SAN ANTONIO — Fall is here, we’re four weeks into the college football season and Florida State isn’t on the wrong end of one of my jokes this week! They’re in the win column, 1-3 it is!
But enough about that. Let’s run around the great State of Texas and see what’s going down with our premiere college football teams.
UTSA
U-T-S-A!
They’ve evened their regular season mark at 2-2 with a lopsided win over hapless Houston Christian, and that’s the qualification one has to use in this case. They beat an FCS opponent, 45-7.
I was there for the first half and it was somewhat painfully slow moving with the score 10-0, Roadrunners, after the first 15 minutes. The second quarter was much better for the entertainment value; UTSA scored three touchdowns in the quarter against the lone TD for the Huskies.
The dam broke late in the second quarter with the ‘Runners leading 31-7 at the half, and the game, for all intents and purposes, in the books. It’s hard to really know what they accomplished in the game between the lines given the opponent, but they needed the season confidence, at the very least, after the previous two weeks. They got some of that.
Four Roadrunners running backs had at least six touches and they rushed for 269 team yards. They’ll need to lean on that moving forward, for sure. They now open conference play on the road at East Carolina this week, and Head coach Jeff Traylor is not downplaying how good he thinks the Pirates defense will be. The challenge will be front and center for QB Owen McCown and his Roadrunner offense.
The announced attendance for Saturday’s Alamodome game, by the way, was just over 20,000. ECU has had crowds averaging roughly 40,000 for their first two home games of the season. Looking forward to watching how things play out this weekend in Greenville, North Carolina. #BirdsUp
Texas
Yeah, so Arch’s first start wasn’t perfect.
But what about it? It was his first start. He may eventually make the NFL Hall of Fame, but again, it was only his first D-1 start.
He rallied to do solid things against the "money" opponent, Louisiana-Monroe. And besides, two Warhawks, Carl Fauntroy and Wydett Williams Jr., are gonna have something to boats about for life after being the first and second players, respectively, to ever record interceptions against college Arch Inc.
The ‘Horns now open SEC play by hosting Mississippi State on Saturday. The timing continues to be impeccable for getting Quinn Ewers healthy with the Bulldogs cellar-dwelling at the bottom of the conference standings, with only Kentucky below them. It should be another UT win with Manning under center for his second career start.
Texas then enjoys their bye week before the annual Red River Game, which seems to be the target Saturday for Ewers' return. #HookEm
Texas State
Bye week!
The 2-1 Bobcats enjoyed the weekend off before hosting Sam Houston this Saturday in San Marcos. The ‘Cats will be hungry with those continued expectations after falling to Arizona State their last time out.
Texas A&M
I tried to tell everybody last week: Look out for Bowling Green! The Aggies didn’t lose, but it was stressful as they held off the Falcons, 26-20, to improve to 2-1. Bowling Green, as a reminder, played Penn State the week prior to within seven points at Beaver Stadium.
Texas A&M now gets its first two SEC games in the friendly confines of the 12th Man with Arkansas and then top-15 Missouri visiting. QB Connor Weigman didn’t play with his throwing shoulder injury. We’ll find out soon enough if he’s back for the start of conference play or if Marcel Reed is back running the show for the second straight week as QB 1. #GigEm
Texas Tech
So maybe the road to the conference championship does run through Lubbock!
The Red Raiders jumped out 14-0 on the ASU Sun Devils and held on from there, improving to 3-1 on the season. And now they’ll get set for a weekend showdown welcoming in fellow 3-1 Cincinnati for some "Saturday Night At The Jones," as they like to say in West Texas.
Somebody in the Big 12 is gonna benefit from Texas and Oklahoma living life in the SEC, and might that be TTU? The Lubbock fans were ready to gut the operation following their bad showing at Washington State in Week 2, and after nearly losing their season opener to upstart Abilene Christian.
But things can turn quick in football from week to week. That’s suddenly the mentality in the 806. #WreckEm
Baylor
How does that happen? How? How, I ask you?
The Bears had worked hard to earn that victory, like 59 minutes and 59 seconds worth. But then… unbelievable! After a miracle of a Hail Mary touchdown from Colorado, the Buffs went on to win in OT, 38-31. And not that I was rooting against Coach Prime, but, you know, I was rooting against Coach Prime. His rhetoric just wears me out. Maybe it’s the gold headset.
I mean you have to give it to them: It was dramatic, but absolutely heartbreaking for the Bears on the opposite sideline. Baylor now plays three Top 25 teams in their next four, with Texas Tech sandwiched in the middle of all that. Will Head coach Dave Aranda’s seat start heating up in October if they rack up more losses than wins? I’d say you can definitely count on that happening if they don’t find success.
And if Baylor does pull the plug on him with another losing season, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if BU bigwigs make phone calls to San Antonio and maybe even San Marcos to inquire about the availability of either Jeff Traylor or G.J. Kinne. Wait, did I say that? #SicEmBears
Other observations...
Holy cow, they can play some offense at SMU. The 2020s version of the Pony Express is fun to watch. They put 66 points on 2-2 TCU over the weekend. Yeah, that TCU. The same TCU that played in the natty two seasons ago. The Mustangs are impressive 3-1.
And they still can’t wait for hoops season in H-Town. The Cincy Bearcats shut out the Cougars, 34-0, dropping Houston to 1-3. I’d prepare for more losses if I was them.
And Rice lost again, this time at Army, 37-14. The Owls have scored – wait for it – 42 points all season. That’s over 16 quarters. That’s less than one field goal per quarter (2.6 points per quarter, to be exact).
Looking forward to Week Five!
