Here’s what to look out for in the Big 12 Conference this week:
Game of the week
No. 8 Penn State at West Virginia, Saturday, 12:00 p.m. ET (Fox)
The Mountaineers, who were a surprise 9-4 record last year after finishing last in the Big 12, are the league’s only team facing a Power Four team. West Virginia has lost its last three openers, including a 38-15 loss at Penn State last year in the first meeting since 1992 between the schools, which are only about 180 miles apart. The Nittany Lions have won 35 of the last 38 meetings since the mid-1950s.
West Virginia has its top three runners back, running backs sophomore Jaheim White (842 yards and four TDs) and junior CJ Donaldson (798 yards and 11 TDs) and dual-threat senior quarterback Garrett Greene (772 yards rushing and 13 TDs). The Mountaineers’ 229 rushing yards per game were the most for a team in a major conference. Penn State had the best rushing defense in the country, allowing just 75.5 yards per game.
The preliminary fights
TCU is the only other Big 12 team facing a major conference opponent on Friday at Stanford. It is the Cardinal’s first game as an ACC member after the Pac-12 was broken up. TCU finished 5-7 last year. Josh Hoover is TCU’s starting quarterback after averaging 339 yards passing in the final six games as a redshirt freshman last year.
Colorado won at TCU last year in coach Deion Sanders’ first game with the Buffaloes when they were still in the Pac-12, but are now back in the Big 12 after 13 seasons. They play at home against FCS powerhouse North Dakota State on Thursday night. The Buffs finished last season with a six-game losing streak and eight losses in nine games after a 3-0 start.
Influential players
Nick Martin and Collin Oliver are returning starting linebackers for No. 17 Oklahoma State. Martin’s 140 tackles in his first season as a starter were the most by a Cowboys player since 1984 and the most by a Big 12 player since 2018. Oliver, a defensive end in his first two seasons in Stillwater, had 45 tackles, 15 1/2 tackles for loss and four forced fumbles last season. The Cowboys host FCS national champion South Dakota State on Saturday.
TCU head coach Sonny Dykes speaks during the Big 12 NCAA College Football Media Days in Las Vegas, Tuesday, July 9, 2024. Photo credit: AP/Lucas Peltier
Behind the numbers
No. 21 Arizona, one of the Big 12’s four newcomers, enters this season on a seven-game winning streak. West Virginia (three games) and No. 22 Kansas (two games) are the only other Big 12 teams to finish last season with consecutive victories. … Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon II, the nation’s leading runner last season, is one of eight returning Big 12 running backs who rushed for at least 1,000 yards last season, the most of any conference. … Eleven of the 16 opening games in the Big 12 are against FCS teams.
From year 1 to 2 decades
Two Big 12 teams have new coaches: Willie Fritz in Houston and Brent Brennan in Arizona. There are also two coaches entering their 20th season: Kyle Whittingham for 12th-ranked Utah, which is new to the league, and Mike Gundy for Oklahoma State. The only FBS coach with longer tenure is Kirk Ferentz, who is entering his 25th season at Iowa.
