAP: West Virginia opens 2020 season with an Eastern Kentucky beatdown
While West Virginia got a big win, it did not quite compare to Texas or Oklahoma. The Mountaineers blew out Eastern Kentucky, 56-10. Year 2 of the Neal Brown era got off on the right foot.
The West Virginia Mountaineers (1-0) kicked off the 2020 season at home this afternoon with a 56-10 win over the Eastern Kentucky Colonels (0-2) from the FCS Ohio Valley Conference.
Prior to the game, Neal Brown announced 11 players were suspended for the day, including starting inside receiver TJ Simmons, starting left tackle Junior Uzebu and starting center Chase Behrndt. Brown confirmed the suspensions were in a direct response to players violating a team rule and did not have anything to do with COVID-19. Those suspensions were lifted at the final whistle, so those players are free to rejoin the team and will be available for the next game.
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