College Football Weekend Recap
The large majority of this region’s major players — Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, and SMU — were idle in Week 5 of the college football season. However, the beauty of this sport is that there’s always something to discuss. Here are five things we learned in college football this weekend.
Help from the Hometown Kid
Chandler Morris won a state championship at Highland Park, started his college career at Oklahoma, spent three seasons at TCU, and tore it up at North Texas before he transferred out east for his final year of eligibility. He remains a Texas boy at heart nonetheless. Last week, in one of college football’s most entertaining games yet this fall, he did his part to aid the team that he grew up close to.
Morris, now in his sixth season, passed for 229 yards and 2 touchdowns in Virginia’s 46-38 double overtime win vs. previously unbeaten Florida State in a Friday night class which led to an all-time field rush. He ran for a 4-yard touchdown and threw a 2-point conversion to give the Cavaliers a definitive lead in the second overtime period.
Here’s why it’s important for the program he grew up a football’s throw away from: The Mustangs, who’ve yet to begin ACC play, have an ever-so-slightly clearer path to the conference championship game. The emphasis is on slightly, but, with the Seminoles now 0-1 in conference play, there’s one less contender that could potentially go undefeated in the ACC and knock the Mustangs from postseason play.
Speaking of the Locals
Oklahoma State’s Doug Meacham, an Arlington native, worked his first game as interim coach Saturday in a 45-27 loss vs. Baylor. Meacham, who’d been the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator this season, was named to the interim head coach position after longtime stalwart Mike Gundy was fired last week.
Meacham, 60, was a three-year starter at Arlington Sam Houston and played offensive line at Oklahoma State. He coached at eight different colleges before he was a Broyles Award finalist in his first season as TCU’s offensive coordinator 11 years ago. He left for Kansas after the 2016 season, spent two years with the Jayhawks, and returned to Fort Worth and spent four more years with the Horned Frogs before Gundy hired him away this past offseason.
“I think that I was really impressed with that part,” Meacham said after Saturday’s loss. “[They] had a lot of fun. They were having fun, you know? And that’s really what it’s all about. This is just a game at the end of the day, and, you know, they call it a game so you can have fun doing it right? And I think our guys had fun. I think the coaches had fun.”
The Mean Green Have Freshman Fever
Freshman running back Caleb Hawkins, a three-star recruit from Shawnee, Okla., has emerged as one of UNT’s biggest offensive weapons as the team’s carried on a 5-0 start and garnered votes in the AP Top 25 poll.
Hawkins totaled 218 yards of offense and 3 touchdowns in Saturday’s 36-22 win vs. South Alabama. The week prior, in an overtime win at Army, Hawkins rushed for 99 yards and scored 4 touchdowns. He’s scored in three consecutive games and ranks first on the team in yards per carry (7.3), total touchdowns (8), and total yards of offense (427).
The 6-foot-2 back was lightly recruited in high school. He picked the Mean Green over offers from Emporia State and Central Oklahoma. Now he has UNT on a legitimate path to serious postseason play in his first year of college football.
Arkansas coach Sam Pittman talks to his team during a time out against Notre Dame during an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Fayetteville, Ark.
Michael Woods / AP
It’s Officially Carousel Season
Oklahoma State fired Gundy last week. Arkansas fired head coach Sam Pittman after Saturday’s 56-13 loss vs. Notre Dame. That means it’s time for the state’s hottest head coach prospects to prepare their statements when the inevitable question comes.
Hey, UTSA’s Jeff Traylor, or UNT’s Eric Morris, or SMU’s Rhett Lashlee, your name has been tied to the Oklahoma State and/or Arkansas job. Thoughts?
Traylor, a longtime candidate for a larger role, went first Monday when the probe was posed to him.
“We have plans for this place deep, deep into the future,” Traylor told reporters. “We’re not where I want to be. Everybody knows, I think they know, how impatient I am … It’s a long term plan. I plan on being here and seeing this thing through and leaving this place a lot better whenever that day is when we decide that we can’t do this anymore. But that’s a long time from today, I hope.”
A Smile Would Be Nice
Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko thought so, at least, after his team’s 16-10 win vs. Auburn. The Aggies, still undefeated and now No. 6 in the AP Top 25 poll, totaled 13 penalties and converted just 3 of their 14 third down attempts in a narrow win over Auburn at College Station’s Kyle Field.
