THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE
Saturday, October 21 CT
UCF at No. 6/7 Oklahoma* (ABC) 11:00 a.m.
Baylor at Cincinnati* (Big 12 Now on ESPN+) 11:00 a.m.
Oklahoma State at West Virginia* (ESPN) 2:30 p.m.
No. 8/8 Texas at Houston* (FOX) 3:00 p.m.
TCU at Kansas State* (ESPN2) 6:00 p.m.
Texas Tech at BYU* (FS1) 6:00 p.m.
- Denotes Big 12 game.
All times listed as Central.
Rankings listed as AP/Coaches.
CONFERENCE NEWS AND NOTES
Big 12 teams are one-third of the way through the nine-game conference schedule with six games on tap Saturday. Iowa State and Kansas have a bye.
“Big 12 Homecoming” will make its final stop of the season this week on the BYU campus Thursday-Saturday.
The Big 12 is one of the three leagues that has nine teams above .500. No. 6/7 Oklahoma and No. 8/8 Texas remain ranked in the top 10 in the national polls. Kansas, K-State, Oklahoma State and West Virginia received votes.
Oklahoma is one of 10 teams still undefeated after seven weeks of play and is bowl-eligible at 6-0.
The Big 12 leads the nation with seven of the 26 teams that are averaging 100% or over in home stadium capacity. Oklahoma is third among all teams at 104.74 capacity followed by 5. K-State (103.95), 6. TCU (103.43), 11. Cincinnati (101.85), 15. Texas (100.81), 20. Baylor (100.22) and T22. Oklahoma State (100.0). All Big 12 teams are averaging over 88 percent capacity.
Among conferences, the Big 12 is first in rushing yards per game (168.9), second in total yards (425.9) and third in passing yards (256.9) and scoring (31.1).
The Big 12 is allowing 23.7 points per game, third among leagues and currently the fewest by the Conference in the previous five seasons.
The Big 12 has had a 100-yard rusher 38 times this season and a 300-yard passer 21 times.
Houston, Iowa State and K-State are among the five teams nationally yet to lose a fumble. Oklahoma State has lost just one to tie for sixth.
Iowa State and Oklahoma defenses have each intercepted 12 passes to tie for second in the nation. OU ranks first in turnover margin (1.83).
Oklahoma ranks fourth among all teams in scoring offense (45.2) and seventh in scoring defense (14.0), one of just two teams in the top seven of both.
Freshman quarterbacks Josh Hoover of TCU (co-offensive) and Avery Johnson of Kansas State (newcomer) were joined by Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon II (co-offensive), K-State’s Kobe Savage (defensive) and Iowa State’s Chase Contreraz (special teams) as Big 12 football award winners for Week 7.
The Big 12 finished regular season non-conference play at 30-12 (.714).
Baylor: BYE. Plays Cincinnati Saturday.
BYU stopped TCU on fourth down in the first half to improve its fourth down defense to allowing just 2-of-8 this year. BYU is No. 4 nationally in the fewest 4th down conversions allowed (.250).
UCF: BYE. Plays at Oklahoma Saturday.
UC’s Deshawn Pace led the Bearcats in tackles for the second straight game as he tied his career-high with 10 and added one tackle for loss. The 10 tackles marked the third time in his career he has recorded double-digit tackles.
Houston QB Donovan Smith’s 145 completions are the most for a Cougar quarterback through six games since David Piland in 2012 (187). Smith’s 1,601 passing yards are the most since Greg Ward in 2016 (1,684).
Iowa State redshirt freshman Rocco Becht has passed for at least one touchdown in his first seven career starts, tied for the second-longest streak in school history going back to 2003 (Kyle Kempt – 8; Sam Richardson – 7).
Kansas TE Mason Fairchild hauled in a 30-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter for his first touchdown of the season and eighth of his career. He later scored his second of the season in the second quarter with a 44-yard touchdown, matching his single-game career-high (at Oklahoma, 10-15-22).
K-State’s QB Avery Johnson rushed for 91 yards and five touchdowns in addition to throwing for 77 yards on 8-of-9 attempts. His five rushing touchdowns tied a school record. It was the most rushing touchdowns by a true freshman in a game in school history. He is the only player in the nation this year with five rushing scores.
Oklahoma: BYE. Hosts UCF Saturday.
After last week’s turnover-free game against Kansas State, Oklahoma State has posted back-to-back games without committing a turnover for the first time since October 23-30, 2021.
The last two 400-yard passing games for TCU have been by quarterbacks in their first career starts. Redshirt freshman Josh Hoover threw for 439 against BYU (October 14) while Chandler Morris recorded 461 versus Baylor in 2021.
Texas: BYE. Plays at Houston Saturday.
The Red Raiders’ 99-yard scoring drive was their first 99-yard drive since Sept. 8, 2012 against Texas State.
West Virginia posted 391 passing yards, marking the first time the Mountaineers have eclipsed 300 yards passing since Sept. 17, 2022, vs. Towson.
