Week 8 in the Lone Star State included Texas Tech being upset and TCU earning bragging rights in a typically wild and unhinged six-hour rendition of The Revivalry. Texas escaped in overtime against Kentucky. North Texas exorcized some demons in a win over UTSA. And Marcel Reed made a Heisman case in Texas A&M’s win over Arkansas. 

Twelve of the 13 FBS teams were in action with Rice idle. The state combined for a 7-5 record, though two of those losses were to fellow in-state opponents. The chasm in outcomes for the Power Four and G5 continue to stand out. All seven of our P4 squads are above .500. North Texas is the only one of our six G5 programs above .500. 

The Aggies are the state’s last undefeated team. Houston earned bowl eligibility and should be ranked by the AP. UTEP found something in Skyler Locklear. Here are 2,000-plus words on the State of Texas college football. 

Reed Rides into Heisman Race

Texas A&M emerged from Week 8 as the lone undefeated FBS team in Texas and one of the top three teams in America. The impressive thing about the Aggies is that they can win in multiple ways. They’ve beaten Notre Dame and Arkansas on the road in shootouts. They’ve won rock fights against Auburn and Florida at home. You can pick the tune. They can dance the dance. That’s a common trait in championship teams. And if you look around the country, there doesn’t appear to be many of those. 

There was seemingly a high variance for Mike Elko’s team entering 2025. The books placed the win total at 7.5 even though everyone agreed that the upside for the Aggies was an SEC Championship game appearance and a trip to the College Football Playoff. 

The biggest question mark was quarterback Marcel Reed and his ability, or inability, to win games with his arm. He continues to erase any of those doubts. Reed threw for 280 yards and three touchdowns to zero interceptions and added 55 yards and a score on the ground. He was sensational and he deserves Heisman recognition. He’s the quarterback of one of the Top 3 teams in America and his balling out in big moments. Give him his flowers. 

What to make of Texas? 

The Longhorns averted disaster with an overtime win over Kentucky in a head-scratcher of a performance a week removed from dominating the second half against a Top 10 ranked Oklahoma team that bounced back with an easy win over South Carolina on Saturday. The run game disappeared. Arch Manning turned back into a pumpkin. Texas’ defense and Mason Shipley field goals are the only reason the Longhorns will be ranked on Sunday. 

But should they be? On one hand, Texas is 5-2 with a win over a Top 10 ranked team and its losses were on the road to No. 1-ranked Ohio State and to a Florida team that rose up one last time for Billy Napier. A respectable resumé for a team lurking on the outside of SEC and CFP contention. On the other hand, we have eyes, and the Horns don’t pass the test. 

A Wildcats team that has lost nine straight SEC games outgained Texas 395-179 and ran 86 plays to just 55 for the Horns. UK had 26 first downs to Texas’ eight. Kentucky’s Cutter Boley, a freshman, nearly doubled Manning’s passing yards. Kentucky stinks and Texas was lucky to win. That shouldn’t be true for any Top 25 team. 

Texas Tech needs Behren Morton  

Backup Will Hammond showed his promise in the win over Utah, but he showed his inexperience in the loss at Arizona State. The Hutto native was 22-of-37 for 167 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception while adding 47 yards and a score on 15 carries. 

The performance wasn’t awful and the grit he showed down the stretch is why the Texas Tech staff believes Hammond is the future at quarterback. 

But the lack of big plays and the up-and-down play over the first three quarters is why the 2025 squad needs Behren Morton to return and stay healthy. The backup quarterback is always the most popular guy in town and we don’t blame Red Raider Nation from wanting the future to be the present, but Morton is better equipped to steer this yacht. 

He threw for 345 at Houston and 464 against Oregon State in the last two starts he finished. The passing game is more explosive with him in there and that helps the run game. He was available as an emergency quarterback against Arizona State and he can’t miss much more time or the Red Raiders will fall short of 11-1 and a trip to Arlington.

SMU’s Glow Up 

In 2015, SMU finished 2-10 with home losses to East Carolina and Tulsa. The Mustangs gave up 60 to Temple at Ford Stadium and were 0-5 on the road. Imagine finding one of the Pony season ticket holders during that season and telling them that their Ponies would walk into Clemson and leave with a convincing win that didn’t even feel like a surprise in 2025. It’d be easier to believe what the host of The Apprentice is up to or that SMU is playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference alongside Stanford and Cal. 

SMU has won 20 straight conference games and is 3-0 in ACC play this year. Rhett Lashlee’s bunch hasn’t lost a regular season conference game as Power Four members and moved one win from bowl eligibility – something that wasn’t a given back in 2015. There were those who doubted SMU’s move to the ACC and the television revenue forfeited to earn the invite, but there isn’t a person on the Hilltop who regrets it. 

Weigman’s Wheels 

Once upon a time, Houston quarterback Conner Weigman was a five-star recruit with true dual-threat abilities. He was an athletic gunslinger at Cypress Bridgeland and a two-sport star who could’ve played professional baseball. Injuries at the end of his high school career and during his three years at Texas A&M stole his rushing ability. Jimbo Fisher’s offense didn’t help, either. In 15 career games over three years with the Aggies, Weigman ran the ball 67 times for 261 yards and two touchdowns. 

Houston head coach Willie Fritz has made a career with running quarterbacks. He and offensive coordinator Slade Nagle rekindled the rushing ability inside Weigman and his legs have helped the Coogs become 6-1 on the season. Weigman ran the ball 14 for 98 yards and a touchdown in the 31-28 win over Arizona in Week 8. He never ran the ball more than eight times in a single game at A&M. He’s done that three times in seven games with the Cougars. 

Weigman has ran the ball 66 times in seven games at Houston, one fewer than his total runs in College Station. He’s gained 243 yards and scored six touchdowns, including at least one in five of the six wins this season. We wondered how Fritz and Nagle would tweak the offense to fit Weigman. Turns out, they didn’t have to tweak it all that much. Houston is bowl eligible and still in the Big 12 race heading into late October and Weigman’s wheels are a big reason why. 

Feeling Froggy 

The book on TCU was simple. If the Frogs can run the football, they have a chance. They averaged 154 yards per game on the ground in their four wins and only 41 in the two losses. They combined for 182 combined rushing yards in three Big 12 games. Not good enough. The matchup against Baylor in Week 8 offered an opportunity for TCU to establish the run game against a Bears defense that ranked 110th in rush defense entering the contest by allowing 177.17 run yards per game. 

That’s exactly what Kendal Briles’ offense did in the 42-36 win in the Revivalry. TCU ran for 196 yards, the most since the Week 1 win over North Carolina. Kevorian Barnes led the way with 106 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. He only received 12 last week in the loss to Kansas State. Trent Battle hit the Bears with a 65-yard touchdown run. 

Balance has sometimes felt like a four-letter word in Fort Worth as too much is put on Josh Hoover’s plate. But in the win on Saturday, the Frogs ran the ball 38 times compared to only 31 pass attempts. The win keeps TCU in Big 12 contention and the recipe for how the Frogs won should be the road map offensively for the rest of the season. 

Sawyer Struggles 

Sawyer Robertson was the Midseason All-Texas Offensive Player of the Year and a first-team selection at QB. He was arguably the best quarterback in America over the first half of the season. He was averaging more passing yards than anyone in the FBS with 343 per game and only had four interceptions on 248 attempts through six games. As he goes, so does Baylor, and his play was good enough to keep Big 12 hopes alive in Waco. 

That is until he played in the Revivalry against TCU. Robertson played his worst game as a Bear, throwing for four interceptions – matching his season total – on 52 attempts. He was clearly out of sync early and the multiple delays probably didn’t help offensive rhythm. Unfortunately for Baylor, the Bears have no chance in games that Robertson doesn’t ball.

That’s not fair to him and an indictment on Dave Aranda’s defense. Baylor is now 4-3 on the season and on the outside-looking-in on the Big 12 race by mid-October. That’s a far cry from preseason expectations. A trip to Cincinnati next week won’t offer any reprieve for a program that is now 14-17 in conference play since the start of 2022. Lose that one and McLane might be empty by the Nov. 1 home game against UCF. 

Mean Green Smash 

It was UTSA that dominated the ground game in the matchups against North Texas since the arrival of Jeff Traylor. The Roadrunners averaged 268.8 rushing yards per game against the Mean Green in the five contests since the start of the 2020 season. The only time the Mean Green won the rushing battle against their rival Roadrunners was in the 2021 matchup that spoiled UTSA’s undefeated season. 

Eric Morris is known as a quarterback whisperer and the former wide receiver doesn’t shy away from his love of the passing game. But what he loves most is scoring points and the Mean Green’s best route against UTSA was on the ground. They ran the ball for 270 yards and rushed the ball seven more times than they threw it while scoring 55 points in the win. 

Caleb Hawkins ran for 133 yards and added 90 yards as a receiver. The ground game made life simpler for quarterback Drew Mestemaker. He tossed for four touchdowns and didn’t throw an interception in a bounce back performance. That type of balance could get the Mean Green back into the American Conference title picture.

As for UTSA, the Roadrunners have allowed a combined 98 points in losses to rivals North Texas and Texas State. The Mean Green outscored the Roadrunners 31-3 in the second half. Temple outscored them 24-7 in the second half of a UTSA loss two weeks ago on the road. The folks in San Antonio aren't used to playing third fiddle in the Texas G5 Band and changes are required to jumpstart the program back into contention. Whether it is scheme or personnel, that is on the coaches. 

UTEP’s QB Answer: Locklear 

UTEP searched far and wide for a starting quarterback and made waves in the portal by adding former five-star Malachi Nelson to the fold over the offseason. The former USC Trojan and Boise State Bronco was supposed to unlock Scotty Walden’s offense and help the Miners compete in Conference USA in 2025. Instead, Nelson threw more interceptions (9) than touchdowns (8) over the first half of the season as he started the first five games of 2025 for UTEP. He threw eight picks over his last three starts, including four against La Tech at home. 

That led to Walden turning back to a familiar face in Skyler Locklear, who followed him from Austin Peay and started nine games in 2024. Locklear started for the second time this season in the 34-17 win over Sam Houston on Wednesday night and proved why it is his job for the rest of the season, and maybe for 2026, as well. The redshirt junior threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns on 21-of-26 passing while adding 48 yards and two more touchdowns on the ground. 

Walden & Co. don’t need to waste time, or resources, finding a starting quarterback for 2026. Ride with Locklear and use whatever funds that’d be required to add a QB through the portal on improving the talent around him, specifically along the offensive line. 

Sam Houston Sadness 

The only emotion I feel when watching Sam Houston play home games is sadness. The Bearkats won an FCS national championship in the spring of 2021 and 10 games in Year 2 as an FBS program in 2024. Bowers Stadium is an underrated place to catch a game and the buzz and excitement felt at Humphrey’s prior to a game is a lot of fun. But stadium renovations forced Sam Houston to find a new home in 2025 and that led them 70 miles away from campus to Shell Energy Stadium in South Houston. 

The atmosphere on Wednesday night was nonexistent in the loss to UTEP. Think of what would be required of the student body to travel on a weeknight to support the now 0-7 Bearkats. To beat Houston traffic and arrive for a kickoff at 6 p.m., the students would need to leave campus by 2 or 3 p.m. They get back home by 11 or 12 if they stayed for the whole game. That’s just not feasible. The on-field results haven’t helped. We knew the 2025 season would be a tough one for new head coach Phil Longo & Co., but my worry is about 2026. How does this program refuel the fan base after a lost season?