Much will be made this week about the loss University of Texas suffered at the hands of the Arkansas Razorbacks. Arkansas is a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the conference Texas and Oklahoma recently announced plans to join in 2025. The final score gave Arkansas a 40-21 victory, but the game was a lopsided affair the Razorbacks essentially cruised through. Texas was unable to score in the first half, and was down 33-7 late in the third quarter.
The defeat shows that Texas, while being a top football campus in Big-12 play, isn’t on par with some of the more elite campuses in the SEC. Arkansas is ranked #20 and is far from one of the best teams in the conference. The Longhorns may be in for a long and difficult future when they eventually compete against true powerhouses like Alabama and Georgia.
The biggest victories of the weekend came from Oklahoma, Baylor, and West Virginia who collectively outscored opponents 208-7. Both Oklahoma and Baylor shut out opponents on the way to crushing victories. Oklahoma is currently ranked #3 in the SEC while still a member of the Big-12.
TCU put up one of the more entertaining contests of the weekend, fending off a surprisingly feisty Cal team with a late touchdown run in the fourth quarter to win 34-32 over the Golden Bears. Quarterback Max Duggan overcame two interceptions and three sacks to put his team in the win column. Duggan threw for 234 yards and three touchdowns while running for another score. Running back Zach Evans had 190 yards on the day and a touchdown in the victory.
Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler had himself a field day with a five touchdown performance and a total of 243 passing yards against an over matched Western Carolina. Todd Hudson and Jadeon Knowles added two touchdowns apiece, while Kennedy Brooks punched in a one-yard score in the second quarter on the way to a 76-0 victory.
Baylor hosted Texas Southern and served up a 66-0 victory led by quarterback Gerry Bohanon. Bohanon threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for two more. Baylor accumulated a total of 714 yards of offense to TSU’s 281 combined passing and rushing yards.
Texas Tech beat Stephen F. Austin 28-22. Kansas State topped Southern Illinois by a score of 31-23. Oklahoma State triumphed over Tulsa by a score of 28-23. Kansas lost on Friday to Coastal Carolina 49-22 despite a +100 yard rushing performance by quarterback Jason Bean. Bean is the first Kansas QB to rush for more than 100 yards in 19 years.
Baylor and Kansas will face off this Saturday in the first Big-12 conference match up of the 2021 season. The game will be played in Lawrence, Kansas and will be broadcast on ESPN+. Baylor is currently 2-0, while Kansas is at 1-1. The two teams finished at the bottom of Big-12 standings last season with Baylor going 2-7 and Kansas finishing 0-9 overall.