SAN ANTONIO — Well we’re through six weeks of the college football season...
...and Alabama!! I mean, sorry, Vanderbilt!!! How about that? The "baseball school" beat an AP Top 25 team for the first time ever. And it was the No. 1 team in the land, no less! There’s no doubt you put that one in the Stunning Category department, but Vandy is also better this season. That's life in the SEC.
But enough about that. Let’s roll around the Great State of Texas and see where things stand after last weekend's games!
UTSA
The Roadrunners were on the bye. Every head coach will tell you, every single time (Jeff Traylor included), that their bye week came at just the right time. I’d buy that for the Roadrunners this week.
Coach Traylor said his players held a players-only meeting to hash things out after winning just two of their first five to start the season. The scheduled "Conquer September" plan didn’t work out. UTSA sits at 2-3 and resumes conference play this weekend at Rice. If they’re gonna make anything of this season, beating the Owls would be the perfect start for that. #BirdsUp
Texas
The Longhorns were on the bye week, too. Is everyone trying to stump my creative writing this week or what?
And speaking of the timing of having the week off, it was nothing more important than more healing time for starting QB Quinn Ewers.
The Red River Game is next up for Texas. The ‘Horns are never supposed to look ahead to the annual showdown with Oklahoma, and they should transfer that thought to not looking ahead to the following week... you know, when Georgia comes calling to ATX.
The ESPN Gamecast says that the Longhorns have a nearly 86% chance to win the game. Oklahoma is ranked 19th in the country, by the way. Texas may be the favorites, but we all know this is one of those throw-everything-out-the-window-type games. Looking forward to watching it play out! #HookEm
Texas A&M
Class dismissed! The Aggies were all over ninth-ranked Missouri in the first half Saturday in College Station. The work had been put in over the first two quarters as the Aggies rolled to an impressive 41-10 win.
Starting QB Connor Weigman had really efficient numbers: 18-of-22 passing for 276 yards with no interceptions. He added 33 rushing yards on five carries, too.
And here’s the deal. Would it be unreasonable to think that A&M could get to 10-1 in the next five weeks before their Nov. 30 showdown with Texas? (And thank goodness that game is back!) They’ll certainly have the opportunity to pull that off with the only current-ranked SEC opponent being LSU in late October, and they have that game at home.
I’m not trying to be that entirely foolish here. See the opening comments at the top about ‘Bama. Winning on the road in the SEC, no matter how good you think you are, or how good you look on paper, seems almost impossible sometimes.
But it’s fun to dream, right? Undefeated Texas and one-loss A&M at the Home Of The 12th Man. Can you imagine? I kinda sorta can. #GigEm
Texas Tech
Victory bells in Lubbock! Red Raider fans woke up Sunday morning seeing they are alone in first place in the Big 12 standings.
I woke up, too, after staying up until 1:30 a.m. overnight to watch the game in its entirety. TV money wins. They really did make TTU kick off at 10 p.m. CT. Welcome to the new Big 12!
But hey, credit Tech for getting it done in Tucson. The game flipped late with a missed Arizona FG that TTU then turned into three points of their own. And that was followed by the biggest play of the game as the ‘Cats had one last, late opportunity to retake the lead, but they fumbled and the Red Raiders recovered and subsequently turned that into a Tahj Brooks 32 yard TD run to cement the win (after he’d fumbled twice earlier in the game). Tech is 5-1 and welcomes Baylor next. #WreckEm
Baylor
Just as soon as it was a third-quarter game in Ames, it was not. The Bears (2-4) were down 26-21, and the next thing I knew they were down 40-21, a deficit from which they never recovered.
The schedule looks to lighten up the rest of the way with presently no ranked opponents from now to the end of the regular season. But then again, their remaining opponents may be relieved to see Baylor on their upcoming schedule.
Bears Head coach Dave Aranda is one of those Mike Leach, mad-scientist types that loves to watch lots of film and find all the solutions. The question simply remains how much time Baylor athletic brass will give him to figure it out. The Big 12 is as open to win as it has ever been with the exits of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC.
Will Aranda, though, still be around for the short haul... as in, next season, to try and make that happen? #SicEmBears
Other observations...
Houston won a conference football game... and that means they scored points! Welcome to the party Coach Fritz! The 2-4 Cougars took the in-state road trip to Fort Worth and knocked off TCU, 30-19.
Segway. What has happened to my man Sonny Dykes and those Frogs since playing for the natty two years ago? He needs to turn things back the other way, and in a hurry. And has anybody noticed SMU these days? Quietly, the Ponies are 5-1, including their weekend road win at Louisville. They’re at Stanford and Duke the next two weeks (that’s three straight road games) before getting three of their final four at home.
Pay attention to the kids in Dallas. And props to the guys from Incarnate Word. The Cards blew out Prairie View A&M, 56-28, improving to 3-2. UIW transfer QB Zach Calzada, by the way of Texas A&M, continues to put up big numbers for the Cardinals. They are halfway through a four-game homestand that concludes with Nicholls and McNeese the next two weeks.
Looking forward to Week 7!
