The state of Texas is home to 12 FBS squads and 11 were in action during Week 12. Fireworks were found in every corner of the Lone Star State with TCU rallying to escape an upset loss at Baylor. UTSA clinched homefield advantage in the C-USA title game with a win over Rice. Texas A&M was unimpressive in a win over UMass. And Texas State and UTEP took a step in the right direction. We touch on it all in a snap-shot look at the landscape after Week 12.
TEN THOUGHTS
1. All they do is win, win no matter what: The one-point win over Baylor was the seventh-straight victory by 10 points or fewer by the Horned Frogs. They don’t need to impress anyone, even if the suits in charge of picking the four teams in the national invitational tournament say that they do. An undefeated record for a Power Five team is enough to crack the CFP, and TCU is currently two wins away from punching its ticket to the four-team playoff.
Five of the team’s 11 wins are by single digits. Only three are by more than 10 points, and one of those was against an FCS team. Wins over Oklahoma, Kansas, and Kansas State included injuries to the opponents’ starting quarterback. The three non-conference victories were against Colorado, Tarleton, and SMU. But none of it matters. The qualifiers aren’t important. Only the zero in the loss column.
Two wins separate TCU and history. No team in Texas has made the four-team playoff. It is amazing to think that this same team was 5-7 a year ago. The only regular season game remaining is Saturday at home against Iowa State. After that is the Big 12 championship game against Kansas State or Texas. Two wins put Dykes’ crew in rarified air. The only other Big 12 team to qualify for the playoffs is Oklahoma.
2. Another heartbreak for Baylor: College football is about fine margins, especially in an evenly matched Big 12. The Bears did almost everything right in the loss to TCU, except have the ball last. They outgained TCU, 501-442. They accounted for 25 first downs and were eight of 14 on third and fourth down conversions. Baylor ran the ball 46 times for 232 yards and three touchdowns against a TCU defense that only allowed 28 yards on 22 carries last week against Texas and Bijan Robinson. But it wasn’t enough, as has been the case for Dave Aranda’s team in 2022.
Baylor was 4-1 in one-possession games in 2021 on the way to a 12-2 record and a conference championship. The only loss was by two points to TCU. The Bears are 2-3 in one-possession games this season following the one-point loss to TCU. They’d be in Big 12 title contention again this season if that one-possession record was 4-1 rather than 2-3. Those extra two losses are the difference between an impressive or disappointing season. Fine margins.
3. Keep it simple, Sark: The Longhorns limped to three offensive points in a loss to TCU last week when the team combined for 28 yards rushing on 22 carries. Head coach Steve Sarkisian went back to basics in the Week 12 blowout win over Kansas by putting a little Bijan Robinson on nearly every play early in the win. Robinson, who will only suit up as a college player for two or three more games at the most, ran the ball 25 times for 243 yards and four touchdowns. He became the seventh Longhorn to rush for over 3,000 yards in his career in the process.
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