Welcome back to the ABCs of college football in the state of Texas. 

Every Monday, Mike Craven from Dave Campbell’s Texas Football will walk you through quick hitters from an action-packed weekend of football. 

Week 6 featured an upset win by Texas A&M, a collapse by Texas and the continued success of UTSA, UTEP and SMU. TCU and Baylor also bounced back from Week 5 losses. 

Ainias Smith – Texas A&M wide receiver Ainias Smith led the Aggies with six catches for 85 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the 41-38 upset victory over Alabama. Devon Achane was also worthy with 10 total touches and important kickoff return for a touchdown. 

Belk – Dana Holgersen coached teams tend to garner attention for offensive success, but the Houston Cougars are on a five-game winning streak because of the defensive efforts by Doug Belk’s crew. The Houston defensive coordinator watched his unit record eight sacks in the Thursday night win over Tulane. 

Clayton Tune – The Houston offense was engineered by Tune. The junior completed 23 of his 36 passes for 288 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Tulane despite nursing a sore hamstring. 

De’Corian Clark – The UTSA tight end caught seven catches for 160 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Western Kentucky. It was the second straight game that Clark reached the 100-yard mark. 

Erik Ezukanma – For Texas Tech to be successful offensively, it needs the state’s best wide receiver to be a factor and he wasn’t in the loss to TCU. He didn’t catch his first pass until the second half and ended the game with only three catches for 23 yards. 

Frank Harris – UTSA’s quarterback is growing into an all-conference talent as a senior. In a high-scoring win over Western Kentucky, Harris passed for 349 yards and a school-record six touchdowns in the 52-46 win. 

Gerry Bohanon – Baylor rebounded from its loss to Oklahoma State last week with a 45-20 win over West Virginia on Saturday. Bohanon led the way with 336 yards and four touchdowns through the air. He added a rushing touchdown. 

Henri Colombi – Texas Tech’s quarterback was 23 of 41 for 344 yards and no touchdowns in the loss to TCU. 
Idle – Rice was off in Week 6. 

Jimbo – Texas A&M paid a lot of money to lure Fisher to College Station and the head coach proved why he’s worth that price in the win over Alabama. He created a tremendous game plan for his offense to combat a talented Crimson Tide bunch. 

Kendre Miller – TCU ran the ball for 394 yards and five touchdowns in the 52-31 win over Texas Tech. Miller led the way with 184 yards and three touchdowns on only 12 carries. Zach Evans added 143 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries. 

Leon O’Neal – The Texas A&M safety has received plenty of criticism in his years in College Station, and even on the recruiting trail before becoming an Aggie. He’s risen to the occasion in 2021 and he did so again against Alabama. O’Neal recovered a fumble, registered a sack and was tied for the team lead in tackles with nine. 

Matt Wells – Take away the Week 1 comeback win over the Houston Cougars and the 2021 regular season lacks highs for the Red Raiders and head coach Matt Wells. It feels like a bowl game is required for him to extend his time in Lubbock and Texas Tech is trending towards another lackluster season after Big 12 losses to Texas and TCU. Kansas is up next, but the schedule toughens late in the season. 

Navy scare – SMU found out why a game against the Midshipmen is never an easy proposition. Navy gave the Mustangs all it could handle, leading 21-7 at one point in the first half. SMU was able to overcome the deficit with explosive plays in the passing and running game to take a 31-24 win on the road. 

Overshown – The Texas defense was dominated in the second half by Oklahoma, but the performance from Longhorn linebacker DeMarvion Oveshown shouldn’t go unnoticed. The former safety came up with a sack and a blocked punt on the first drive of the game. He added eight tackles and a fumble recovery by the end of the game. 

Pass protection – The Longhorns couldn’t keep quarterback Casey Thompson upright in the second half of the loss to Oklahoma in the Red River Showdown. Thompson threw for 244 yards and four touchdowns in the first half. He managed 144 yards and one touchdown in the second half in large part because he was running for his life on nearly every pass attempt. 

Quarterback found – North Texas might have finally settled on a starting quarterback in the 48-35 loss to Missouri. Austin Aune passed for 305 yards and four touchdowns in defeat and Jace Rudder didn’t take any snaps away. 

Ronald Awatt – The Lubbock native raced UTEP into a 5-1 record with 159 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries in the win over Southern Miss. The junior is averaging 5.7 yards per attempt in 2021. 

Southern – Don’t look now but Texas Southern is on a two-game winning streak after a 35-31 win over Southern. Prior to last week, Texas Southern’s last on-field victory came in 2019. Quarterback Andrew Body passed for 338 yards and added 85 on the ground in the win. 

Tyquan Thornton – Baylor needs a No. 1 wide receiver to emerge, and Thornton might be the guy after a stellar performance in the win over West Virginia. He caught eight passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns in the victory. 

Undefeated – The only FBS schools in the state to remain undefeated after Week 6 are UTSA and SMU, and both won its games by a touchdown or less. UTSA survived an aerial assault by Western Kentucky, while SMU withstood the ground attack of Navy. 

Victory – Texas State needed a victory against South Alabama after starting the season 1-3. The Bobcats did just that in a four-overtime thriller to move to 2-3 on the season and keep bowl eligibility hopes alive. Four different Texas State players ran the ball 10 times or more in the win. 

Winters – TCU linebacker Dee Winters recorded 10 tackles in the win over Texas Tech. Safety T.J. Carter led the team with 12. 

Xavier Worthy – True freshman wide receiver Xavier Worthy was a bright spot for the Longhorns in the loss to Oklahoma. Worthy caught nine passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns in the defeat. 

Year in review – The FBS schools in Texas are off to a great start through Week 6. The five Power Five programs are a combined 20-9 with none of those teams holding a losing record. Overall, the 12 FBS programs in Texas are 47-21 on the year. Only North Texas, Rice and Texas State possess a losing record. The two teams in the American Athletic Conference – SMU and Houston – are a combined 11-1. The Conference USA teams are a combined 14-8 thanks to a 6-0 UTSA and a 5-1 UTEP. 

Zach Calzada – The sophomore quarterback struggled in his first two starts, but he etched his name in A&M history with a 285-yard and three-touchdown performance in the win over Texas A&M. He was poised and calm under pressure when he led the Aggies into field goal position late in the contest.