Saturday Blitz
Fansided

Three Big 12 matchups to watch in Week 5: The Buffs, (Cow)boys, and beyond

Week 5 is full of Big 12 matchups that have the potential to start to separate the contenders from the pretenders in the conference. Here are my three top three games to watch on Saturday.

By Michael Carpenter

Utah v Arizona
Utah v Arizona / Rebecca Noble/GettyImages
facebooktwitterreddit

1. Arizona @ Utah

Cole Bishop, Clayton Isbell, Tetairoa McMillan
Wildcats wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan hauls in a pass in a 2023 matchup between Arizona and Utah / Chris Gardner/GettyImages

Members of the PAC-12 last season, the Arizona Wildcats and the Utah Utes will face off for the first time as members of the Big 12 this weekend and Utah is looking for revenge after a 42-18 loss to the Wildcats.

Currently 4-0, the Utes have been able to start the season undefeated despite missing senior quarterback Cameron Rising the last two weeks. With his status still up in the air, Utah must rely on their run game and stout defense to lead them to victory on Saturday night.

The Wildcats are coming off a bye after their first loss of the season to Kansas State and they are looking to right the ship after a shaky start to their Big 12 debut season. With one of the best wide receivers in the nation in junior Tetairoa McMillan, sophomore Quarterback Noah Fifita will look to right the ship vs Utah.

Will Arizona re-insert themselves in the Big 12 race or will Utah continue to show they are the team to beat in the conference?

2. Colorado @ UCF

Yahya Attia
Celebration after dramatic overtime victory in Baylor v Colorado matchup / Andrew Wevers/GettyImages

Coming off a thrilling win versus Baylor last weekend, the Colorado Buffaloes will go on the road to take on UCF as they look to continue stacking wins in the Big 12.

Led by star quarterback Shedeur Sanders and dual-threat Travis Hunter, the Buffaloes have started the season 3-1 and look like the team they have been hyped up to be after a disappointing showing against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Despite virtually no success running the ball averaging only 68.8 yards per game, they have one of the top passing attacks in the conference but they will need their defense to step up the most on Saturday.

UCF is home to the top rushing attack in Divison-1 football averaging 375.7 yards per game on the ground and putting up a Big 12-best 45.7 points per game. While they have had a soft schedule to begin the season, those numbers are eye-popping.

This game has all the components of a high-scoring offensive showdown in Flordia on Saturday afternoon.

3. Oklahoma State @ Kansas State

Avery Johnson, Aisea Moa
Wildcats quarterback Avery Johnson during Kansas State v Brigham Young / Chris Gardner/GettyImages

Oklahoma State and Kansas State are both coming off their first losses of the 2024 season and are looking to rebound in Week 5.

Thought to be a potential Heisman candidate to begin the season, Wildcats quarterback Avery Johnson has been underwhelming this season and is coming off his worst start so far going 15-28 for 130 and two interceptions in a 38-9 beatdown at the hands of BYU.

With a sputtering offense and middle-of-the-pack defense, Kansas State will look to turn things around versus one of the worst defenses in the Big 12: Oklahoma State.

The Cowboys' defense is giving up a Big 12-leading 461 yards of total offense per game, 280.3 passing yards per game and 180.3 rushing yards per game, despite leading in all three yardage categories they are only giving up 20.8 points per game.

Oklahoma State will look to exploit the Wildcats' defense through the air as they bring one of the top passing attacks in the Big 12 averaging 309.8 passing yards per game and an offense that is putting up 36.8 points per game.

This will be a make-or-break match-up to one of these ranked teams' playoff hopes in 2024.

Read more:

feed

Home/Big 12