TCU made a run at 62 places however toned things down in the final part, making due with an enlightening 55-27 win against No. 16 Oklahoma that closes the Sooners’ major-bowl expectations and raises serious worries about how the remainder of this season will go for OU and new mentor Brent Venables.
Positioned as high as No. 6 in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Mentors Survey only fourteen days prior, the Sooners have dropped two directly to open gathering play for the second time in three seasons and should move off eight successes in succession to land in Another Year’s Six bowl.
Preseason top choices to win the Large 12 notwithstanding a few significant changes in training and work force, OU is presently at the lower part of the meeting standings, bound by an incapable offense and an amazingly clumsy protection.
Given Venables’ experience as one of the top facilitators of the 100 years, this kind of breakdown is sufficient to cause a stir across the Bowl Development: TCU piled up 668 yards, with a mind blowing 361 coming on the ground, and had four scores of at least 60 yards in scoring the most focuses OU had permitted in a Major 12 game since a 59-56 success against West Virginia in 2018.
The Sooners are 0-2 in Big 12 play before even taking on the toughest parts of this year’s schedule. That includes rival Texas, upstart Kansas and Iowa State in October. In November, OU hosts No. 14 Baylor and No. 7 Oklahoma State.
Winners
Alabama
With a 28-0 lead cut to 28-23 and with No. 19 Arkansas seemingly rising to the occasion after a generation of ugly losses in this series, the Crimson Tide responded with two quick touchdowns to secure a 49-26 win in this huge SEC West matchup. One major topic of postgame conversation: What’s the story on Bryce Young? The reigning Heisman Trophy winner left the game in the second quarter with sprained shoulder and was replaced by backup Jalen Milroe, who finished with 91 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The Young-less offense turned to Georgia Tech transfer Jahmyr Gibbs, who ran for a career-best 206 yards.
Kansas
The story of the season keeps getting better. Every weekend is predicted to be the Jayhawks’ last as an unbeaten; every weekend, Kansas finds a way to beat teams and make a case for the Top 25. While a perfect September was built on a potent offense, Saturday’s 14-11 win against Iowa State was pulled off by the program’s best defensive performance in almost a decade. The Jayhawks allowed just 313 yards on 4.2 yards per play — both totals the best against a Big 12 opponent since 2014 — and are a lock for next week’s Coaches Poll.
Oklahoma State
The Cowboys are the favorite in the Big 12 and the league’s best hope of reaching the playoff after winning 36-25 at Baylor. The rematch of last year’s conference championship game saw one major difference: OSU quarterback Spencer Sanders had over 250 yards of total offense and two touchdowns after throwing four interceptions in his last meeting with the Bears. The loss drops Baylor to 3-2 and, like Oklahoma, into a tough spot when it comes to climbing back to the top of the conference.
Mississippi
The No. 11 Rebels are now 5-0 for the first time since 2014 and poised for a major move up the Coaches Poll after beating No. 8 Kentucky 22-19. The win showed how Lane Kiffin and this offense have moved forward without former quarterback Matt Corral by focusing even more on the running game and leaning on a vastly improved defense. The Rebels are now running the ball 63.6% of the time — and at 5.6 yards a carry, running it even more efficiently — while the defense is giving up just 4.6 yards per play, one of the top rates in the Power Five.
Kansas State
Another week and another solid Big 12 win for Kansas State driven by the combination of quarterback Adrian Martinez and running back Deuce Vaughn. After scoring five touchdowns in last Saturday’s win at Oklahoma, Martinez finished with 287 yards of total offense and four scores as the Wildcats held on to beat Texas Tech 37-28. Vaughn needs to be a major player in the Heisman Trophy debate after running for 170 yards to give him 638 yards through five games.
Wake Forest
Wake Forest rebounded from last week’s overtime loss to No. 5 Clemson with a 31-21 win at No. 22 Florida State that boosts the Demon Deacons’ chances of remaining atop the ACC Atlantic. While nearly crippled by the loss to the Tigers, those odds would’ve dropped down to almost zero had No. 21 Wake not chewed up almost seven minutes of clock in the fourth quarter with an 18-play drive that ended in a field goal, giving the Demon Deacons a two-possession lead. Quarterback Sam Hartman threw for two scores and has 12 touchdowns without an interception in three games against Power Five competition.
Losers
Texas A&M
The Aggies are by leaps and bounds the most disappointing team in college football. Plagued by the most frustrating Power Five offense this side of Iowa, A&M will limp into next weekend’s matchup with Alabama — only weeks ago the most anticipated game of the regular season — at 3-2 after losing 42-24 to Mississippi State. The list of issues is long and detailed, with none more pressing than the state of an offense that does almost nothing right. How much longer can Jimbo Fisher maintain control of this side of the ball before the situation becomes untenable?
Wisconsin
The Badgers can’t run the ball, can’t throw the ball and can’t stop turning the ball over. Everything else is going great, though. This sentence just keeps getting worse: Wisconsin managed just two rushing yards on 24 carries and committed three turnovers in a 34-10 loss to Illinois and former coach Bret Bielema. The program’s worst rushing performance since 2015 underlines how Wisconsin has missed its window for being a playoff contender and now sits somewhere in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten.
Minnesota
With Wisconsin and Iowa losing again, No. 23 Minnesota had an opportunity against Purdue to essentially put a stranglehold on the Big Ten West — the Gophers could’ve moved multiple games in front of those two preseason favorites and earned the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Boilermakers. Instead, Purdue made a huge interception in the end zone late in the first half and dominated in the fourth quarter to pull off a 20-10 win that will throw the division into chaos and cast Minnesota out of the Top 25. Five of the seven teams in the Big Ten West are 1-1.