Week three is upon us in Big 12 country, and what better way to kick off a great weekend of football than some action on Friday night? Colorado went down deep in the heart of Texas to face Houston while Kansas State headed to the desert to take on Arizona in a non-conference matchup.
It was a nice little appetizer to prepare ourselves for Saturday. Between all the excitement and surprises, here are my four takeaways from Friday night in the Big 12.
Houston Found Their Quarterback
With all the great quarterbacks we have in the Big 12, it felt like nobody was talking about Connor Weigman at Houston. Weigman was a highly touted recruit from the Houston area who ended up at Texas A&M before transferring to Houston this past offseason.
Through the first two games, Connor 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 touchdown passes without an interception. He also added 83 rushing yards and two more scores on the ground to bring his touchdown total to four on the evening. While Connor Weigman may not be in the top five Big 12 quarterback conversation, he certainly is an upgrade from what the Cougars had last season.
Colorado Can’t Hide Anymore
Coming into the season, everyone was wondering what this Colorado team would look like without Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter. While we got a glimpse of that against Georgia Tech in week one, we have a much better idea after their game against Houston.
The Buffaloes decided to start Ryan Staub who was once their third string quarterback. He 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 nonexistent once again.
To make matters worse, Colorado’s defense wasn’t much better, allowing over 200 yards on the ground and they let Connor Weigman do whatever he wanted. 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.
Arizona Has Improved
After watching Arizona last season, I didn’t think that there as a chance in hell that head coach Brent Brennan would make it through the season. Sure, they brought back quarterback Noah Fifita, but they lost a bunch of pieces around him and loaded up in the transfer portal. Doing that can be hit or miss but I must admit that the Wildcats look a heck of a lot better than they did at any point last year.
Fifita looks more comfortable in the pocket, and he has some help in the running game with Ismail Mahdi who ran for 189 yards against Kansas State on Friday night. Despite making some mistakes between the penalties and two turnovers, Arizona found a way to get the job done. When their offense needed to make a play, they did and when their defense needed to get a key stop, they were able to get it. I thought it was a great team win for Arizona heading into conference action.
Kansas State is Broken
I don’t even know where to start with Kansas State, but I will do my best to try. First off, Avery Johnson doesn’t look like the guy everyone though he would be. In fact, he looks worse than he did last season which is mind boggling. He and his receivers are not on the same page at all. It doesn’t make things much easier for him without any sort of run game either. Outside of an end around to Jayce Brown, Kansas State rushed for 33 yards on 24 carries.
The defense and special teams continue to struggle and make mistakes .Between penalties and muffed punts, this team shoots themselves in the foot way too often. Kansas State is now 1-3 on the year and it feels like this season is already over before it has even truly started. 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.
