Week 8 of the college football season was a mixed bag for the 12 FBS programs from the Lone Star State. The five Power Five programs went 3-2 with TCU, Baylor, and Texas Tech leaving the weekend with victories. Texas and Texas A&M both loss. The G5 level was also up and down with teams such as UTSA, Rice, and UTEP collecting important conference victories while North Texas and Texas State suffered set backs. 

Here are 10 thoughts from a loaded weekend of action. 

Longhorns suffer another collapse: Forgive Texas fans if the burnt orange faithful is experiencing a form of déjà vu resembling a bad trip. The road continues to treat the Longhorns poorly in Steve Sarkisian’s tenure. The loss at Oklahoma State drops his record to 1-6 in true road games as head coach in Austin. It was the seventh time in his 20-game tenure that they lost a game after leading at halftime. 

Texas is 0-2 on the road in 2022, and both followed a familiar script. The Longhorns led 24-10 at halftime against Texas Tech before losing falling 37-34 in overtime in their last scheduled trip to Lubbock. They only managed 10 points in the second half in that defeat. Texas led Oklahoma State 31-17 with 3:43 left in the third quarter before the Cowboys stormed back to win 41-34. 

The most pressing concern for Texas entering its open week is at quarterback. Quinn Ewers struggled while completing 19 of 49 attempts for 319 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. He was often protected by an offensive line consisting of three true freshmen. And his wide receivers dropped a few passes, to be fair, but it was the worst performance of his short career. The week before against Iowa State wasn’t much better. This serves as a reminder to how young and raw the talented Ewers remains. He’s essentially a true freshman in his fourth start. There will be peaks and valleys. 

Aggies playing for 2023: Expectations change when a school gives a head coach a blank check. Texas A&M can’t be satisfied with eight or nine-win seasons. Jimbo Fisher is making enough money, and signing good enough recruiting classes, to compete for conference championships. Competing for conference championships in the SEC means playing for national titles in the College Football Playoff. 

Texas A&M entered the 2021 and 2022 season ranked sixth in the nation. The Aggies were 8-4 last year as the offense struggled to find consistency at the quarterback position. Even with the return of a heathy Haynes King, the addition of transfer Max Johnson, and the signing of five-star Conner Weigman didn’t jump start the offensive side of the ball. 

A 30-24 loss to South Carolina in Week 8 dropped them to 3-4 on the season with a home game against Ole Miss in Week 9. Reaching a bowl game isn’t a guarantee, but it is time to play as many young players as possible – including Weigman – to see what this team looks like in 2023. 

TCU overcomes another hole: The Horned Frogs remained perfect in 2022 with a 38-28 victory over Kansas State. TCU overcame a 28-10 deficit by scoring 28 straight points to end the game. The defense didn’t allow a single point following the 8:09 mark of the second quarter. Max Duggan threw for 280 yards and three touchdowns, while Kendre Miller added 153 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. TCU was down 24-7 at one point in the second quarter in last week’s win over Oklahoma State. TCU is firmly in the driver’s seat to reach the Big 12 championship game, but the Horned Frogs need to fix those slow starts. 

Richard Reese carries Bears in breakout performance: Any doubt remaining that the true freshman running back was the present and future for the Baylor offense dissolved in a coming out party in a 35-23 win over Kansas. The 5-9, 175-pound product of Bellville ran the ball 31 times for 186 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also caught two passes for 26 yards. Reese accounted for 68.1 percent of the Bears’ rushing offense and 48.5 percent of the total yards gained from scrimmage. 

Baylor was cruising at halftime thanks to a 28-3 lead. Kansas then scored the first 20 points of the second half to cut the Baylor lead to 28-23 with 6:29 left in the game. Baylor’s offense turned to the running game, specifically Reese in the game-sealing drive. A two-yard touchdown run by Reese with 2:37 left in the fourth quarter provided the Bears with a two-possession lead to put the Jayhawks to bed. 

Jeff Traylor, Frank Harris know how to win: Any hair remaining on the UTSA head coach’s bald head are long gone by now thanks to the numerous close calls in his collegiate head coaching career. In 34 games as UTSA’s head coach dating back to the start of the 2020 season, the Roadrunners have played 22 one-possession games. UTSA, thanks in large part to clutch performances by its quarterback, are 16-6 in those contests. The group is 3-1 in such games during 2022. 

Harris is unflappable. The senior was 27 of 39 for 238 yards and two touchdowns. He threw an interception on the first drive of the game and was mostly perfect after that despite a UTSA offensive line held together by duct tape. He also ran the ball 16 times for 75 yards. Traylor calls Harris “the most improved player I’ve ever coached” and that is a good thing for UTSA. There is no way the Roadrunners win the 2021 C-USA championship or sit at 4-0 in C-USA play in 2022 without its star quarterback. He’s the most important player in school history as the Roadrunners compete in their 12th football season. 

Run game dictates Mean Green success, failure: The recipe for North Texas success is straightforward: Pound the opponent into submission. In its four wins the Mean Green averaged 321.5 rushing yards a game, including three games of 300 or more rushing yards. That average dips to 123.75 in losses, including 22 yards in the loss to UTSA. North Texas accounted for just 22 yards on 21 carries without a rushing touchdown a week after setting a school record with 475 rushing yards in a win over La Tech. 

Houston rebounds: An off week can revive a struggling program, and that appeared to be the case for the Houston Cougars in Week 8. Dana Holgorsen’s program was 3-3 and falling out of the AAC race before a furious comeback win over Memphis in Week 6. After an idle week last Saturday, the Cougars came out swinging against Navy. The Cougars went back to basics, relying on quarterback Clayton Tune and wide receiver Nathaniel Dell early in the game. The Cougars took a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 21-7 lead to halftime. Tune threw five touchdowns to zero interceptions in his best performance of 2022. 

Mustangs struggle to play four quarters: A college football game lasts 60 minutes and four quarters. The Mustangs are struggling with that concept. SMU is now 3-4 and three of the four losses can be attributed to long stretches of ineffective play. The Mustangs fell in a 28-7 hole in a loss against TCU. UCF outscored SMU 31-0 to start the second half. And on Saturday, Cincinnati led 17-0 before the Mustangs reached second gear. They’re not a bowl team or an AAC contender until they consistently play four quarters of football. 

UTEP, Rice take step towards bowl eligibility: Expectations are relative. At UTEP and Rice, reaching a bowl game is a sure-fire way to keep momentum inside of a program. The Miners reached one in 2021 and hope to take consecutive bowl trips for only the second time this century. Rice aims to boast bowl eligibility for the first time in the Mike Bloomgren era. Both teams took steps in the right direction with dramatic wins in Week 8. 

Rice (4-3) overcame first-half fumbles to knock off Louisiana Tech by one point in overtime. The Owls erased a 10-point deficit in the second half and eventually won in overtime after stopping the Bulldogs on a two-point conversion. Quarterback TJ McMahon threw three touchdowns and zero interceptions. UTEP (4-4) pulled a 24-21 upset win over FAU in El Paso thanks to a 27-yard field goal by Gavin Baechle as time expired. 

Offense lets down the Bobcats: Themes emerge as college football seasons unfold and one is cracking the surface in San Marcos. The Bobcats lost their second consecutive game despite not allowing more than 20 points in either contest. Last week, it was a 17-14 loss at Troy when the Bobcats only managed 13 first downs and 293 total yards. On Saturday, Texas State only managed 14 points for the second straight week in a 20-14 loss to Southern Miss at home. The Bobcats accounted for 12 first downs and 243 total yards, including -6 yards on the ground.