The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Big 12 Football Week 3 | Key Wins and Struggles Explained (2025)

Week 3 of the college football season is officially in the books, as it was another big weekend for the Big 12. The action started on Friday night in Houston and ended Saturday night in Tempe.

Here are the good, bad, and ugly from Week 3 in the Big 12.

The Good

Delicious Cupcakes

During the non-conference, we get our fair share of cupcake games, so I like to tip my cap to the teams who handled their business against lesser teams.

Baylor crushed Samford 42-7 in Waco despite Sawyer Roberston having his worst game of the season. But thanks to a solid run game and a defense that forced four turnovers, the Bears took care of business.

Speaking of taking care of business, Cincinnati destroyed Northwestern State 70-0. The Bearcats put up over 600 yards of offense, led by Brendan Sorsby, who threw five touchdown passes. Defensively, Cincinnati didn’t allow a single third-down conversion and allowed just 102 total yards.

Even after a lengthy weather delay, Texas Tech came out red hot against Oregon State. Behren Morton threw for over 400 yards and four touchdown passes. At one point, the Red Raiders had a 35-0 lead before letting up in the second half. I know Tech has yet to play anyone with a pulse, but they have looked very impressive so far.

Utah turned things around in the second half against Wyoming on the road after a shaky first half where they led just 3-0. In the first half, the Utes missed two field goals, had a blocked field goal, and fumbled once. Luckily, their defense was excellent and gave the offense enough time to get their act together in the final two quarters as they rolled to a 31-6 win.

Meanwhile, in Fort Worth, TCU took care of Abilene Christian 42-21. Josh Hoover threw for over 300 yards and four touchdown passes. As good as that was, their defensive performance in this one faded down the stretch, which was a little concerning.

Last but not least was Arizona State, which bounced back against Texas State with a 34-15 win. Sam Leavitt redeemed himself with an excellent performance, and Raleek Brown was great yet again, running the football. Also, Jordyn Tyson may be the best receiver in the Big 12. It was a much-needed win for the Sun Devils after a disappointing game against Mississippi State last weekend.

Iowa State

It was hard to call Iowa State’s eight-point win over Arkansas State good, but a win is a win. The Cyclones looked sleepy on the road after an exciting game against Iowa last weekend. Offensively, they were too cute at times with the play calling. Thankfully, the run game is what carried them between Carson Hansen and Abu Sama III.

The defense wasn’t much better in this one either. They let Arkansas State run for over 150 yards and allowed the Red Wolves to convert nearly 50% of their third-down attempts. I am not sure if it was a Cy-Hawk hangover or what, but Iowa State was lucky to leave Walmart country with a win.

Country Roads

After losing to Ohio last week, Rich Rod and his team found a way to get the job done against Pitt in the backyard brawl. To my surprise, the Mountaineers out-rushed the Panthers 174 to 47 and were the more physical team up front.

It was just a 7-3 game at halftime before both offenses came alive. Even after West Virginia rolled out two other quarterbacks in Scotty Fox Jr. and Jaylen Henderson, it was Nicco Marchiol who ended up leading them to big drives at the end of the game. And in overtime, the defense got the stop they needed to win it. It was a huge win for West Virginia, and I absolutely loved Rich Rod’s postgame comments. I was fired up.

Houston Found Their Quarterback

Through the first two games, Connor Weigman didn’t have to do much because he didn’t have to. But that is expected when you start the season by playing two cupcakes. However, against a respectable Colorado defense, Weigman showed the country why he was so sought after coming out of high school.

Connor completed 15 of his 24 passes for two touchdowns without an interception. He also added 83 rushing yards and two more scores on the ground to bring his touchdown total to four on Friday night. Houston has the defense to compete in the Big 12, and when Weigman plays like that, the Cougars are a team nobody should take lightly.

Arizona

Coming into the season, I knew Brent Brennan would be on the hot seat. Many folks in Tucson wanted him out after a disastrous 2024 season despite having some talent on offense. Instead, Arizona gave him another chance this season, and I think they made the right call.

The Wildcats look much improved compared to last year. Noah Fifita looks more comfortable in the pocket, and he had some help in the running game with Ismail Mahd, who ran for 189 yards against Kansas State on Friday night.Even when this team made mistakes between turnovers and penalties, Arizona fought back. When the offense needed to make a play, they did, and when the defense needed a stop, they got one. I know it wasn’t a conference game, but I was very impressed with the way Arizona played on Friday.

The Bad

Colorado

I had always wondered what Colorado would look like without Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, and it looks like the Buffaloes are finding that out the hard way. Colorado started Ryan Staub on Friday night against Houston. Staub was at one point the third-string quarterback and wasn’t very good, yet the coaching staff kept him in the game the entire time, which was surprising, to say the least. In Staub’s defense, he didn’t have much help because the run game was non-existent once again.

Defensively, the Buffaloes let Connor Weigman do whatever he wanted to against them as they allowed over 200 yards rushing to the Cougars. Last season, this team’s weaknesses were covered up by Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter. Without them, this is what Colorado looks like, and I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t look good to me.

The Ugly

Kansas State

I am at a loss for words on how bad this team is right now. Avery Johnson has regressed; the run game isn’t there like in years past, and the receivers aren’t on the same page as Johnson. The offense is a complete mess, and offensive coordinator Matt Wells isn’t making life for Kansas State fans much easier.

Meanwhile, the defense is as inconsistent as the offense, and the special teams are flat-out bad. This team plays down to their competition, no matter the opponent. And here they are sitting at 1-3 in the middle of September. This is what a broken football team looks like, and Chris Klieman better find a way to fix it or else his seat is going to start getting warm, if it isn’t already.