Big 12 Week 4 Review
Week 4 in the Big 12 brought some great games and maybe a few surprises. Time to look back at the Big 12 week 4 competition.
ASU/Texas Tech: The Red Raiders welcomed Arizona State to the Big 12 Conference on Saturday night. It did not go the way that the Sun Devils wanted.
Texas Tech quarterback, Behren Morton, passed for 201 yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Mortons teammate, running back, Tahj Brooks, ran for 117 yards against a defense that was allowing 65 yards per game.
In the end, the Red Raiders (3-1, 1-0) spoiled the Sun Devils (3-1, 0-1) first ever Big 12 Conference football game by winning 30-22.
Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo scored on a couple of short touchdown runs. Quarterback, Sam Leavitt, also scored on a 1 yard rush. Leavitt was 22-38, 282 yards, and had one interception.
Utah/Oklahoma State: Utah rolls into Big 12 Conference play as the team most people believe will win the conference. However, the Utes started with Oklahoma State on the road which is not an easy place to win a game.
With no Cam Rising for Utah that made the task of winning on the road that much more difficult. Rising was held out due to some injured fingers on his throwing hand.
The Utes have an old school, next man up, physical style of play which has helped the Utes win a ton of games the last few years. On Saturday that was on display for Utah.
Utah running back, Micah Bernard, had 25 rushes for a career high 182 yards.
Saturday night at #14 Oklahoma State the #12 Utes had to use every one of those yards by Bernard to walk out of Boone Pickens Stadium with a 22-19 win.
“Made that more dramatic than we needed to, but we handled it well and got the win,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “Proud of our guys. Didn’t always play as smart as we needed to. Had a chance to put the game away completely, let them back in it.” (ESPN)
BYU/Kansas State:
BYU showed everyone in the Big 12 Conference they are not to be taken lightly. #13 Kansas State will be able to speak to that notion.
On Saturday night in Provo, Utah the Cougars defense forced three turnovers, had their quarterback throw for 149 yards, and had a 90 yard punt return for a touchdown that was the highlight of the day.
With all those positives working in the Cougars direction it was no wonder why BYU drove the Wildcats into the ground with a 38-9 victory. The win also snapped a five game losing streak to Big 12 opponents for BYU.
To get a win on the road means you have to take care of the ball. The Wildcats certainly did not do that. Kansas State threw two interceptions and lost one fumble. Three turnovers is not the recipe for success on the football field.
“We shot ourselves in the foot too many times.”(ESPN) Wildcat quarterback Avery Johnson mentioned after the game.
BYU moves to 4-0 with their next game at Baylor. Kansas State slides to 3-1 with their next game at home against Oklahoma State.
Colorado/Baylor: This may have been the most exciting game in the Big 12 Conference. It was a rainy, storm filled game in Boulder, but the elements did not get to Shedeur Sanders or wide receiver LaJohntay Wester in the final seconds of regulation.
Sanders rolled out to his left and hoisted the Hail Mary pass 43 yards to Wester who made a great adjustment and play to send the game into overtime.
Heisman hopeful, Travis Hunter, then forced a fumble at the goal line to help Colorado win 38-31. When the ball went out of the end zone the crazy, rain soaked fans stormed the field. However, the PA announcer for Colorado had to try and get the fans off the field as the officials reviewed the fumble play to see if Baylor running back Dominic Richardson crossed the goal line before the fumble occurred.
The officials ruled it was a fumble, so the celebration was on.
Shedeur Sanders was constantly moving around on Saturday. He was sacked eight times, but he did throw for 341 yards, ran for a touchdown, and threw for two touchdowns. His other superstar teammate, Travis Hunter, caught seven passes for 130 yards. On defense, Hunter also recorded three tackles.
Due to the fans being on the field at the end of game Coach Deion Sanders couldn’t locate Baylor Coach Aranda. Coach Sanders did apologize for not locating Aranda and shaking his hand.
Colorado moves to 3-1 overall, 1-0 in conference play. The Buffs head to Central Florida next Saturday.
Baylor slides down to 2-2 overall, 0-1 in conference play. Baylor hosts 4-0 BYU next Saturday.
Big 12 Conference Standings:
- BYU (1-0)
- Utah (1-0)
- UCF (1-0)
- Cincinatti (1-0)
- Colorado (1-0)
- Texas Tech (1-0)
- West Virginia (1-0)
- Iowa State (0-0)
- Arizona (0-0)
- Arizona State (0-1)
- Kansas State (0-1)
- Oklahoma State (0-1)
- Baylor (0-1)
- TCU (0-1)
- Houston (0-1)
- Kansas (0-1)