Eleven of the 13 FBS programs in Texas were in action during a pivotal Week 4 for the Lone Star State. Texas Tech’s big win on the road over Utah drew national headlines as the Red Raiders surge into the College Football Playoff discussion. Elsewhere, North Texas won another road game in overtime and TCU beat SMU in the final scheduled Battle for the Iron Skillet. 

The FBS teams in Texas are now a combined 33-16 and seven of those losses are to fellow in-state FBS programs. Five of our teams – Texas A&M, Texas Tech, TCU, Houston, and Nort Texas – remain undefeated. That accounts for 16.66 percent of the undefeated teams remaining in the FBS ranks. We could have as many as four programs ranked in the AP Top 25 if the Horned Frogs creep in on Monday. 

Before we turn the page towards Week 5, here are my 10 thoughts from the college football weekend, which actually began Thursday night with a win for the Rice Owls. 

Texas Tech Utah’d Utah 

Typically, it is the Utes that slowly squeeze the life out of an opponent and eventually force them to tap out while cruising to a late victory. Kyle Whittingham has made a career out of creating teams that are the bully on the playground. But on Saturday, it was the Red Raiders who broke Utah by the end of the 34-10 victory in Salt Lake City. They led 10-3 entering the fourth quarter before outscoring the Utes 24-7 over the final 15 minutes of the game. 

Backup quarterback Will Hammond will receive most of the headlines after an incredible performance in relief of an injured Behren Morton. The Hutto product completed 13 of 16 attempts for 169 yards and two touchdowns through the air while adding 61 yards on eight carries. He jumpstarted a Texas Tech offense that struggled to find a rhythm amid penalties and he deserves a game ball for that. 

But placing the spotlight squarely on Hammond misses a larger point. Tech invested heavily through the portal in the offseason and both lines of scrimmage were a priority. Two of the starting offensive linemen arrived this offseason. All four of the starting defensive linemen were acquired after the 2024 season. Tech was 6-11 on the road under McGuire entering 2025 and winning these types of games was the final test for his program. 

Tech could always score points. The Red Raiders seemingly always grow quarterbacks who can put up yards and points in bunches. But the program rarely matched up in the trenches with the conference’s elite. They averaged 4.7 yards a rush compared to 3.3 for Utah. The win against Utah can be a fulcrum point.

North Texas' New Leaf 

Eric Morris’ Mean Green spent the first two years of his tenure chasing after the American’s elite. They’d fall behind early only to mount an improbable comeback that, while valiant and a positive sign, inevitably fell short. That script played out multiple times in 2023 and 2024. They’ve lost at least one one-score game to Memphis, Tulane, Army, UTSA, and Navy over the last two years. 

The win 45-38 win over Army was the second overtime road victory for North Texas in 2025. Against the Black Knights on Saturday, it was Morris’ bunch that built up a large lead. And then it was Army that played the role of hunter. They chased down the Mean Green and forced overtime. They would’ve folded in years past. But this is a new program. North Texas is every bit an American contender and a huge game at home on Oct. 10 against South Florida could carry College Football Playoff implications. Read that sentence again. 

The most exciting part for North Texas fans is that the Mean Green aren’t one-trick ponies. Through two years, the passing offense was elite and the rest of the team lagged. They weren’t great at running the ball and they were dreadful on defense. We’ve seen improvements from the defense thanks to the arrival of DC Skyler Cassity and his band of Bearkat transfers. Against Army, we saw the North Texas run game. North Texas averaged 5.5 yards a carry as Makenzie McGill II and Caleb Hawkins combined for 200 yards and five rushing touchdowns. 

North Texas used to need to outscore opponents to win. Like a pitcher who can only get hitters out with a fastball. The Mean Green have developed more pitches now. The defense forces turnovers. The offense has balance. They're winning one score games. North Texas is 4-0 for the first time since 2018. A win next week against South Alabama would make them 5-0 for the first time since 1977. It was a slow burn to get here, but Morris' program is now amongst the hottest in the G5. 

Sonny’s Side Up 

Maybe some of us are sad to see the Battle for the Iron Skillet between TCU and SMU fade into college football’s collective memory, but one man who won’t miss the yearly tilt between Dallas and Fort Worth is Sonny Dykes, and that’s saying something considering he’s been the head coach on five of the last six wining sides. His Horned Frogs emerged victorious on Saturday in the final scheduled Iron Skillet and afterwards he suggested, perhaps in jest, that he’d consider taking a sledgehammer to it. 

Rivalry drama aside, Dykes has fielded his best team since 2022. The Frogs are 3-0 and look like Big 12 contenders. Josh Hoover threw for 379 yards and a career-high five touchdowns. He’s thrown for over 300 yards in all three games this season. Wide receiver Eric McAlister exploded with 254 yards and three touchdowns on eight catches. Adjust for sacks and the Frogs averaged 4.2 yards on the ground. Defensively, TCU created two turnovers and held SMU to 24 points. 

The win over SMU put a part of Dykes’ past that he’d like to forget in the rear-view mirror. What he sees ahead of him is bright. 

Baylor's Backslide 

Ongoing construction on I-35 heading north through Waco seemed finished for a fleeting moment in 2024. All lanes were open and there was smooth sailing over the Brazos and towards the kolaches in West. Likewise, the Dave Aranda project looked like it was finally on track as his Bears ended the 2024 season with six straight regular season wins. 

The familiar sight of construction equipment and blocked lanes were back in Central Texas by 2025. And in McLane Stadium, doubt was creeping back into the minds of the Baylor faithful as Baylor dropped its second home game of the 2025 season, this time on a last-second field goal to defending Big 12 champion, Arizona State. 

Baylor (2-2, 0-1) is an enigma. The only consistency in the Aranda era is inconsistency. When the offense is rolling, the defense collapses. Against the Sun Devils on Saturday night, it was the usually reliable Baylor offense that let the team down with three turnovers that turned into nine Arizona State points. The defense played well; all things considered.

Baylor is now 21-25 in the Big 12 under Aranda. His mark in conference play since the 2021 Big 12 championship is 12-16. The Bears are 11-12 at home in conference play during his tenure and he’s now 32-31 overall as the head coach in Waco. Since the start of the 2022 season, they’ve lost 12 of their 16 home games against Power Four competition. 

College football is only as fun as it is miserable for your rivals. Baylor measures itself against the other three in-state Big 12 programs. Well, Texas Tech is 4-0 and just scored a huge road win at Utah. TCU is 3-0 after beating SMU. Houston is also 3-0. The Bears are falling behind and losing big games at home is becoming the norm. 

Hooting Intensifies 

Sure, Rice wanted to find a new head coach with a unique offensive philosophy after moving on from Mike Bloomgren during the 2024 season. But what the Owls wanted most of all was a winner. Someone who didn’t just have a vision of how to win at a high academic institution without a ton of history, but someone with that firmly on their CV. 

Scott Abell checked every box. He won three Old Dominion Athletic Conference championships in six seasons at Washington & Lee in the Division III ranks. He then moved to Davidson in the FCS, where he won two Pioneer Football League titles and didn’t post a losing season in seven years. He arrived at Rice with a 65-31 record against conference foes and only one losing season in 13 years as a collegiate head coach. Rice hasn’t posted a winning season since 2014. 

The Owls are 3-1 for the first time since 2017 after the 28-17 win over Charlotte on Thursday night. They’re 1-0 in conference play and hold a pair of impressive road wins. Rice rushed for 255 yards in Week 4 after entering the game 12th nationally in rushing yards per game at 246.25. The defense, led by Jon Kay, hasn’t allowed more than 17 points in three of their four games – all victories. 

The upcoming American schedule will offer the Owls harder tests. Next up is a trip to Navy. They also play UTSA and South Florida on the road. They host Memphis and North Texas. Abell’s stated offseason goal was to reach a bowl game. He’s three wins away. On paper, those would need to be FAU, UConn, and UAB. 

Longhorns Level Up 

I was good at the college football video game growing up. I spent most of my college years dominating friends in person or strangers online. Then the game went away, I entered my 30s and life kept me from gaming as much as I used to. Then the 2025 version of the EA college football game was released and I figured it was a great time to return to form. I’d buy a new console, download the game, and pick up exactly where I left off. Those young gamers were going to learn. 

Turns out, dudes in their late 30s who stopped gaming a decade ago were no longer good at video games. I was embarrassed by my friends, by strangers online, and in a Republic of Football podcast dynasty league. It was a humbling experience. I’d throw five interceptions a game and miss every field goal I attempted. It was demoralizing and my joy of video games was quickly disappearing. 

To feel better, I’d turn the settings to Freshman Level and beat the living dog crap out of the computer. I’m talking 104-0. Something that would make Cardell Jones blush. It was cathartic. It restored my joy. My confidence soared and I’d go to bed happy. Just like Texas after it played Sam Houston. The Longhorns exorcized some demons in a blowout win over the overmatched Bearkats. 

The season will be judged by what happens against Oklahoma, Georgia, and Texas A&M, but it still must’ve felt good for Arch Manning & Co. to light up the score board and flex on some opponents. 

SMU Slump 

The Mustangs hit their stride quickly as Power Four members. They raced to an 11-1 regular season mark that included an 8-0 record in Year 1 as ACC members. That earned SMU a trip to the ACC Championship game against Clemson and a ticket into the College Football Playoff. But since closing out last year’s regular season with a win over Cal, Rhett Lashlee’s bunch is 2-4. That includes losses to Clemson, Penn State, Baylor, and now TCU. The only wins since last November are over East Texas A&M and Missouri State. 

SMU loaded up their proverbial basket with talent to win the AAC on the way out of the G5 ranks in 2023 and to compete right away in the ACC. The Ponies did just that with flying colors. But now they’re moving to a high school recruiting model and didn’t splash as heavily in the transfer portal to replace the herd of stars, specifically in the front seven on defense ahead of Year 2. That talent deficiency was felt in the losses to Baylor and TCU. The Bear scored 48. The Frogs scored 35. 

Repeating the success from 2024 was always a tall task for a team that lost so much production on both sides of the ball. The good news is that ACC play hasn’t started yet. The bad news is that three of the first four games in conference play are against Syracuse, Clemson, and Miami. Maybe the Tigers aren’t as good as usual, but that’s still a tough trip. 

The next month will tell us a lot about the culture inside the SMU football program. The Mustangs didn’t face a ton of adversity over the last couple of years, but they’re up against plenty right now. How do they respond?  

Roadrunners Rescued

Where would UTSA be if Robert Henry Jr. hadn’t received a JUCO waiver that allowed him to play one more season? That was the question on every Roadrunner fan’s mind as they narrowly escaped a devastating road loss to Colorado State in Week 4. With the passing offense bogged down, Henry did what he does best: Score from long distance. He had a 76-yard touchdown run and an 84-yard touchdown reception – the only two scores for UTSA in the 17-16 win. Henry accounted for 220 yards in the win. UTSA as an offense gained 345 total. 

Surprisingly, it was the defense that kept UTSA in the game long enough for Henry to make the difference. Even with his efforts, the Rams were a successful two-point attempt away from stealing the game and putting the Roadrunners in a spiral of misery. They instead enter the idle week on a two-game winning streak with Temple and Rice to start American Conference play. Jeff Traylor’s team has until Oct. 18 to work themselves into a contender because that starts a three-game run of North Texas, Tulane, and South Florida. 

Miner Struggles 

Scotty Walden has already done a lot of good as the head coach at UTEP through 15 games. He’s brought an energy to the job that was sorely lacking and that is required to rally the fan base in El Paso. He’s also signed the best recruiting class in Conference USA in back-to-back cycles. But one thing he hasn’t done is earned a signature win. The type of win that makes Sun City take notice and buy in. He’s aces off the field. Now, his Miners need to figure out how to turn that into a winning hand in the Sun Bowl. 

The Saturday night tilt against ULM offered that type of opportunity to Walden’s group. Instead, they trailed ULM went 5-7 last year with a 3-5 mark in Sun Belt play and entered the 2025 game against the Miners with a 1-1 record. UTEP was also 1-1. It was a game against a peer institution at home. A chance to show some growth and give the fans some real hope heading into CUSA play. Instead, the Miners trailed 31-7 halfway through the third quarter and wasted a 400-yard passing performance by Malachi Nelson. 

UTEP did make a comeback and have the ball with a chance to win the game late in the fourth quarter, but potential game-winning drives came up short with under two minutes to play in the game. The 2025 season was supposed to be a building block that the Miners could use as a platform to jump into Mountain West life with some momentum. Instead, it feels like the same old, same old for UTEP fans. 

What is success for Sam Houston? 

Phil Longo was given an impossible task. Follow a 10-win season after being hired late and without a ton of resources in a season where the home games are in another city. The season began in Week 0 on the road against CUSA contender Western Kentucky and has already included a trip to Hawaii and Austin. The lone “home” game was against a UNLV squad that could compete for the G5 playoff bid. 

Reaching a bowl game feels impossible. The Bearkats would need to win six of their next eight, and that feels like a big ask even without Liberty on the schedule. Sam Houston fans need to channel their inner 2023. The team started 0-8 in Year 1 as an FBS program before closing with wins in three of its last four. That built momentum into a 2024 campaign that ended in 10 wins.