Every Monday, Mike Craven of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football walks readers through the ABCs of the week that was in college football around the state of Texas. 

The 2021 regular season concluded on Saturday with plenty of drama, clutch performances, and head-scratching results. 

A busy winter – Eight of the 12 FBS programs in Texas reached a bowl: UTSA, Baylor, Houston, Texas A&M, SMU, UTEP, North Texas, and Texas State. Two FCS programs – Incarnate Word and Sam Houston – are alive in the playoffs. So is Mary Hardin-Baylor in the Division III playoffs. Oh, and there are three new coaches at Texas FBS schools. All before December. Buckle up. 

Blake Shapen show? – Shapen, a redshirt freshman, replaced an injured Gerry Bohanon at quarterback for the Baylor Bears in a Week 12 win over Kansas State. He was given his first start on Saturday in the 27-24 win over Texas Tech. Shapen threw for 254 yards and a pair of scores in the win, but he also flashed some potential mistakes with near interceptions. Those close calls will be punished against Oklahoma State in the Big 12 championship game, so the young gunslinger must play a smarter game against the Cowboys if Bohanon is still out injured. 

Conference championship games – The 12 FBS programs in Texas play across five conferences. Teams from the Lone Star State qualified for three of the five conference championships. UTSA will host Western Kentucky on Dec. 3 for the Conference USA title. Baylor takes on Oklahoma State in Arlington a day later for the Big 12 crown. And the Houston Cougars plan to upset Cincinnati on Dec. 4 in the AAC championship game between two former Big 12 programs. 

Dykes – Sonny Dykes’ era at SMU officially ended when the Mustangs lost to Tulsa in the regular season finale. SMU finished the year 1-4 after a 7-0 start. Dykes will be named head coach at TCU during a Tuesday morning press conference that starts at 10 a.m. 

Eric Monroe – Texas Tech’s defense did enough to put its offense in position to tie the game late in the fourth quarter against Baylor. A missed field goal costs the Red Raiders a chance for the upset in overtime, but not before the defense impressed with grit not usually associated with defenses from Texas Tech. Monroe led the way with 13 tackles. Reggie Pearson Jr. (11 tackles) and Colin Schooler (10) also had big days. 

Ferrel – Incarnate Word wide receiver Robert Ferrel caught 14 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown in the playoff win over SFA. Taylor Grimes added 10 catches for 118 yards and three touchdowns in the victory.

Grayson Murphy – The North Texas defender nearly doubled his sack total on the season with three sacks against UTSA in the blowout win over the Roadrunners. Murphy registered five tackles and a forced fumble. 

Hill – Texas State running back Calvin Hill ran for 125 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries in the 24-22 victory over Arkansas State. The 4-8 record might not look great, but it is the most wins by the Bobcats since a seven-win season in 2014. 

Ikaika Ragsdale – Ragsdale led a rushing attack that dominated a previously unbeaten UTSA squad. Ragsdale ran the ball 20 times for 146 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Deandre Torrey toted the rock 23 times for 108 yards and three touchdowns. As a team, North Texas ran the ball 60 times against UTSA. 

Jake Herslow – Herslow led the Houston Cougars with 111 yards receiving on five catches in a win over UConn. He caught one of Clayton Tune’s four touchdown passes. 

Koontz – Texas Tech tight end Travis Koontz caught five passes for 117 yards and a touchdown in the loss at Baylor. His big day included a 75-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter on one of the longest tight end screens in football history (probably). 

Linebacking clinic – The Baylor linebacker core is tremendous, especially if Jalen Pitre, who plays a hybrid role somewhere between outside linebacker and safety, is exquisite. Dillon Doyle is great, but the man leading the way is Terrel Bernard. He led the Bears with eight tackles, including two for loss, and a pass defended.  

Mistakes – UTSA couldn’t remain perfect, thanks in large part to mistakes. The Roadrunners were down 10-0 before the offense ever took a snap thanks to a fumbled kickoff return. UTSA would fumble six times in the loss to North Texas with the Mean Green recovering three of those. 

Nelson Ceaser – The freshman from Houston added 1.5 sacks to his season total in the win over UConn. As a team, the Cougars registered seven sacks in the contest. 

Overmatched – That’s exactly what TCU’s defense was against Breece Hall and the Iowa State Cyclones. Hall rushed for 242 yards and three scores on 18 carries. As a team, Iowa State averaged 12.1 yards a carry. 

Patterson – Rice receiver Cedric Patterson III led the Owls with six receptions for 93 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Louisiana Tech. Most of those passes came from TJ McMahon, who became the fourth Rice quarterback to lead the team in passes thrown during a game in the 2021 season. 

Quality depth – We watched UTEP morph from a winless team in 2017 to bowl eligible in 2021 with a 7-5 season. The next step for the Miners is to build depth. In a few of the five losses, including the defeat at UAB on Saturday, UTEP simply ran out of steam. UTEP will only become more dangerous as Dana Dimel and his staff improve the depth in El Paso. 

Rhett Lashlee – The new head coach at SMU is a familiar name. Lashlee was the offensive coordinator of the Mustangs prior to the 2020 season. He was most recently the offensive coordinator of the Miami Hurricanes. He’ll be introduced as the head coach Tuesday afternoon at a press conference that starts at 4 p.m. 

Snapped – The Texas Longhorns snapped a six-game losing streak in the season finale win over Kansas State. The much-maligned defense shut out Kansas State in the second half. Texas finished at a disappointing 5-7 and will miss out on a bowl game, but that’s better than going 4-8 and entering the offseason on a seven-game losing streak, right? 

Tune – Houston quarterback Clayton Tune continued his impressive season with 301 yards and four touchdowns through the air on 21 of 30 passing in a 45-17 win over UConn. The Cougars are on an 11-game winning streak heading into the AAC title game against Cincinnati. 

Underachieved – Texas A&M entered the season with conference championship hopes. The Aggies were wishing for a berth into the College Football Playoff, but a poor passing attack ended those hopes early in the year. A loss at LSU to close the season was the fourth defeat in 2021 by Texas A&M, and that’s while beating Alabama. 

Vacation time – Only four of the 12 FBS teams in Texas didn’t qualify for a bowl game. The season ended after Week 13 for Texas, TCU, Rice, and Texas State. 

Ward – Incarnate Word quarterback Cameron Ward continued his incredible season with 328 yards passing and five total touchdowns in the 35-28 overtime win over SFA in the first round of the FCS playoffs. Ward completed 39 of 54 pass attempts and ran the ball 15 times. 

Xavier Gipson – The SFA wide receiver finished the season with five catches for 101 yars in the loss to Incarnate Word. 

Yearly reminder – College football is the best sport on earth. 

Zappe – Western Kentucky travels to San Antonio on Friday night to face UTSA in the Conference USA championship. The area won’t be unfamiliar for quarterback Bailey Zappe, who grew up in Victoria. He’s thrown for 4,968 yards and 52 touchdowns in 2021.