Week 7 is officially in the books. Eight of the 12 FBS teams in Texas were in action with Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UTEP, and Houston idle. It was a mixed bag for the in-state schools that did play with UTSA, Texas, SMU, TCU, and North Texas exiting the weekend with victories. Baylor started the week with a Thursday night loss at West Virginia, while Rice and Texas State suffered defeats on Saturday afternoon. 

10 thoughts

1. Bad news, Bears: The hope for Baylor in year three under Dave Aranda was that the offensive improvements allowed by quarterback Blake Shapen would mask any deficiencies lost to the NFL after the 2021 season. Shapen would make the Bears more explosive offensively, and when you couple that with an experienced offensive line, the assumption was that the offense would be fine, and it is. Baylor is averaging 37.8 points per game in 2022, up from 31.64 in 2021. 

A repeat of the Big 12 championship in 2021 is off the books, however, following a loss at West Virginia on Thursday night. The Bears are 1-2 in Big 12 play and 3-3 overall. Even reaching a bowl game might be difficult considering they’ll need to win three of the next six with teams such as Kansas State, TCU, and Texas remaining on the schedule as well as trips to Texas Tech and Oklahoma. 

The defense is the culprit, which is concerning considering that is Aranda’s area of expertise. The Bears didn’t allow an opponent to score more than 30 points once in 2021. An 18-game streak of holding opponents to 30 points or fewer that dated back to the last game of 2021 was snapped in the 36-25 Week 5 loss to Oklahoma State. West Virginia made it two games in a row by scoring 43 on Thursday. The lack of stars on defense is hurting the Bears. There isn’t a Jalen Pitre or a Terrell Bernard or a J.T. Woods to come up with a big play. 

In a competitive conference such as the Big 12, winning close games is the difference between battling for a spot in the conference championship game and struggling to reach bowl eligibility. Baylor was 4-1 in one-possession games last season. The team was 1-2 in Aranda’s first year, and they’re 1-2 in 2022 after the West Virginia loss. 

2. Mustangs find new gear: The hiring of Rhett Lashlee as head coach was sure to inspire high-octane offensive performances for SMU, but those were hard to come by during a three-game losing streak. The Mustangs only scored over 30 points once during that streak, which was 34 points at home in a loss to TCU. Turnovers and poor second half play doomed the offense, and the team, to losses on the road against Maryland and UCF. The Knights outscored SMU 31-0 to start the second half last time out for the Mustangs, a trend that needed to be broken at home against Navy. 

SMU did just that. Navy took a 14-13 lead early in the third quarter thanks to a referring blunder, which could’ve led to another second-half collapse. Instead, the Mustangs weathered the storm and ran away with the game thanks to a clean performance by quarterback Tanner Mordecai and his emerging wide receivers. Mordecai avoided throwing an interception while completing 20 of 27 passes for 336 yards and three touchdowns. A wide receiver not named Rashee Rice led the team in receiving when Dylan Goffney broke out for four catches for 116 yards and a score. 

3. Win and advance for UTSA: The Roadrunners exited the non-conference schedule beat up thanks to games against Houston, Army, and Texas to start the season. The collateral damage continues to plague UTSA as Jeff Traylor’s team started a former defensive lineman at left tackle in the road game Friday night against FIU. It wasn’t pretty, but the Roadrunners left with a win to keep their C-USA record at a perfect 3-0. The truth is that UTSA needs an off week to recover, but one more game stands in its way – a home contest against a North Texas team that prevented the Roadrunners from finishing last year with an undefeated regular season. 

4. Bull(y) frogs: Sonny Dykes and offensive coordinator Garrett Riley get the reputation as pass-first coaches and Max Duggan is a dark horse Heisman candidate due to his exploits, but don’t forget about the TCU running game. The Horned Frogs bullied Oklahoma State in a double overtime win at home to remain undefeated, especially in the second half. They weren’t a physical, tough bunch in the final years under Gary Patterson. The guys in purple developed a reputation as a soft program who couldn’t run the ball and had a hard time stopping the run, which is why programs such as Oklahoma State passed TCU in Patterson’s twilight years. 

TCU is shedding that reputation with each passing week under Dykes. TCU ran the ball 43 times for 224 yards and three scores in the win over Oklahoma State. The group averaged 5.4 yards a rush when the number is adjusted for sacks. Kendre Miller led the way with 104 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 22 carries. Emari Demercado added 62 on nine carries. Duggan finished with 57 yards and a touchdown on nine totes. 

And the rush defense stepped up in crunch time. Two early touchdown runs by Sanders skewed the stats, but the Horned Frogs defense still only allowed 141 yards on 41 attempts. The Cowboys only managed 59 rushing yards on 22 attempts in the second half. TCU allowed 222 yards rushing a game last season, and 5.8 yards per rush. That number is down to 135.2 yards per game and 3.7 yards a rush in 2022. Oklahoma State gained 141 rushing yards on 3.4 yards a carry average. 

5. Culture win at Texas: The 2021 version of the Longhorns lose the Week 7 home game to Iowa State. Texas wasn’t up for a fist fight in its previous versions. That’s never been Texas’ style, even in the glory years. The 24-21 win over the Cyclones proved that Steve Sarkisian’s bunch can win ugly games a week after they blew out a rival. In my mind, the win over Iowa State was more impressive. Quinn Ewers struggled, but never panicked. He only threw for 172 yards on 26 attempts, however, he passed for three touchdowns to zero interceptions. Much was made of the five-star culture vs. five-star talent quote in 2021, but the best of Texas brings both to the table. A win over a struggling Iowa State team isn’t evidence that Texas is back, but it is proof of concept. 

6. Owls grounded by turnovers: Rice overcame three interceptions thrown by quarterback T.J. McMahon in a Week 3 win over Louisiana that put the Owls on track for a bowl berth. They couldn’t repeat that trick in a 17-14 defeat at FAU on Saturday afternoon when McMahon threw three more interceptions. The junior has now thrown three interceptions in three of the team’s six games. Rice is 1-3 when McMahon throws an interception. The Owls are 2-0 when he avoids a pick. A trip to the postseason rides, at least in large part, on McMahon’s ability to avoid turnovers. 

7. North Texas is a C-USA contender: The Mean Green keep passing tests in Conference USA play. The latest was an A+ in a 20-point win at home against La Tech. Seth Littrell’s squad is now 4-3 on the season and 3-0 in C-USA play with a road trip to UTSA – also 3-0 in conference play – set for Week 8. A win over the Roadrunners puts North Texas in the driver’s seat to win the West and reach a conference championship game. The Mean Green have outscored conference opponents 123-68. 

8. Bobcats defense is legit: Sure, Texas State couldn’t follow up the App State upset with a consecutive Sun Belt win. Troy held serve at home to win 17-14 and remain in conference contention. The Bobcats aren’t quite there offensively, but the defense is competing at a conference championship level. Troy turned the ball over on the first drive and only went 3-of-12 on third down. Texas State gave up yards without allowing points. That’s the modern way of playing elite defense. It is a good sign for Jake Spavital’s program that it can leave a road game with a three-point loss and genuinely feel like it was a game they should’ve won. That hasn’t been true in years past. 

9. The Big 12 is fine: As I sat in a packed Amon G. Carter Stadium on the campus of TCU watching the Horned Frogs beat Oklahoma State in double overtime, one thing became clear – the Big 12 won't retire to irrelevance when Texas and Oklahoma leave the conference. TCU and Oklahoma State are top-20 teams. Kansas State is an upset loss to Tulane away from being undefeated and in the College Football Playoff discussion. Baylor is set up to win long-term. Joey McGuire is already improving the stock at Texas Tech, on and off the field. Add in newbies Cincinnati, BYU, UCF, and Houston, and what conference is deeper than the Big 12. If parity is what we actually want, look no further. And with an expanded playoff on the horizon, at least one representative is nearly guaranteed every season. 

10. Inside track to Big 12 championship game: The Big 12 felt like a four-team race entering Week 7 with TCU and Oklahoma State joining Kansas State and Texas as possible finalists for the Big 12 championship game in December. The double-overtime win for TCU gives the Horned Frogs the inside track at one of the two spots in December. TCU is now 3-0 in conference play with a home game against Kansas State schedule for Week 8. The Horned Frogs must still travel to Texas and Baylor, as well. But the comeback win over Oklahoma State provides the Horned Frogs with some wiggle room in case of an eventual loss. A tiebreaker over Oklahoma State could prove pivotal for TCU.