Week 6 of the college football season should’ve come with a cigarette. Texas lost to Florida as the Horns shrink away from the national championship discussion. Texas Tech made a statement in a win over a previously unbeaten Houston squad. TCU and Baylor avoided Big 12 losses with late-game heroics. In the G5 ranks, UTSA and Texas State fell by one-possession on the road in their conference openers. 

It was an insane week in college football inside the Lone Star State and beyond. Eleven of our 13 FBS programs were in action with North Texas and UTEP idle. For the first time this season, the state posted a losing record, going 5-6 on the week. That puts the combined season record in the state at the FBS level at 42-25. 

Here are my 10 thoughts from the weekend. 

Big 12 Bullies 

The prospect of a “Willie Fritz Trap” was broached pregame in a conversation with a Texas Tech staffer and while they agreed that the head coach at Houston is known for knocking off teams as a home underdog, they weren’t worried about it happening to the Red Raiders on Saturday night. Why? “Defense travels, man.” Indeed. Shiel Wood's unit allowed 11 points on 13 possessions. Three of those possessions ended in turnovers and three more concluded with turnovers on downs. 

Texas Tech’s football program never struggled to score points. It was stopping the other team from doing so that kept the Red Raiders from conference contention for the last 20-plus years. Texas Tech was 6-11 on the road in McGuire’s first three seasons. They’ve won back-to-back road games against top-half of the Big 12 opponents to start 2025 and the defense is the main reason why. 

If Texas Tech playing dominant defense wasn’t enough proof that 2025 college football exists in the Bizarro World, the Red Raiders are also built on physicality and running the football. They ran the ball 50 times compared to 40 passes. J’Koby Williams and Cameron Dickey combined for 205 yards and two touchdowns on 40 carries. Williams broke the century mark and scored both rushing touchdowns. Tech averaged 4.6 yards a rush when sack adjusted.

Texas Tech no longer needs to pass the ball 60 times a game or for 500 yards and five touchdowns to beat good teams. That recipe is hard to repeat successfully for 12 weeks in a row and it is nearly impossible against good teams as the weather gets cold and stakes are raised. The Red Raiders can still throw the ball around the yard with success, exhibited by the 345 yards for Behren Morton against Houston. But he only threw for one touchdown and the team still won by 24 points. That’s a great sign for Tech. 

Aggies are an SEC Favorite 

Forget dark horse, the Aggies are one of the SEC favorites as we approach the halfway point of the season. Texas A&M is 5-0 and one of three teams that are 2-0 in the SEC alongside Ole Miss and Alabama – two teams the Aggies don’t play in the regular season. Skeptics will say that Texas A&M was in this same position last year before it teetered out late in the season, but no one who watches this Aggie team could come to that conclusion. This team is different. This team is for real. 

The offense gained over 400 yards for the fourth straight game as the Aggies averaged 6.2 yards a play in the 31-9 win over Mississippi State. Marcel Reed accounted for three total touchdowns and the receiver duo of Mario Craver and KC Concepcion combined for 10 catches for 141 yards and a pair of scores. Craver’s yards after the catch continue to impress. 

The biggest revelation from the win was in the run game, however, as former five-star Reuben Owens II had a career day with 142 yards on 21 carries. The Aggie offense ran the ball 54 times for 299 yards. Texas A&M passed the ball (107 times) more than it ran it (100 times) through four games. The script has flipped in SEC play with the Aggies running the ball 101 times compared to 45 pass attempts.  

Texas offense requires overhaul 

The offensive woes for the Texas Longhorns extend beyond quarterback Arch Manning. The offensive line stinks. The wide receivers are underwhelming. The running backs are too banged up to reach their potential. There aren’t any gamebreakers around Manning. Try to find a Xavier Worthy or Adonai Mitchell or Jonathon Brooks, much less a Kelvin Banks. For a program that recruits at a Top 5 level consistently, the lack of high-end talent on the offensive side of the ball feels alarming. 

The Horns entered the season with national championship hopes. Heading into Red River week, they look more like an Outback Bowl team. They still face Oklahoma at the State Fair, travel to Georgia and Mississippi State, and host Vanderbilt and Texas A&M. Kentucky and Arkansas feel like guaranteed wins, but three victories isn’t guaranteed with this schedule. Is it possible that this team misses a bowl game?

Texas State’s October Slump 

GJ Kinne must hate pumpkin lattes. His Bobcats have struggled in the month of October through two years of his tenure and that bled into Year 3 in the 31-30 loss to Arkansas State to start the month. They’re a combined 9-4 before October through three seasons under Kinne and 3-5 in October. 

Texas State is nails to start the season. In 2023, the Cats started 4-1. Last year, it was 4-2. This year, 3-1. Continuing that momentum into the second half of the season has been a struggle. They closed the 2023 regular season with four losses over the last seven games. In 2024, they were 3-3 down the stretch. Road woes are a big reason why with the Bobcats 13-4 at home or in bowl games under Kinne but only 7-8 on the road. 

Kinne has raised the bar in San Marcos and the fan base is clamoring for a Sun Belt Championship game appearance before the Bobcats move to the Pac-12. Texas State has beaten Baylor and taken control of the UTSA series, but consistent conference success still alludes this team because they’ve made a habit of losing games they shouldn’t. It was Louisiana and Arkansas State in 2023. It was Sam Houston, Old Dominion, and Georgia State last year. Arkansas State bit them again in 2025. 

Crossroads in San Antonio 

Temple outscored UTSA 24-7 to win by six at home and knock the Roadrunners to 2-3 on the season. Jeff Traylor’s program was 39-14 overall and 27-4 against conference foes over his first four seasons. They are 9-9 overall and 4-5 in conference over the last two. UTSA is starting to lose in the small margins. The team was 17-7 in one-possession games from 2020-23. They are 2-5 over the last two years after the loss to Temple. The Roadrunners also blew second half leads at Tulsa and Rice in an up-and-down 2024 campaign. UTSA has also struggled on the road over the last two years and are 2-8 away from the Alamdome since the start of 2024 after posting a 15-8 record over the first four seasons under Traylor. 

Traylor pushed all the right buttons early in his tenure. He inherited a talented roster and molded it into a two-time conference champion and one that competed in the American Conference right away. But with guys like Frank Harris and Rashad Wisdom no longer on campus, UTSA has looked average. The losses in personnel are only half the story. The program has also lost offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. to Illinois and Will Stein to Oregon. 

Most of our best traits can also work against us. Traylor is a loyal guy. He’s promoted from within and tried to recruit in a way that leans on development. That worked for the first four years. It hasn’t the last two. The defense gave up over 30 points per game in 2024 and is on pace to do that again in 2025. The offense is ranked 59th in scoring right now, the lowest in the Traylor tenure. Change is sometimes necessary to shake a program out of a rut. That might be required after 2025 if the Roadrunners can’t turn it around.

Pony Potential 

That is what the SMU offense can look like when its healthy and cooking on all cylinders. Kevin Jennings completed 16 straight passes at one point during the game and the Mustangs led Syracuse, 31-3, with 12:37 left in the game. The Orange scored 15 late points to make it look closer than it was, but that does damper a breakout day for the SMU offense. 

Jennings was 29-of-35 for 285 yards and four touchdowns to one interception. The wide receiver duo of Romello Brinson and Jordan Hudson combined for 13 catches for 118 yards and a score. Matthew Hibner caught five balls on five targets and RJ Maryland snagged a touchdown pass. The Ponies completed eight passes for over 20 yards in the win. 

Rhett Lashlee’s group can build some momentum in October and gain some steam in the ACC race. They host Stanford next week before traveling to Clemson for a game that feels more winnable than it looked during the offseason. The month ends with a trip to Wake Forest. Win those and the home game against Miami on Nov. 1 would be massive. 

Bearkat Blues 

Year 1 of the Phil Longo era hit a low point on Thursday night in the 37-10 loss to New Mexico State. Sam Houston is now 0-5 to start the year for the second time in three FBS seasons. A half-glass full Bearkat fan would point to the 0-8 start in 2023 and say the program has experienced this type of low before and it produced a 10-win season the next year. Sure, it is bad now, but it’ll get better.  

But it isn’t just that Sam Houston is losing. It's how. And more specifically, by how much. That 2023 season was full of close shaves. The five losses to start that season were by a combined 13.4 points per game. In 2025, the margin of defeat is 26.6 points per game. Of the eight losses to start 2023, four were by one possession and two were in overtime. Only one of the eight losses was by more than 14 points and that was against Houston. 

The signs that the team was close to competing in the Conference USA were obvious then. They’re not right now. Sam Houston has lost by at least 17 points in all five games and are fresh off a 27-point loss as a favorite. It’ll probably be the last time the Bearkats are favored in the game the rest of the season. 

Sam Houston was within three points of New Mexico State in the second half before falling apart in the fourth quarter, so maybe that sparks something within the program. Games against UTEP and Middle Tennessee State feel like possible wins, but a winless campaign isn’t out of the question in Huntsville. The 2025 season was undoubtedly an uphill challenge for a new staff that arrived three weeks after the portal was open and without a usable on campus stadium. 

But even with understandable reasons, 0-12 won’t curry in favor in the fan base or help on the recruiting trail. Longo & Co. need to build some buzz down the stretch. The 2023 team won three of its last four and went into the offseason with momentum off the field and some belief inside the locker room. The 2025 version of the Bearkats could use a similar close to the year. 

Baylor Buy-In 

A large chunk of the fan base might be out on the Dave Aranda tenure in Baylor, but the players clearly aren’t. The Bears overcame a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit for the second time this season during the 35-34 win at home over Kansas State. Baylor needed a big win, and while Kansas State isn’t what many thought entering the season, a home victory was exactly what the doctor ordered in Waco considering the Bears were 4-12 against P4 opponents in McLane since the start of 2022.

The start to the 2025 season has felt a bit odd. The loss to Auburn in Week 1 was deflating. The win over SMU in Week 2 felt redeeming. The Week 4 loss to Arizona State was frustrating. But most Baylor fans would’ve been okay with a 4-2 start entering the season and that’s exactly where the team sits heading into the open week. There are plenty of tests left on the schedule, but Baylor is in the Big 12 mix halfway through the season and a win at TCU on Oct. 18 could be a turning point for the fan base to buy back in ahead of the home game against Cincy on Oct. 25. 

No Panic in H-Town 

The Cougars were disappointed after the loss against Texas Tech and for good reason. This game was a great opportunity for Fritz & Co. to showcase the Cougar program to a sold-out crowd and a long list of high-profile recruits. Instead of a tight and thrilling game, the Coogs were outclassed and overmatched by a superior Texas Tech roster. Money talks and the Red Raiders are currently in a different stratosphere in spending. While they were adding pieces at every position, Houston lost its best two defensive backs to the portal – and bigger paydays – after spring ball. Until that’s fixed, Houston can’t win these games. 

But that doesn’t mean the Coogs should hang their head. A 4-1 start is nothing to sneeze at and there are two winnable games up next with a trip to Oklahoma State in Week 7 and a home game against Arizona in Week 8. West Virginia and UCF are also still on the schedule. An eight-win season isn’t out of the cards for Frtiz’s squad and a bowl bid seems assured. Year 2 is about growth and Fritz has this program headed in the right trajectory. The Cougars just need two more recruiting cycles and another offseason or two to develop before they can compete against the top of the Big 12. 

Remember, Fritz if Novocain. This will work if given time.  

Horned Frogs Avoid Disaster

A quick look at the final score of the TCU win over Colorado tells a story that doesn’t match up with the game flow. The Frogs scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to win by 14 over the Buffaloes, but it was 21-21 until 5:44 left in the game. That’s when Josh Hoover and the offense took over, tossing a touchdown to Joseph Manjack IV to gain the lead and then sealing it with a fourth-down strike to Eric McAlister with 19 seconds left. Hoover threw for 275 yards and four touchdowns, including two to McAlister. 

TCU’s record suggests that the Frogs are Big 12 contenders. The only loss was by three points on the road against Arizona State. But the lack of run game and the costly penalties are hard to overlook. I’m not sure we can trust TCU to play consistently enough week-in and week-out to reach Arlington. The next three weeks offer the Frogs a chance to work on those issues because they’ll be favored against Kansas State, Baylor, and West Virginia.

If Sonny Dykes & Co. are right in the mix for a Big 12 Championship game spot if they can avoid any slip ups in October. The November slate includes fellow contenders such as Iowa State, BYU, and Cincinnati.