THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE
Saturday, September 23 CT
No. 16/14 Oklahoma at Cincinnati* (FOX) 11:00 a.m.
SMU at TCU (FS1) 11:00 a.m.
BYU at Kansas* (ESPN) 2:30 p.m.
Texas Tech at West Virginia* (Big 12 now on ESPN+) 2:30 p.m.
Oklahoma State at Iowa State* (FS1) 3:00 p.m.
Sam Houston at Houston (Big 12 Now on ESPN+) 6:00 p.m.
No. 3/6 Texas at Baylor* (ABC) 6:30 p.m.
UCF at Kansas State* (FS1) 7:00 p.m.
- Denotes Big 12 game.
All times listed as Central.
Rankings listed as AP/Coaches.
CONFERENCE NEWS & NOTES
Twelve teams open Big 12 play this week while Houston and TCU finish their non-conference schedule after their opener last week.
“Big 12 Homecoming” will take place on the Cincinnati campus this Thursday-Saturday with three days of entertainment and community engagement
as UC hosts Oklahoma.
FOX’s Noon Kickoff is also heading to Cincinnati this week. It marks the third time in four weeks that a national pregame show has appeared at a Big 12 game.
The Big 12 is recognizing National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15-October 15 in celebration of the achievements, culture and diversity of the Hispanic community.
No. 3/6 Texas and No. 16/14 Oklahoma are in this week’s national rankings. Teams receiving votes are K-State, TCU, Kansas, BYU and UCF.
The Big 12 is 28-12 (.700) in non-conference games with two games left in the regular season.
Five Big 12 teams remain undefeated – BYU, UCF, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. The unbeaten teams have a cumulative scoring margin of +25.2 (39.8-14.6). BYU and KU square off this week in Lawrence.
Oklahoma QB Dillon Gabriel (offensive) and WR Nic Anderson (newcomer) along with BYU DE Tyler Batty (defensive) and Houston KR Matthew Golden (special teams) picked up Big 12 Football Week 3 awards.
Tyler Batty (BYU) and Ethan Downs (OU) were among the 11 FBS players named to the prestigious Allstate AFCA Good Works Team by the American Football Coaches Association and Allstate.
The Big 12 ranks second nationally with five of the 19 teams that are averaging 100% or over in home stadium capacity. TCU is second among all teams at 106.85 capacity followed by 5. Oklahoma (104.46), 6. K-State (104.01), 10. Cincinnati (101.85) and tie 19. Oklahoma State (100). Thirteen of 14 Big 12 teams are averaging over 92 percent capacity.
UCF is the nation’s leader in total offense (617.7) and second in rushing offense (299.3). Four other teams are in the top 17 of total offense, averaging over 500 yards: 8. Oklahoma (534.0), 12. Cincinnati (525.3), 13.
TCU (515.7) and 17. Kansas (500.3). Joining TCU in the top 19 of rushing offense are 8. UC (239.3), 15. KU (216.7) and 19. TCU (213.7).
Oklahoma is one of two teams (Syracuse) that are in the top five in scoring offense (3. 55.7 ppg) and defense (T5. 9.3 ppg). OU leads the nation in third down conversion pct. (.676) and completion pct. (.832).
Six Big 12 QBs rank in the top 21 in points responsible for per game: T2. Dillon Gabriel (OU) and Will Howard (K-State), 24.0, 9. Emory Jones (UC), 20.7), 11. Quinn Ewers (UT), 20.0 and T21. Tyler Shough (TTU) and Kedon Slovis (BYU), 18.0.
Baylor’s freshman running back duo of Dawson Pendergrass and Bryson Washington combined for 156 yards rushing against LIU.
The BYU defense held Arkansas to just 2 of 13 on third down after Arkansas converted 12 of 15 on third-down conversions in the 2022 game. Arkansas entered the game ranked No. 17 in third down conversions at 55.6 percent.
UCF is one of 10 teams in the Power 5 and one of two in the Big 12 to have held opponents to under 16 points in each of its first three games.
Wide receiver Xzavier Henderson finished with 140 yards on 12 receptions. It marked UC’s most catches since Kahlil Lewis at SMU in 2018, tying for the fourth-most receptions in a game in school history.
Houston LB Malik Robinson recorded a career-high 10 tackles, besting his previous mark of nine.
The scoreless first half for both teams was a first for Iowa State since Sept. 29, 1984 against West Texas State
Kansas improves to 3-0 on the year for the second consecutive season. Prior to last season, KU was last 3-0 in 2009 and the last time with consecutive seasons of 3-0 starts was in 1991 and 1992.
K-State QB Will Howard has thrown multiple touchdown passes in each of the last eight regular-season games, the longest streak by a Wildcat since at least 1982.
The Sooners recorded the second game in program history in which three players compiled more than 100 receiving yards (Jalil Farooq [126], Nic Anderson [120] and Andrel Anthony [112]). The other occurrence was in 2012 vs. Oklahoma State (Jalen Saunders [162], Justin Brown [146], Kenny Stills [103]).
Oklahoma State LB Collin Oliver finished the contest with a career-high 10 tackles, 1.0 tackles for loss, 1.0 sacks, one forced fumble and a pass breakup.
TCU RB Emani Bailey rushed for 126 yards on 23 carries for his second 100-yard game of the season.
Texas has scored 21+ points in a single quarter in all three games so far this season.
Texas Tech did not allow an offensive touchdown for the first time since against UTEP on Sept. 7, 2019. Tarleton State entered the game scoring more than 50 points in each of its first two games before being held without a touchdown in the 41-3 loss to the Red Raiders.
West Virginia intercepted three passes in its 17-6 win over Pittsburgh for the first time since October 31, 2020 (vs. Kansas State).
