Things to watch in the Big 12 in Week 4, when newcomers BYU, Cincinnati and UCF play their first league games:
GAME OF THE WEEKBYU (3-0) at Kansas (3-0). BYU goes into its first Big 12 game on a seven-game winning streak while the Jayhawks have consecutive 3-0 starts for the first time since 1991-92. It was during that time that the Jayhawks and Cougars had their only previous meeting, in the 1992 Aloha Bowl that Kansas won 23-20.
After falling behind 14-0 at Arkansas last Saturday, the Cougars scored 21 in a row, then allowed 17 before scoring 17 more to give the Big 12 its second win in a Southeastern Conference stadium this season (Texas won at Alabama). It was the first time BYU overcame a 14-point deficit to win under coach Kalani Sitake, in his eighth season at his alma mater.
The last loss for Kansas was in last season's Liberty Bowl against the Razorbacks, 55-53 in triple OT.
BEST MATCHUPRJ Harvey, Johnny Richardson and UCF's running game against Kansas State's league-best rushing defense.
The Wildcats (2-1) have allowed only 50 yards per game, 1.8 yards per carry and one rushing TD. Even without injured dual-threat quarterback John Rhys Plumlee, the Knights (3-0) have averaged 299.3 yards rushing per game and are tied with a league-best 10 rushing touchdowns. They are the national leader with 617.7 total yards per game, and second in rushing. Harvey and Richardson are both in the Big 12's top eight, running for more than 70 yards per game and 6 yards per carry.
IMPACT PLAYEROklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel has completed a national-best 82.5% of his passes (66 of 80). He also tops the Big 12 with his 301.7 yards passing per game and 11 touchdowns. The 16th-ranked Sooners (3-0) play at Cincinnati (2-1), which has allowed a league-high seven TD passes even though their opponents complete only 45.5% of their passes against the Bearcats.
LONE STAR RIVALRIESThird-ranked Texas and Baylor have played since 1901, and have been conference foes since the formation of the Southwest Conference in 1915. The only years since 1923 that they haven’t played were during World War II. With the Longhorns headed to the Southeastern Conference next season, Saturday night is the last scheduled meeting between the schools only about 100 miles apart.
TCU is playing its Dallas-Fort Worth rivalry game against future ACC team SMU for the 102nd time. The Horned Frogs have won 18 of the past 22 games in the series against their former SWC rival that is their second longest, behind only 118 games against Baylor.
INSIDE THE NUMBERSTexas Tech RB Tahj Brooks is coming off a career-high 158 yards rushing against Tarleton State. His fifth career 100-yard game was his first since 107 last year against West Virginia, where the Red Raiders play Saturday. He is averaging 7.24 yards per carry this season. ...Kansas State QB Will Howard has multiple TD passes in eight consecutive regular-season games, the school's longest streak since at least 1982. ... Oklahoma State has held 30 of its past 33 conference opponents under their season scoring average entering the game. The Cowboys are at Iowa State, which is last in the Big 12 with 16.7 points a game. ... Houston DB Malik Fleming is tied for the national lead with three interceptions this season, and has six picks his last 10 games.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll
