#12 Oklahoma State 58, Central Michigan 44

Spencer Sanders would account for six TDs on the night, four passing and two rushing. He finished 28-41-0 FOR 406 yards passing and would also lead the team in rushing along with the longest run from scrimmage, although this was an anemic effort for that part of the offense for most of the night until Dominic Richardson got a few chunk plays on OSU’s last TD drive. Sure, Central Michigan stacked the box, but the offensive line looks a little suspect and the running backs don’t look explosive at this point.

Kansas 56, Tennessee Tech 10

Jalon Daniels threw for 189 yards and 1 touchdown. RB Devin Neal had a day running for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns. On the other side of the ball, the KU defense was able to keep Tennessee Tech to 97 passing yards and 93 rushing yards. The defense was widely regarded as the weak spot for this squad so Coach Leipold has to feel good about that output.

TCU 38, Colorado 10

The Frogs opened up the second half with back-to-back scores led by Chandler Morris under center. Morris had a slow start to the ballgame but found his way in the second half. After putting up 111 yards on 13/20 passing, Morris went down with an apparent knee injury. He wouldn’t return to the contest as Max Duggan stepped in, but Frog fans got some good news post-game. The Action Network’s Brett McMurphy reports that the Morris injury isn’t nearly as serious as it first appeared, and the week 1 starter could return within a week

#9 Oklahoma 45, UTEP 13

The Oklahoma Sooners got the 2022 season off to a solid start in Brent Venables’ first game as head coach, spanking the UTEP Miners, 45-13, at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. OU built a 21-0 lead about eight minutes into the game and never looked back. The Miners threatened to make things interesting late in the first half, but a 28-yard scoring pass from quarterback Dillon Gabriel to tight end Brayden Willis with 55 seconds left in the second quarter snuffed out any signs of life on the opposing sideline.

#10 Baylor 69, Albany 10

The running game wasn’t as dominant as we came to expect last season, but overall it was respectable. Taye McWilliams got the most carries and finished with 12 rushes for 45 yards. Freshman Richard Reese was the hot hand though, as he exploded in the 4th quarter to finish with 9 rushes for 62 yards and 2 TDs. Craig “Sqwirl” Williams added in 3 rushes for 13 yards, including a touchdown. We also got a look at a familiar play with Monaray Baldwin, who took an end around 50 yards for a touchdown. Baldwin also added in 4 catches for 84 yards and a touchdown.

Iowa State 42, Southeast Missouri State

The Iowa State Cyclones took care of business in Jack Trice Stadium this afternoon, beating South Eastern Missouri State by a final score of 42-10.

Kansas State 34, South Dakota 0

Malik Knowles set the tone on the first play of the game, racing for a 75-yard score on a jet sweep, and the Kansas State Wildcats just kept rolling to a 34-0 victory over the South Dakota Coyotes at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. K-State outgained South Dakota 392-270, but 85 of the Coyotes’ yards came against the backups in the fourth quarter. The Cats ran for 297 and threw for 95; South Dakota’s offense was almost perfectly balanced at 131-139. K-State was only penalized four times for 35 yards, while South Dakota ate nine for 75; the Cats won time of possession with 32:19.

Texas Tech 63, Murray State 10

Donovan Smith came off the bench to throw four touchdown passes, Tahj Brooks ran for three scores and Texas Tech blew out lower-division Murray State 63-10 in coach Joey McGuire’s debut Saturday night.

Texas 52, UL Monroe 10

The start of the 2022 season for the Texas Longhorns more than went to plan in a 52-10 win over the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks on Saturday at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian told his team before the game that if the Longhorns won the coin toss, they would defer to the second half, the defense would get a three and out, and, if they got the punt protection look they thought they would, they would block the punt.

POWER RANKINGS

Reminder - power rankings are fluid and based off of numerous factors, one of which is how much I’ve drank before I put these together. Don’t take them too seriously.

1. Kansas - Kansas did what good teams do to bad teams. Demolish them. Its been a while since Kansas has done that.
2. Baylor - hehe. nice.
3. Oklahoma - The new is the same as the old. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
4. TCU - played a P5 program and won handily.
5. Oklahoma State - played a tougher opponent than all but two teams, but still gave up a ton of points. Something to watch.
6. Texas - Quinn Ewers
7. Kansas State - Nice opening day shutout.
8. Texas Tech - Good opening day win for their new head coach.
9. West Virginia - played a rival. On the road. Had a chance to win. If it wasn’t so similar to a lot of other losses, they’d be ranked higher.
10. Iowa State - played a directional state school. We don’t reward teams for that.

Future Conference Rivals Scores

#24 Houston 37, UTSA 35

Houston rallied from a 14-point deficit in the second half at the Alamodome to snap UTSA’s 10-game home winning streak. “They’ve got that 12th man on their side,” Roadrunners coach Jeff Traylor said. “He’s the best player in college football. His name is Mo — Mo Mentum. We gave it to them, and you can’t give Houston momentum.”

#25 BYU 50, South Florida 21

The No. 25 Cougars scored 38 straight points in the first half and cruised to a 50-21 victory over South Florida on Saturday night. “I thought we did a lot of good things, we have a couple of things we will need to get fixed,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “But overall I was happy with our performance and with the way we handled the delay.”

UCF 56, South Carolina State 10

Plumlee had a good game statistically, throwing for 308 yards and four touchdowns on 20/31 passing while running 15 times for 86 yards and another touchdown. He showed a good rapport with Alabama transfer Javon Baker. Baker had a team-high five catches for 84 yards and a touchdown. He was also targeted a team-high nine times but did drop a couple of passes.

#19 Arkansas 31, #23 Cincinnati 24

Arkansas’ defense was hit with a solid aerial attack. Ben Bryant, who started his career as a Bearcat before transferring to Eastern Michigan and back for this season, overthrew a few wide open receivers early in the game. However, Fickel’s team made the right adjustments in order to move the football better in the second half.