Instant reaction to week 5 developments…
1. Chaos Conference
The Big 12 isn’t just drunk, folks. He is a drooling, stinking, stammering old man who staggers down the sidewalk in broad daylight. And it’s absolutely glorious.
We knew the conference would exude parity and unpredictability long before the first episode of its 16-team existence, but September was ridiculous.
Up is down, down is up, and logic has left the scene (as has the Oklahoma State offense).
The latest example came in the final game of Week 5 when Arizona, who was last seen getting run off the field by Kansas State, traveled to Rice-Eccles Stadium and hit Utah, who was last seen dominating Oklahoma State.
The Utes, picked to win the Big 12 in the preseason media poll, look down the standings — toward their bitter foe.
Brigham Young, picked 13th in that same media poll, is currently 5-0 and tied for first place with Colorado, which was picked 11th, and Texas Tech, which was picked ninth. All three teams are 2-0 in conference play.
At the bottom of the rankings we find the Cowboys, who were picked third, and Kansas, who was taken fourth.
Try to make sense of Kansas State, which beat Arizona, got blown out by BYU, then handled Oklahoma State for three straight weekends.
Try to explain how a team (Texas Tech) that needed overtime to beat Abilene Christian ended up tied for the top spot.
Or how a team (TCU) that lost at SMU by 24 points could turn around and win at Kansas by 11.
Of course, not all aspects of the conference were unpredictable:
— Utah quarterback Cam Rising is injured again.
— Baylor coach Dave Aranda is in the hot seat.
– Colorado cornerback/receiver Travis Hunter is supernatural.
— Iowa State is undefeated.
— Houston is horrible.
But that’s where the logic ends.
Is two more months of this madness too much to ask?
2. It’s more like it
We mentioned Arizona’s victory in part one, but it deserves additional context.
Yes, the Utes were once again without an uprising, and that cannot be ignored.
But the same team, with freshman Isaac Wilson at quarterback, broke through Oklahoma State a week ago in blazing Stillwater. So while Rising’s absence should be taken into account, it doesn’t explain the whole of Arizona’s 23-10 victory.
This was the Wildcats’ first full game of the season – the type of performance we saw from them late last year and the type of performance we expected to see, early and often, this year.
The defense stood tall at the line of scrimmage and made plays in the secondary.
Quarterback Noah Fifita was masterful, especially under pressure, and receiver Tetairoa McMillan had plenty of help in the air game.
Overall, it was exactly the overall performance that first-year coach Brent Brennan needed from his team after the lackluster performance at Kansas State two weeks ago.
And because the trip to Manhattan wasn’t a conference game, the Wildcats are undefeated in the Big 12 and well-positioned to weather the chaos.
3. Shine on blue grass
Washington State’s matchup with Boise State wasn’t among the marquee matchups of Week 5, but had high playoff stakes.
The Cougars needed a win to keep their faint hopes of making the College Football Playoff alive, while the Broncos are fighting for the automatic bid that goes to the top-ranked team in the Group of Five.
But the confrontation quickly turned into an Ashton Jeanty show.
The sensational Boise State back had a 64-yard touchdown run in the opening minutes and totaled 259 yards (plus four touchdowns) in the Broncos’ 45-24 victory.
He is now averaging 211.3 yards per game and 10.3 yards per carry.
Jeanty deserves a place in New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony.
4. Bowling in Boulder
The most complete performance of the Deion Sanders era pushed Colorado to within two wins of a bowl berth.
In fact, we’ll call it here and now: Combine the improving lines of scrimmage with an unexpected weakness in their schedule, and the Buffaloes are a lock for the playoffs.
At 4-1 overall, they have a significant margin for error heading into October and several imperfect opponents ahead.
Kansas State is 4-1 but hasn’t played well on the road, and the Oct. 12 game will be in Boulder.
Cincinnati is without a quality win and lost to the only strong opponent on its September schedule (Pittsburgh).
Colorado’s final month begins with a visit to Texas Tech – another winnable game – and the final two opponents, Kansas and Oklahoma State, are struggling.
In other words, CU simply needs a 2-5 record to make the playoffs and still has a barrage of winnable games left.
5. Abject brutality
Let’s take a moment of silence for the 2024 UCLA football season. May he rest in peace.
If you haven’t been paying attention, the Bruins opened with a close win against a bad team, Hawaii, and then got knocked out of the Rose Bowl by a good team, Indiana.
Fortunately, the schedule lightened up at that point and the Bruins headed to Death Valley to face LSU, where they were overpowered in the second half of a 17-point loss.
The sweet streak continued Saturday when Oregon visited and, with two weeks of preparation, took a 25-point first-half lead before pulling out the victory.
And next week is the easiest mission of all for UCLA, which travels across the country to take on Penn State in the Fox ‘Big Noon’ window.
Yes, after all that, the Bruins (1-3) now have the mission to play in the middle of Pennsylvania at 9 a.m. Pacific.
Welcome to the Big Ten.
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